VidYouth

“Papa kehte hain bada naam karega…
Beta hamara aisa kaam karega…..”

The words of this song rings true even today twenty years after it was originally written and will continue to do so for another twenty years.
While times have changed and generations have come and gone, each with their own set of eccentricities, the mentalities and thinking of people has changed little if nothing.

As kids most children are encouraged at every small pursuit of theirs but that is only until they reach their 8th grade after which their life or goals are not theirs to choose. This only breeds confusion and contempt in kids who turn into rebellious adolescents. At almost every stage of serious academic ventures i.e. school to matriculation to undergraduate studies students, rather adolescents, are always at crossroads. But most parents instead of just being a counsel for their kids try to push them into ’socially appropriate’ streams like being a doctor or engineer. Rues Archana Bellamkonda from RV College, “I became an engineer because my father wanted me to be one. But what makes an engineer so great? Why couldn’t I study arts instead?”

At a time when most teenagers look up to their parents for guidance, are unknowingly and unwittingly diverted to a different route of life. Unfortunately, it is the society and peer pressure even among parents that leads them to coax their children into these professions. The fear of what their relatives or neighbors will think if their child becomes a dancer or media person looms large over their mind. This is the sad truth and stark reality of today’s society. Even the present education system is lacking in every sense and needs to change to adapt and understand every individual students need. The education system has to promote overall activity for a child, not just drive them to getting marks. Says Lora Chandra from VNR VJIET, ” Why are marks so important? If anyone who gets 40% is a failure does it mean they are failures always in life?”

While there are parents who truly want their kids happiness they don’t realize that they might be hurting their children in the process of pushing them to do something the kids don’t want to. And sometimes they try to realize their own dream through their children. But these parents do not realize the mental pressure and emotional baggage they afflict on their children.

But thankfully due to the movies like “Dead Poets Society” or the more recent “3 Idiots” and “Taare Zameen Par”, it shows how much their parents approval means to students, always. These movies are not just commercial hits but they show the desperation of children and what they expect from their parents. Pranav Sai from Vignan Deshmukhi says, “All through my life my parents have never asked my opinion on what I want to do. And I have done what they wanted me to do. But the dissatisfaction of this life has thrown me off balance in the last couple of years. And I don’t know where I am headed or what to do now. I feel let down and defeated. Its a burn out.”

But it is the determination and courage that these teenagers have that matters. Apurva Muralidhar from BMS college of Architecture says,”I always wanted to study architecture, and thankfully my parents understood me even though it is not a designated field for girls. Initially they were hesitant but I managed to convince them that architecture was the group for me.”

As Robert Frost put it,

“two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

These children are the brave ones who weather the storm and emerge victorious. In a country like India, with such a huge population, we should be producing the worlds best scientists and great minds. But a combination of factors such as the education system, the societal norms and mentalities of people are quite backward. It is up to the youngsters of today to convince their parents and stick to their instinct about their future and take responsibility for their decisions and actions.