WISE words these! -- from Group Captain Varun Singh the lone survivor of the helicopter crash that killed Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and others. These words were written by the Shaurya Chakra winner in a letter to the Principal of the Army Public School (where he studied), meant to be conveyed to the students. In that letter, Group Captain Singh had counseled that it was okay if the student was mediocre in studies, but then he/she should find his/her calling -- in subject of liking, of choice. This message should be meant more for parents and teachers rather than for children. For, they are the ones who generally pressure their kids for taking up some specific careers -- even if the kids may not have an inclination for the subject. The loud-thinker finds this message very useful -- for he, too, has been promoting this thought all the time. He was very fortunate as a teenager not to have been pressured to take up medicine as a career-line even though both his parents were medical doctors.

 

He chose journalism, and they allowed him merrily to follow his calling. The result has been obvious -- a life full of joy and reasonable achievement. But not all the kids are so lucky. Many of them are forced to follow certain career-lines that actually make little sense to them. Group Captain Varun Singh’s words are meant for such people, such families that do not allow their youngsters to follow their respective callings. True, the kids ultimately do alright in whatever field they are pushed into. But if they are allowed to follow their own callings, they lead happier, more satisfying lives. Of course, in the past few years, youngsters are seen choosing unbeaten paths and are finding their own happiness. Some youngsters are known to have chosen knowingly careers such as acting or full-time writing (which certainly comes with a cost). Some have chosen even dance -- western pop or Indian classical -- as a career. Some are known to have chosen visual art or painting as career-lines.

 

And this is a happy trend, so to say. But this number should be allowed to grow exponentially -- so that we have generations of happy youngsters. In fact, this is the basic aim of education -- to allow every child to find his or her own calling and attain fullest possible potential in it. Our youngsters are looking for such opportunities -- to have career-lines of their own choice, on their own volition. If this becomes our social norm, we will have a higher happiness index.