Student Asks IIT Professor For Attendance, What Happens Next Spins The Internet In Fury

A screenshot that allegedly captures an IIT professor’s blunt response to a student requesting attendance concession has gone viral online. An X user shared the screenshot, claiming it was the professor’s reply to a student who had written to him about needing attendance concession due to participation in a debate competition.

The professor denied the request and suggested that the student should stop “begging” professors for concessions. He referenced notable dropouts like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, who achieved great success by pursuing their beliefs, implying that students passionate about extracurricular activities should similarly consider dropping out instead of trying to balance both academics and attendance concessions.

In his email response, the professor stated, “People admire Gates or Zuckerberg because they dropped out of college to pursue what they believed in, not because they went around begging professors to make concessions or exceptions for them.” He continued, “And they created new technology that impacted billions of humans and created trillions of dollars of value. If you strongly believe in other pursuits, be brave and drop out and make something really worthwhile.”

He added, “But we both know you are never going to do that, and we both know that a debate competition has no tangible value in the real world. If you want respect, demonstrate bravery and strength, not cowardice.”

The user who shared the screenshot claimed to have visited IIT Kharagpur for the institute’s Spring Fest when he encountered the email from an IIT student.

The post gained significant traction, amassing nearly half a million views on X, where many users expressed their opinions in the comments. Most were taken aback by the professor’s tone and his refusal to grant attendance. One user remarked, “Prof acting like attending his lecture will make any difference. Most college professors are on a different ego trip, while their lectures remain outdated and outclassed by random YouTube channels. Mandatory attendance is a joke.”

Another user, Rohit Girdhar, questioned the need for such drama, stating, “Sorry but this is in poor taste. Why so much drama? Just say yes or no. Why take pot shots at a young person?”

Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity AI and IIT alumnus, simply replied with a “Yikes.” One user criticized the professor’s behavior, saying, “Most Indian professors and bureaucrats make it their life goal to increase the suffering in society as much as possible.” Several others echoed this sentiment, accusing the professor of exerting a “power trip” over the student.