I met a young man from a remote town in North
Bengal last week. He had just completed his graduation and was moving to
another city in India to pursue a degree
in management and finance . A shy man ,
he approached me with lot of diffidence
.He looked more like a poet to me as he looked at me with deep dreamy eyes.
Initially I thought he wanted help with some information search or had some
complaint to lodge . As I offered him a
seat he said apologetically that he had lots to discuss on certain issues that
were bothering him.
He
had a huge list of concerns. Students in his town and other similar towns in India
had hardly any access to facilities and lacked opportunities in life. Most of
them had no exposure to options available for higher studies elsewhere. There
were people with pots of money but many students coming from such families had
no information about educational opportunities in India and abroad . Very few
parents ,teachers or mentors were able
to guide students about educational and job opportunities in foreign countries
. He wished representatives of foreign consulates would visit these areas
regularly to build awareness about
options available abroad. He wanted foreign missions to set up public
libraries in cities in India. The teaching methodology was completely different
in those countries and he aspired to go there for further studies. He seemed to
be in awe of everything the developed countries had to offer.
As
I listened to him I felt deep sorrow and frustration inside. I wondered who taught this young man to think
like this , why was he so parasitic in his thinking. Was he another defeated
Indian trying to escape to a make believe world or was he just another young
man looking for opportunities abroad.
When will we teach our children to be proud Indians .When will they
learn to respect their own systems . When will they think that if systems are
not what they are they can raise their voices and ask for a change . When will
they realise that we have the most brilliant teachers in India , some of the
richest men in the world in India , some of the most successful
entrepreneurs in India who can help them
realise their dreams. The young will have to have a collective passion to
articulate their wants . When will they understand the complex nature of
problems faced by our great nation and dream of fixing them rather than running
away from them.
Unfortunately
as I listened to this man I realised that our education system had seriously
failed them by not teaching them to think on their own. It is good to have
aspirations but it is sad when even young people lack idealism . Without
idealism and passion amongst the youth how does a nation progress .I wondered
if this was only a small town phenomenon. If so then teachers and parents in every corner of India have a
responsibility to tell children about our
achievements in recent times and inspire them to dream big for their
country. There is lot more satisfaction in building things and changing things
for the better rather than trying to seek a life of luxury and comfort when you
are young and able.
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