IIT Delhi alumnus claims non-IITians can't compete with an IITian's success, internet fires back: What about Musk, Zuckerberg?

Is an IIT degree truly essential for success? Nishant Jindal, an IIT Delhi alumnus and founder of an EdTech startup, certainly believes so. In a LinkedIn post, he declared, "People don't realise that if you are comparing a non-IITian's success to an IITian's, you are just admitting that IIT is better. You only compare to what is above you, after all." His statement didn¡¯t seem to go down well on the internet. Critics quickly pointed to global icons like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, asking, "Did they also take distant learning courses from IIT?"

Saurabh Mahajan, a professional in the consumer brands sector, took to LinkedIn to challenge a common notion: ¡°Many non-IITans were called failure. Interestingly many are doing better than IITans.¡±

Credit: LinkedIn

His perspective is that an IIT degree alone isn't the key to success. Instead, Mahajan highlighted the importance of ¡°Grit, determination, maturity, resilience built through failures and multiple iterations.¡±

In response, Nishant Jindal, founder of Bharat Skool, didn't hold back. He argued, ¡°IITians are never 'as successful as xyz, or better than xyz.' They are simply successful.¡±

He also shared some hard to digest pills stating that the best non-IITians can¡¯t compete with the best IITians, average non-IITians can¡¯t compete with average IITians, and while some non-IITians may outperform average IITians, IIT remains a prestigious institution.

"Just because you didn¡¯t get in doesn¡¯t make it any less great," he remarked.

How did people react?

Jindal¡¯s post sparked such intense debate that it quickly found its way to Reddit, where users had a field day with sarcastic responses.

Are wo elon musk bhi..
byu/Playful_Giraffe_8911 inJEENEETards

One wrote,¡°Elon Musk ne iit se distant learning ki thi , pata hai kya.¡± (Did you know Elon Musk did distant learning from IIT?)

Another wrote a sarcastic comment: ¡°Mark Zuckerberg is from IIT BHU TEXTILE¡± (Mark Zuckerberg is from IIT BHU Textile) followed by a witty addition: ¡°Bill Gates toh Kharagpur Mining se tha.¡± (Bill Gates? Kharagpur Mining.)

The trend snowballed, with comments like: ¡°Steve Jobs IIT dhanbad¡± and even ¡°Einstein toh iit massachusetts ka aluminium tha¡±. (Einstein was an alumnus of IIT Massachusetts.)

Amid the humor, one user pointed out a sobering truth: ¡°Meanwhile IIT don't even come close in top 100 when compared to other universities in US and UK, They are simply better.¡±

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