The Stolen Years (II)

While writing the first part of 'The Stolen Years', I didn't know that I would go on to write the second. But then, you see, how vast is the issue! Living in that atmosphere makes me find, wherever I see, the same situation. Recently I had been to Airoli for an entrance test. It was yet again an engineering entrance test. The level wasn't that high, regarding the difficulty of questions. Moreover there was another factor on which, nowadays, the difficulty of an exam depended. It was an easy analysis! If there exists any kind of coaching for an exam then consider it to have good standards, in terms of questions, competition and repute of the institute. I hadn't found many institutes teaching for VITEEE, yet there were few odd ones out of the crowd. The test was a quite easy one but my head ached badly due to continuous exposure to a computer screen. My dad and I headed to the station and waited for the train.

At the station, also at many others which I had noticed while arriving at Airoli, were numerous banners of coaching institutes, shouting out there results saying 1,2,3,4.. rankers were from this n this institute, 'we teach success' and stuff. I enjoyed reading these slogans or what you would call 'taglines', most of them were quite interesting! You too might enjoy some,

-Our results are results of our intentions!

-We create champions!

-A nourishing ground for future IITians and Doctors!

-Because success is yours!

-Pioneering scientific learning process since 1984's! (OMG!)

-Creating interest to work rigorously! (Thank You!)

-Where discipline is the way of life! (Is that a coaching institute?!)

-Where success is a must!

-Your search ends here! (Oh thank You!)

-Because tomorrow is yours! (Sure!)

I get to read such tags usually when I read some educational magazine. That day at the railway station I saw similar. But this one was a bit more serious. My train had yet minutes to come, so I went on reading everything on that banner. It started with a statement which disturbed me...

What would you save, money or your child's future?

 This one line somewhat enraged me and much more surprised me as to how this banner was still hanging up there?! It indirectly said, "Come, come to us parents! Pour on us the serene money you have! No, don't think of saving it, pour it all! At last we make your child's future!" It kept me thinking that how come these institutes have so much of guts to banner out such statements which could hurt feelings. Obviously guys, a parent not able to afford such a high amount will feel low as he cannot do the 'best' for his/her child. Digging deeper, we find the shining reasons, for why this prevails in India...

Reasons for these stolen years are quite basic. The most fundamental one being lack of equal respect to every occupation. We have formed a hierarchy of professions in India, rather it is present in the whole world but more prominent here. Watch any movie portraying a poor family, usually would be a farmer's. A young child would be encouraged to become an engineer or a doctor so that the same harsh conditions do not fall upon him. Escaping out of farming has been a dream for every farmer family. And then to make this escape a success, these institutes come into role! So why does every farmer want to run away from farming? Past few decades our cities have seen numerous immigrants from rural areas, such people who come in search of jobs, having lost their crop. A real life description in my English textbook speaks about it...
"Food is more important for survival than an identity. “If at the end of the day we can feed our families and go to bed without an aching stomach, we would rather live here than in the fields that gave us no grain,” say a group of women in tattered saris when I ask them why they left their beautiful land of green fields and rivers."

Migration is now common in India, rural people migrate to cities for better conditions

So it is human to migrate for survival when conditions worsen. But then cities do not promise any luxuries! Mumbai is rightly quoted as 'Mayanagari', as miracles happen here. People enter Mumbai to fulfill their dreams, some fail, some succeed. Atlast luck and money matter a lot! So we too have migrated from coaching classes to this struggling life of rural people, which clearly tells how deep rooted the problems are. A major point comes into limelight: India's developmental strategy. We have been praised as the gonna-be world's economic power. Many futurists say that India will soon develop economically. But the shoot's leaving the root. We are flying into the air so high that we are leaving our foundation.

Glancing at India's developmental process, we find a trend different from a regular seen in many now-developed countries. A general trend observed in many developed countries is that the progress was made step by step; first agriculture, then industry and then services. India had jumped onto services even when agriculture was still handicapped. We are losing a lot due to this leap. Weak agriculture sector is making everyone leave it and now the drought has worsened the conditions. I recently read a news and personally noticed that many farmers from west and central Maharashtra had migrated to cities like Mumbai and Pune. The worst part is yet to come. They were found begging at the railway stations, bus stations and other public areas. Still, the vice CM of Maharashtra talks of peeing into the dams to fill them. Strange! Stranger the fact that these issues are well knit with the one in the title! So it's like a well linked cycle of problems. Weak agriculture leads to tendency to escape, escaping out into urban lifestyle means financial stability, it requires a good job, a good job is only promised by good colleges, and to get into good colleges, yes! You can try hard alone! But there are escorts available which make your journey easier..and you join an institute!

Another point which came to my notice while talking to my friend was that too much involvement into coachings has led to negative effects on nurturing creative ideas at the +2 level. At her school, students of Class 11 refused to design a science project just because they were too busy with tests at their institutes. So what are the solutions? One big step by CBSE to combine all tests into one: JEE Main, has done no good to reduce the coaching class influence. They have moulded themselves to the change. Solution lies in our hands. More we feed them, more would they flourish. Complete dependency must be avoided. A good school must be the first preference at class 12. Juniors, you must not think that joining a good coaching institute means better future. Rather studying well must be the first aim. Remember, IITian's Pace may ask your parents whether money is important or their child's future, answer it plainly, I am important. Many others will ask for humongous fees, ask them the reason. Get every single detail about their plan, strategy, and make it sure that, if you pay, your money doesn't go in vain. Many don't know that complaints can be filed against coaching classes at the consumer forums, if the service is not felt apt. Use this feature if required. Two years are precious, I say this again, don't let anyone steal them, make them productive yourself...