Indian Education System

Indian education system is in a mess. Has been, for a while. Has the education system turned us into PIGS?

Recently your columnist read a book named P.I.G.S.! Yes you read it correctly! It’s an abbreviation for the Poor Indian Graduate Student. The story wasn’t very different from many others that adorn bookshelves dedicated to works of Indian authors today. All masala elements of Indian fiction were present – love, lust, one night stands, drugs and insane amounts of liquor, but the content couldn’t compete with the title in the interest stakes. The popularity of these books, which sell like hot cakes, among the Indian readers, tell us a lot about the closet preferences of the youth. Well atleast reading is back in vogue!

Coming back to why the title hits too close for comfort, it brings home the point, with a loud resounding shock, the failure that is the Indian Education System. Apparently our formal education system has rusted to the core and is now, just a formality. We keep learning (read mugging) till graduation and suddenly in the Masters Programs, we’re told to “unlearn”! The subjects that we learn, the methods we practice, the exercises we have had are far from reality. And the problem is, on various levels like SSC, HSC, Graduation, entrance tests, etc. we all are constantly being filtered on the basis of this same old outdated system and suddenly we realize that we are masters in something which is no more applicable to the real world. Why, your dumbfounded brain asks you?  Because some IT geek in Silicon Valley has already made a software (and some other geek has uploaded its free to download cracked version on the internet) which is a blow to our solarplexes. All the opportunity cost of time, money, work, dedication, sacrifices, etc. for something which is now obsolete in the market! Yes we are PIGS!

And then we read the success stories of Steve Jobs, Karshanbhai Patel, Dhirubhai Ambani, etc., the illiterate people who chose to do it the 3 Idiots way, “Not running after success, but running after excellence… Success will follow you no matter what.”
We PIGS get astonished even when we see how some people write success stories out of cottage industry endeavours .Talented hands and clever brains – khakhra (Induben Khakhrawala), ganthiya (Ganthiya Rath), bhajiyas(Raipur bhajiya house), samosas(Geeta samosa centre), et al who are all for the record, under graduates or illiterates, having a nice cozy bungalow and an AC car, living the “middle class dream” in a luxurious way!

Today it’s all about just going with the flow of formal education which is a pre-requisite to being called “normal”. But then you can simultaneously work on your own talents and likings and develop them, as nothing is impossible in this world of possibilities anymore. You just need to have the right skill and opportunities will find you.

Anyways, had enough of hardcore, preachy boring lecture kids?  Time to get back to the same old business of mugging and then vomiting in the exams. Nerd glasses and bookish knowledge might give you a sense of achievement when you are enclosed within the thick four walls of an educational institute. But it’s a whole new ball game outside. Are you ready to face the music?