It's that time of the year again when youngsters with parents in tow, rush about everywhere looking for college applications and writing competitive exams. And this year, I too have joined this madness. But the difference is that I plan on doing Zoology. Now, this isn't a professional course. Relatives and friends barely hide their astonishment when I tell them this is what I am going to do. Someone even asked me, “That's an actual course?” They are not particularly comforted by the idea that I don't do math either. So, as I see all my friends preparing for IIT entrance exams along with their Board Exams, I am constantly looked upon as “other.”
If you don't have the aspiration to do a professional course, then you're an alien around here. But I am not worried about that. What I am worried about is the fact that the country seems content with producing engineers, doctors and chartered accountants year after year. What about all those people who don't want to do that? Where is the platform for them to voice their views and state their reasons for doing what they want to, and what they love? How can we blame all those who leave India to pursue higher studies when this is the situation here? How is this sort of attitude supposed to instill confidence in youngsters? Engineers, doctors and chartered accountants are most definitely needed everywhere. But must a balance not be established? The world cannot do with just these people. And a lot of us out here are waiting for people to wake up to this fact. Let's hope the change will come soon, so that youngsters like us can pursue what their hearts dictate, and not be bound by these shackles society sees fit to put on us.
Priyanka H, Class XII, Good Earth School
