Warangal is at the heart of Telangana in Andhra Pradesh. On the sprawling campus of Kakatiya University, the hub of Naxalite student activity during the 1970s and 1980s, there is today a sense of calm. A few students are crowded around the National Service Scheme office, to plan their next volunteer activities. There is a handwritten notice in front of the administrative office, announcing the onset of placement interviews: "Golden job opportunities in Infosys", promises one. A group of students in the canteen chat loudly about Telegu star Chiranjeevi's daughter, who had recently eloped in order to pre-empt her father's opposition to her relationship.
Warangal is at the heart of Telangana in Andhra Pradesh. On the sprawling campus of Kakatiya University, the hub of Naxalite student activity during the 1970s and 1980s, there is today a sense of calm. A few students are crowded around the National Service Scheme office, to plan their next volunteer activities. There is a handwritten notice in front of the administrative office, announcing the onset of placement interviews: "Golden job opportunities in Infosys", promises one. A group of students in the canteen chat loudly about Telegu star Chiranjeevi's daughter, who had recently eloped in order to pre-empt her father's opposition to her relationship.
At the School of Social Sciences, a few professors are having a cup of tea while pondering over the changing aspirations of their students. "The upper- and intermediate-caste students join science, and want to be a part of the IT boom," explains S Rao, a political scientist. "Those in humanities are usually first-generation students from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe backgrounds, who are here only because of reservations and minimal scholarships. They are financially insecure and look around for employment, even if it is as a coolie or an auto driver."
Students here have little time or incentive to join the Maoist movement, in the face of competition and pressure from peers and parents to 'settle down'. Those at the Indian School of Business, a management school on the outskirts of Hyderabad that has international tie-ups, can barely locate Telangana District on the map. Instead, they have their sights set on Silicon Valley. A little farther down, in Nizam College of Osmania University, the aspirations are likewise to get to Hi-Tech City, an enclave of software companies and malls nestled within the state capital. Students at the Regional Engineering College in Warangal are aiming for green cards, but say they would also be satisfied with a well-paid local job. The 'arts' students, scorned for not making it into the science stream, desperately want jobs for security, and to be able to send money home.