Mayukh understands the importance of a good JEE rank but questions why an adolescent exam remains a talking point decades later.An Indian professional who has spent almost a decade in Germany recently returned to Bengaluru and found himself confronted with a familiar question he had nearly forgotten: What was your JEE rank, and which college did you attend?Mayukh, who moved to Germany after completing his master’s degree in India, shared his experience on X. He said that during his years abroad, he rarely encountered people who knew much about Indian undergraduate institutions, including IITs, NITs or Goa University.His own career had also moved in a different direction. After switching from engineering to pure science, he began working alongside researchers from universities across the world. Over time, where he had completed his undergraduate degree became far less important to his professional identity.Instead, Mayukh said, people in his professional circles were more interested in the reputation of his graduate school, his research, publications, conferences, and invited talks.That perspective shifted during his recent work trip to Bengaluru. He was surprised by how often conversations still returned to JEE ranks and college names, even when discussing people well into their professional careers. “I had almost forgotten that the JEE was a big deal,” he wrote.Mayukh said he understands why a good JEE rank is considered a significant accomplishment, especially when achieved at a young age. But he questioned why an examination taken during adolescence continues to remain a talking point decades later.“Why are we fixated so much on an exam taken during adolescence?” he asked. While he could see why it might matter during the early stages of someone’s career, he wondered why people in their 40s would still bring it up.Story continues below this adHe also raised a more personal possibility, asking whether this attachment to achievements from one’s teenage years could have something to do with “the regret of a missed childhood”.Read the post:I left India after my Masters.I have been in Germany since, and people here don’t really know of, or at least in 2016 didn’t know of, any of the Indian undergrad colleges. NIT, IIT, Goa University: here it is all the same.Also, when I came here, there were not many Indians,…— Mayukh (@mayukh_panja) August 27, 2026 His post quickly gained traction, with several users sharing similar observations about India’s continuing obsession with academic pedigree.“Precisely the reason I stopped following some otherwise intelligent folks on here. Just can’t stop kanging about their JEE rank well into their 50s. I mean sure bro, we all know you are smart but you are still working for someone else who probably never heard of IIT before,” one user wrote.Also Read | ‘People got richer. Their diets got poorer’: Austrian man on how India has changedAnother pointed to the difference between academic prestige in India and its relevance overseas. “The funny thing about moving abroad is realizing that the prestige hierarchy you grew up with often means absolutely nothing outside your country,” the user commented.Story continues below this adRecalling an experience years ago, a third person wrote, “Many years ago when I had an informational for a role with a senior executive at a big eCommerce company, he asked me if I went to an IIT since he went to one of them. I did not interview for that role and decided he was immature and masquerading as an executive,” they wrote.Others saw the issue as being less about colleges and more about the expectations people carry from childhood. “Sometimes it feels like Indians get stuck trying to impress their parents even well into adulthood,” another comment read.