Useful Book. Review on Wasted in Engineering - Prabhu Swaminathan

Wasted in Engineering by Prabhu Swaminathan is a very useful book for both parents and students. I came across it quite by accident but it has helped clarify some very important aspects of studying Engineering in India.

My son plans to join an Engineering course in a couple of years from now and I would like him to read through this book to get a better perspective. This is written of course, especially for those who for some reason, find themselves stuck with a course they feel quite at odds with. But it is good material to browse for those who think they would like to study Engineering. It should help one get some clarity as to whether the choice is one you would like to stick with or not. In fact, I believe the book will not persuade anyone to NOT do the course if they are actually suited for it.

The book is a product of the writer’s own tryst with an Engineering education that was thrust on him. It is a first hand account, that is quite emotional. This is good by me. After all this is a decision that will affect your entire life. And no one is ever coldly calculating about the way they go about leading their life. There is plenty of humour in the approach, starting with the dedication to parents and teachers. It is neatly structured into various aspects of the issue at hand. Why people choose Engineering, what is the ground reality in Engineering colleges in India, how do the two genders fare in this patriarchal setup, what can you do if you have enrolled in the course and wish to quit, what if you cannot quit, Is the course worth it, ….and so on.

“When a chemical engineering student chooses a coding job at an IT company, it is considered normal but when an electronic engineer takes up cinematography it is considered abnormal and strange, even though the career deviation is the same in both cases”.

There are plenty of real life examples. It is a quick and easy read. Many of the suggestions I found to be very good ideas. For example, instead of giving sports enthusiasts quotas in Engineering Colleges, how about opening an Indian Institute of Sports? This is of course not very useful in real terms. The understanding of the actual environment the student will find herself in, is however, a very useful learning from the book. And in this respect, it is a most useful book.