After my tenth standard I didn’t know what I wanted to study. I scored 84 % which was very good in my family’s eyes. Not so good when compared to everyone else’s results. Long story short I got into Mithibai College in the Science stream. Not on my own merit. The reason why I took up Science in the first place was because I wanted to do something important. That’s all I knew- that I wanted to do something important and so the “obvious” solution was Science. As if all the other professionals were just twiddling their thumbs at their workplace.
The first year went by smoothly mostly because I only had to pass. Which I did. With grace marks.
The epiphany came when I was in the second year- 12th Standard. I realised that if I wanted to do something important I should so something what I think is important.
What I’m trying to say is that Indians have very wrong aspirational settings. What they’re trying to say is that IT engineers are important but farmers aren’t. Are you going to eat your programmes? How pathetic would a farmer or a tailor or a chef feel about himself just twenty years down the line if everyone starts to think that way? And it’s not like any of these professionals are creating anything new anyway. Most of them are well-trained clerks. India is manufacturing clerks in wholesale.
The other day I saw Housefull 2 and I was really saddened by the fact that they were so outspoken about how a driver’s job means absolutely nothing. If in its stead they would’ve let out a peep about any religion, there would’ve been riots in the country. A driver’s or anyone else’s job is no less important than, say, a CEO’s because if it wouldn’t have been for the driver driving the CEO around the CEO wouldn’t have reached his maximum potential.
He would be too busy driving himself around.
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