What is wrong with a profession other than medicine or engineering? Every time I tell my parents that I want to be a journalist (gasp!) or a writer (even worse!), I am first treated to stunned silence and then a torrent of well meant but old fashioned and biased advice. They have a plethora of reasons for dissuading children from doing something other than the supposedly safe bets: medicine and engineering. Of course, society is also to blame because, according to it, unless you belong to one of these “honourable” professions, you are a nobody.
The reasons my parents give are:
1. You cannot make as much money as you do in engineering in any other profession.
2. If you have an engineering degree or a MBBS, you have an assured job.
3. Any other profession is chosen because it is “easy”.
While all this may have been true a decade ago, they are now ancient. First, there are unemployed engineers (shocking!), thanks to their sheer number and the limited number of white-collar jobs. Second, just because we choose something else, it does not mean it is easy. For example, writing is not a walk in the park. It comes from a person’s heart and soul; it is just as hard as solving a complicated mathematical equation, albeit in a different manner.
So, dear adults, the next time we say we want to go off the beaten path, try to be impartial. After all, it is our life to live as we desire. Please give us that chance.
KAAVYA KARTHIKEYAN XI, Sri Sankara Senior Secondary School
