Who wants us to be illiterate? - 4-Entrance mania & expensive is better

From the title itself one can guess what I'm going to talk about. Yes I'm going to talk about something which I never let into my life and which all the others of my own age or younger than me did/ are doing and will do for a long time.

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When I was a kid, all I wanted to become when I grew up was an Astrophysicst, because I had read about our solar system when I was in 4th std and I was in 4th in 1994 when the celebrated "Shoemaker Levy" collided with Jupiter. So even from my 4th, I had an idea that I was going to be a scientist (in between I started bird watching and all, afterwards I became a nature lover, and wanted to become an environmentalist, but my love for stars grew up along with me; I wish my childhood would come back). And in general I don't care for any competition until I take upon an interest in it. Also, I had somehow tried to figure out what class to study after what class and I found out when I was a child about UG and PG (one reason is that my father was an employee in university, so I used to hear a lot about these stuff, but never had any idea that there were two fields called medicine and engineering). So I had almost decided that I would do Physics after plus two, anyway I knew that I wanted to go for higher education in this subject. (One of the other reason for my interest in science was "Turning point", I've met the two wonderful people who used to anchor the show, to my great pleasure :) [that's because I heard what my heart said]).

So when I was in plus one, my mom asked do you want to go for coaching, I said no, and one day by the end of the year in plus to, my mom again asked "what do you want to become"? I was really surprised at this question because she was asking it at when the public exam was to start. As I said earlier, she wanted me to become a doctor (and if I became on I would have become a neurologist, because I like brain very much :) ). But I knew that it was not what I wanted. I wanted to be a Physicist. Again after exams (when I was free for 3 months which I enjoyed reading my favorite book about my favorite detective, she asked again, "all of your friends are going, do you want to go atleast for a crash course"? I said no. Because I didn't want to go. I had applied for the exams, because writing exams are fun (I do that even now ;) ) and I used to study bits and pieces when I pleased. :) But I got some rank around 6700 (the funny thing is that, I got a call letter to join B.Pharm!) with my own lazy studies. My Mom used to believe that I would have become a doctor or Engineer if I had gone for proper coaching. But that not my way. So didn't go. I used to wonder, still I wonder, without the extra burden of coaching I felt that the classes on Saturdays, which were exclusive for higher secondary students were tiresome. One can't even sit and relax or enjoy  pleasant weather at home even on weekends! I feel sorry for all those students who have willingly or unwillingly taken up this burden. If you really are into it its ok, otherwise there's no necessity of toiling hard (it will give you rewards some day) and letting your /childhood pass away in crawling colours. [May be you've are enjoying life with friends in coaching classes with friends, I don't know.]

 I've written a lot, except not my point. So 99% of the science students go for entrances and severe "coaching (torturing)"  classes and most of the time, don't pass the entrance and may be try again if you are so much insistent and after that give up all the torture and go to BSc(last aid). If they are rich and can harvest money from trees, they go for Engineering and Medicine by paying huge amounts of donations (bribes - good field to implement Lokpal bill; but first the "Jan" who want the seats will go in) and fees. Thus comes the difference between merit and management and hence reservation (mostly based on the religion or caste of the management which runs the institution) and self financing. Well finance your own education (like finance your own job post; pay 5 lakh (this is old number) donation in the school/college run  by a management which belongs to your "community (see here community has to be assigned especially to "caste community or religion community" instead of a student community") and get the teaching or whatever post. Argument : "Settles life. 5 lakh repaid in 5 years as salary." That means for five years one has to work without salary, or be "self employed under an institution with a name"!) To study the course which you (in other words "to study a course which will supposedly "raise" your and yours parents' "social status", you've to lower your financial security to a fatally low value! (Fatally low, because it will be mostly an education loan (from nationalised banks it is a bit better, because the loan is fatal for the banks actually; but if you've borrowed from a blade bank, it is fatal for you)  and if you read newspapers you'll know the consequences.)") Do you really love the course? Who knows ?Do you really know Engineering or how to treat a patient? There was a record breaking news about a batch of medical students in a very famous (notorious) private hospital which became a self financing medical college, that all of them failed in the public exam! Just imagine, the danger these "doctors" will pose to the society. [Razor sharp cutting business of doctors is another issue, not to be discussed now.]

Couldn't they have gone for some other courses in which they had interest and talent, instead of trying to carry the gigantic course of medicine which needs skill since you're going to deal with the life of a person? Who is the culprit? Parents or the institutions which pop up like mushrooms in the late night rain, with the intention to get rich by exploiting the human greed for status and name? Or the students who don't or can't muster up the courage to stand up to their dreams?


"Bachpan to gaya
Jawani bhi gayi
Ab to ab humain
Jeene do jeene do..."

Can't you tell these if you are feeling burdened? What is the need of being victims to unnecessary competition, the part of which you don't want to be? If you want to become something you like (not a bad person or profession), become that? What use is there to fill up the world with same kind of people? Even statistical distributions are not uniform in real life. Then why do you want to reduce the standard of your living and quality of your understanding by doing following the crowd? And why do educational institutions have to set up higher and higher cut off, that even the best students won't get admission and will be forced to live the life of one who has to "finance his/her own studies"? Is this move for privatising the educational sector, so that only those with money whether they have brains or not will be able to "study higher"? Oughtn't education be doing good such as teaching and help learning good values instead of reinforcing an ugly culture that only money can bring good, there by increasing mental depressions and teaching chasing indirectly so that all good values in life are forgotten?Its really bad for the future of our country. No matter how hard you try to tell that India has become this, and that, if you want to keep the achievements, you've to give education to all whether the taker takes it or not. Atleast people who call them educated and sit as the heads of these institutions and implement foolish things like this should understand this fact. Unless you've all sort of students, you can't call yourself a good teacher, because you are a good teacher or your institution is good when you make even a duffer come up in life.

To be continued.................................