Let there be joy
As I write this, I am thankful to my parents that they never pressured me with their expectations. Not that they didn't want me to excel in my life and have a good career—they wanted me to be a doctor. They were supportive, and never rebuked me for not qualifying in the several competitive exams that I took in my short attempt to get into a medical college--and I failed in all of them during the two years. But they had faith in me; they thought I had enough brains to make a decent career in other possible areas, if not medicine.
Why am I telling this to you? Right now, I can see a news report in The Times of India about a 17-year-old class XII girl ending her life by hanging herself to the ceiling fan in her home. The girl had been allegedly rebuked by her teacher for poor grades.
A few days ago, an 11-year-old girl hanged herself by her dupatta in Mumbai. The girl, a class VI student who had participated in a few dance TV shows, had been stopped from dancing and asked to concentrate on studies—read marks and grades. The girl's neighbours said the girl was very keen to continue her dance and participate in dance shows.
Why's it important to excel in studies? Why do they have to score "good" marks? I think people need to change their yardstick for measuring success. There's more to life than just marksheets. I have bumped into quite a few students who have scored 90s in thier exams and have little knowledge. This excessive obsession with marks in also the reason that we have very few good players in our country. A budding sportsperson are stifled while still young. "Padhoge, likoge to banoge nawab; keloge, kudoge to banoge khara." (If you study and toil, you will be a king; if you play and merry, you will ruin.)
The pressure is not only for scoring "better" marks and grades, it's more for beating others behind. Parents care less that the child scored more marks than last exams and more about his rank in the class slipping to the second position. It has only been enforced by the testing methods used by premier professional institutions for judging the talent of their prospective students. I am amazed by the number of students who score way above 90s in their exams and yet wish that they had scored some more. Why is 90s so less that some students in Delhi are forced to commit suicide every year during admission season? It's a big relief that someone in a remote village can still revel in the fact that she scored 70%.
Yeah, nobody remembers the person who just missed the chance to be on the top, but after a decade, who remembers you score? What did Mahatma Gandhi score in his board exams, or Barack Obama for that matter?
We need to understand that success is intangible. It doesn't come bundled with 90%-plus marks. It doesn't come with money either. It come from within, only when you feel the joy while doing something as perfectly as you can. That's why you can have a proud, successful person in a remote tribal village. It's not limited to boundaries of metros. Success is also not any way linked to being the No.1. A person on the top can be successful, but not always.
Can we educate our younger generations just enough to empower them to make their own choices wisely? Can we refrain from forcing our own ways on the young minds? Just teach them the rules of the game and let them play. Set the young souls free to wander and choose their own paths to tread. Don't stop them if they wander away from well trodden paths and try to make their own. Let there be more joy and success.
Why am I telling this to you? Right now, I can see a news report in The Times of India about a 17-year-old class XII girl ending her life by hanging herself to the ceiling fan in her home. The girl had been allegedly rebuked by her teacher for poor grades.
A few days ago, an 11-year-old girl hanged herself by her dupatta in Mumbai. The girl, a class VI student who had participated in a few dance TV shows, had been stopped from dancing and asked to concentrate on studies—read marks and grades. The girl's neighbours said the girl was very keen to continue her dance and participate in dance shows.
Why's it important to excel in studies? Why do they have to score "good" marks? I think people need to change their yardstick for measuring success. There's more to life than just marksheets. I have bumped into quite a few students who have scored 90s in thier exams and have little knowledge. This excessive obsession with marks in also the reason that we have very few good players in our country. A budding sportsperson are stifled while still young. "Padhoge, likoge to banoge nawab; keloge, kudoge to banoge khara." (If you study and toil, you will be a king; if you play and merry, you will ruin.)
The pressure is not only for scoring "better" marks and grades, it's more for beating others behind. Parents care less that the child scored more marks than last exams and more about his rank in the class slipping to the second position. It has only been enforced by the testing methods used by premier professional institutions for judging the talent of their prospective students. I am amazed by the number of students who score way above 90s in their exams and yet wish that they had scored some more. Why is 90s so less that some students in Delhi are forced to commit suicide every year during admission season? It's a big relief that someone in a remote village can still revel in the fact that she scored 70%.
Yeah, nobody remembers the person who just missed the chance to be on the top, but after a decade, who remembers you score? What did Mahatma Gandhi score in his board exams, or Barack Obama for that matter?
We need to understand that success is intangible. It doesn't come bundled with 90%-plus marks. It doesn't come with money either. It come from within, only when you feel the joy while doing something as perfectly as you can. That's why you can have a proud, successful person in a remote tribal village. It's not limited to boundaries of metros. Success is also not any way linked to being the No.1. A person on the top can be successful, but not always.
Can we educate our younger generations just enough to empower them to make their own choices wisely? Can we refrain from forcing our own ways on the young minds? Just teach them the rules of the game and let them play. Set the young souls free to wander and choose their own paths to tread. Don't stop them if they wander away from well trodden paths and try to make their own. Let there be more joy and success.
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