One day, on the way back from my coaching centre, I was talking to a fellow student in the E-Rickshaw. We discussed our studies, current chapters, the teachers, and the general JEE stress. I asked him if he wanted to raise his children in this country. He was silent for a while and then gave a resounding “No.”
I have lost my love for India. It has been a slow degradation over the years. I have lost faith in its institutions and their fairness, as indicated by the NTA NEET scandals. I have realis ed that the only thing that binds me to my homeland is my family. I do not wish to stay here. The government has its scandals, as has always been the case; the electoral bonds debacle can attest to that. Even the elections are not sacrosanctᅳpolitical parties pay people to vote for them, previously under a thin veneer of secrecy but now openly.
It feels like all India has is competition without sufficient compensation. We struggle and put so much effort into our education, whether for the JEE, NEET, CUET, or whatnot. And what do we have for it? So much competition for universities that have not even ranked in the top 100 in the world? If we put as much effort as we do into the JEE, we could easily crack the top 100 universities. And yet, even if we could, most of us cannot afford to. We stifle under the pressure of our parents, peers, and teachers, so many are pushed into science by their parents, pursuing careers in which they have no interest, and yet, we strive to go into the premier institutions of our country and define our worth by whether we get in. Of course, there are a rare few people who do like the competition, but they are few and far between.
We cannot change our circumstances, whether peer pressure, the slow boiling of the world, or the choking of our lungs on the smog we call air. We joke with each other: “Plan A? IIT. Plan B? NIT. Plan C? BIT. Plan D? Drop.” “So you'll take a drop year?” “No, drop from the 10th floor,” and then we laugh because if we don't, we'll cry, and if we cry, our parents will mutter, “Kids these days. We were much more resilient back then. Don't we give you enough opportunities?” And then we're told to “Think positive!”
Why is it that everywhere we go, we see “Indian-origin scientists have made a discovery!” and we seem to simultaneously take pride in them and condemn them for leaving the country? Why do we not seem to question ourselves about what made them leave India in the first place? There is a reason why upper-class families prefer to send their children to foreign countries.
And last, and perhaps most importantly, a critical reason that makes it so hard to get out of India is the purchasing power disparity. You, the reader, are likely part of an incredibly privileged part of India by being in a situation where you can read this article. You've probably seen - and baulked at - the fees of many Western colleges. The SATs and IELTS alone can cost you upwards of ₹30,000ᅳmuch more than the monthly income of the average family in India, not to mention the rising private education costs in India itself, to the point that foreign institutesᅳat least the Asian onesᅳmay well be cheaper. It is no longer just the case that the average Indian can't leave India; climbing up in India may become even more difficult.
And for all I have said, I will be attempting the JEE myself. Wish me luck.
Comentários