EDUCATION--> not mere degree, a way of living! :)

I always found personal response questions funny! Our English paper, every time has minimum 3 of such questions. Hmph. I never realized the logic of evaluating a person, and giving marks for his/her own opinion! Are you trying to encourage him to open up and express? Well, then imagine his plight when he would he receive the lowest marks for doing it. What an encouragement! :\

One of the topic for essay was--> "Role of educated women in development of the country."

"Okay, now WHAT DO I WRITE? what would fetch me a minimum 5.5 out of 10 for essay?" I tried, I thought..I racked my brains! Attractive proverbs? Couldn't remember any! (Damn it!)

Now what? I hardly had any time left..and still didn't have even the rough format prepared. I deleted few words from the title, focussed on "educated women" and "role in development."
And then, began my essay:

http://www.vri-online.org.uk/apk/index.php

According to the 2011 census, India's population is about 1.2 billion, while the sex ratio is 914 females against 1000 males, considered the lowest since independence (pehle ladkilog ko toh bachao!).. Still, Indian government makes efforts to improve women literacy in India Why? To increase the literacy rate! "Literacy" is a key-factor and indicator of a country's socio-economic progress. Now, if figures rise, India's position as a developing nation also rises (and, we also would feel a sense of satisfaction seeing an increase in rates!) 

What does education really mean? Z for zebra? teaching how many apples I would have if out of 10, 3 apples are taken away? knowing the names of Indian states? their geography, topography? history? No! The exams that we give are infact, mere milestones we cross, as we grow. And, finally end up getting a Bachelors or maybe, even a Phd. in a particular field. And always, we judge people their intelligence with THESE degrees! Elders never ask us, "How many NGOs have you joined, beta?" :P

Even, people who count census do the same! (For calculating "rates!")

Let's face it then, the government is doing its part and bringing about a statistical rise, but what about quality?

If the quality is not proper, how will a country with such a gigantic population ever "progress"?

I had once read definition of education in one of the websites as "the act or process imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgement, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for a mature life." (Huff! big na? :P)

And I agree with it! 

You call yourself educated and still agree to pay a bribe just for getting things done quickly than others? You say you were a topper of your class and still believe that girls are not meant to work after marriage and can't compete with men just 'coz they can't afford to tear shirts in public! What, are u in search of Sal-woman?! (btw, I HAVE had that argument hence, am writing!)  You drive a 97 lakh worth BMW and spit at every other signal, and call yourself educated? You don't vote during elections and go out off the country thinking that "mere vote se kya hoga?" You get molested in a crowd yet keep quiet thinking " faltu ka court ka chakkar kaun katega?" (Who will take the trouble of running to a court?) You get discriminated on the basis of color/ religion/ language and still feel "Ab jhagda kaun karne jayega!" (Let it be, who wants to fight now!)


Doesn't your conscience never ever stop you from doing it? Because it is WRONG! Have you ever realized that, it might be those Gandhiji lessons, value education classes, environmental education talking! These are always "student-friendly and scoring" subjects! But in reality, they are actually the ones which teach us lessons, for life! What we don't realize is that, as we grow, we learn, a lot more than we are taught!  And, somehow as we grow, we remember the mischief we did in those lectures, but forget the values that were taught or in other words, we prefer sticking to those things which are more convenient and benefit us! We were taught to "face" problems, not adjust and flow with it!
These are just a few examples. And in each case reflects our complacency, we get adjusted to the environment very fast! Mumbai, is one such city, has faced everything from bomb blasts to floods and yet bounced back to normalcy each time. But for how long? We know that we don't deserve to die just because few jerks wanted to "display their valor"! They CANNOT decide our faith! Every morning we leave home, and most of the time we aren't even sure WHEN we will be back, forget HOW! 


We don't expect a dandi march all over again! But we can atleast ensure that we aren't destitute of our fundamental rights, any time! We can atleast ensure that our lives, lives about 1.2 billion are not tossed to-and-fro by handful of people sitting on those chairs! 
The main idea for educating people is so that, they can have a brain which functions and thinks on its own, and decides what is right and wrong....if u don't hve thoughts of ur own...ur degree is sheer waste of time, money and a tree! You are supposed to be doing what YOU feel is right! Break open those chains, open up your thoughts, don't let your brain get washed away by some moron! NO NO! You weren't taught to do that! Speak, shout and do!! People will listen, they will HAVE TO! 

I realize one thing, today...India will never progress...not if if the citizens, rather the youth keep running away from their homework everytime! 


P.S.: If my blog post doesn't fuel the fire, try watching A WEDNESDAY and RANG DE BASANTI! I'm sure films have their own way of advising! ;) 
Until next time, take care and do good! 


Regards,

Rithika