My career, my family, my money !!!
| Date :06-Sep-2020 |
THERe is no doubt that the size of both the samples is very small -- of less than a hundred boys and girls from junior or senior college in one sample; and about fifty-odd teachers in another sample. But whatever came out in the conversation with them over a period of a few months should be good enough for all of us to sit up and take a serious notice. Let us talk of the youngsters first. On the surface, everything appears right -- all of them talked of their working hard to attain career goals, attending classes (now on-line), seeking career-counselling, trying to learn new skills etc etc etc!!! Most of these young people I happened to talk to carefully -- of course mostly on phone -- (to elicit certain information on what and how and why they think in a certain manner) gave the impression that they were good boys and girls on every count.
All of them gave an impression that they were right on course to achieve their basic career goals. But there was a little problem -- which the larger society has often missed. Most of these youngsters talked only of themselves and their careers and their families. Only three spoke of some vague idea of doing something for the society. On a deeper probing, those youngsters also said repeatedly that their parents and their teachers have talked to them only in terms of building good careers that would fetch them a lot of money. Many of them also talked of going abroad for education and never returning to India. For, they felt, India did not offer them the kind of comfortable life their parents and families had drilled into their heads. The idea of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru getting hanged for their revolutionary activities did not seem to appeal to these youngsters.
Many of them did not know the name of Khudiram Bose who happened to be the youngest of the revolutionaries of his time. Let us turn to the teachers -- in whatever sample-size. Most teachers I talked to over the past few months had never told their students any good story that could inspire them to undertake some activity beyond their career. Most teachers also never encouraged their students to read something other than their text books -- or their guides which tuition classes provide. And a few teachers also replied in a bitter tone: “There is no use giving wrong ideas to the youngsters.
We must guide them to pursue their careers and nothing else. For, if we do that, their parents would blame us for misguiding the kids.” And here the story enters its third act -- parents and families. And everybody knows everything. That is the end of this story -- in which everybody is pursuing his or her career, unbothered about many larger issues the society is faced with. In the thinking of most of the people with whom I conversed with a focused idea, anything other than money-spinning career is an anathema. What can we say about all this?