MIDDLE CLASS INDIA’S FAVOURITEPROFESSION AT A CROSSROADS 30The long-standing trend changes. Noteveryone wants to be an engineer anymore.Many engineering colleges face the prospectof empty classrooms.THE METHODOLOGY 44 A peek intohow the Outlook-Drshti survey of India’stop collegesmaterialisedASPIRATIONS TO SHATTER WALLS46 Stories of the urban poor and those in thehinterland who are battling the odds to givetheir children quality higher educationWHAT’S COOKING 58 A look at whatthe culinary schools of India have to offer toaspiring young chefsCOLUMN 64 B. Nary Narayanaswamy ona more integrated education for the moretraditionally isolated liberal artsQUALITY NOT QUANTITY 66 With somany engineering aspirants and collegesaround, quality control has becomeabsolutelynecessaryINTERVIEW 78 Dr Vinay Viswanathan,the co-inventor of the Simputer, talks aboutthe state of engineers in the countryNO LONGER A MAN’S WORLD 82 Theonce exclusive male domain of corporatelaw is not so anymore. Meet some successfulwomen lawyers.MORE NEET TROUBLE 90 Is the newformat for the national medical examprovingto be a disasterSCHOOLS FOR CINEMA 94 Private filminstitutes in Chennai are the latest buzzONCE UPON A LETTER 102 The storyof one of India’s first women translatorsENTREPRENEURIAL EDGE 110 Top ofthe line institutes make space for incubatorsto give a headstart to start-up ideasCHARITABLE STROKES 120 TopIndian cricketers are becoming facilitatorsof social change by establishing organisationsunder their name 22 Medal For DishonourThe major who tied a Kashmiri civilian to an army jeep as a ‘shield’ gets awarded with acommendationcard. Aclear message is sent out to the stone-pelters of Kashmir.26 A Loud Neel SalaamA new face of Dalit politics emerges out of the ongoing caste clash in Saharanpur—theBheem Army. But unlike other political ‘senas’, the UP police seems hell-bent on crushing it.