It is quite evident today that to survive in this competitive time, one has to step over another to reach one’s goal, making no distinction between friend and foe. Everyone else is just another player in this cut-throat tournament called ‘Life.’ But, for this, it has also become evident that each needs the help of the other to climb up this ladder.
A serious trend that has been observed among the youth is that which one may term as the “Flock Following.” This is seen right from school levels to choosing the right job. The time when one used to do what one liked has long elapsed. This is the time to see where there’s more money and opportunities to rise to the upper echelons of society. In schools and colleges all around, students choose to follow the few chosen ones to lead them to better colleges and institutions, following them blindly like a flock of sheep.
Instead of researching and canvassing areas and avenues for their better future, students choose the easy way out, automatically assuming that the “Intelligent ones” know better. It is quite obvious that those who have taken time out to find out which institutions would suit their needs the most have considered only their own priorities and not those of others. Those who blindly deem it clever to follow them, inadvertently find themselves besieged with unforeseen difficulties. I have seen many an example of regret and suffering among those who have chosen the path of the sheep. First they are dazzled by the wonderful institutes and such mapped out and canvassed by the ‘Chosen ones’, but it is only later that they realize their abject folly in blindly following the one who has absolutely no interest in their future whatsoever.
Until about a few years back, there were only a few fields that were considered good fields for studying and career making, viz. Medicine and Engineering. Everyone wanted to enter these sectors and as a result, these fields have been saturated, at least in the Indian sub-continent. Of late, this realization seems to have struck and newer areas of professions have emerged, but even then, the ritual of Flock Following continues. It is inevitable that any and all new fields of study, research or job opportunities will get saturated and squandered by ill-deserving candidates because of this abhorring system, wherein the whole crowd follows the leader, irrespective of whether or not he/she is blind. Due to this, mediocre professionals are created and those really deserving a seat or an internship or a placement don’t get it and are left behind in the dredges.
It is quite apparent that “Flock Following” is here to stay, but it would definitely be in the benefit of society if it remains at a low level – that people realize that what others decide need not be the best for everyone.
