Saturday, January 16, 2010

Idiots??? You Bet!!

A college in North India. Year- 1986.


A group of giggly girls with admission forms in hand.


Girl-1 , "Listen yaar.This says, Arts or Commerce?"


G-2,"Commerce re..its better.."


G-1, "Nooooo. You mad or what. Its Not really hot ! Let`s fill up Arts."


G-3 , " You think so?"


G-1, nodding vigrously, " Of course. Come on . This says -Choose any three options besides English."


G-2, " ,we could take Economics".


G-3 , "You are hung up on Commerce !You want to work in a bank or what? Babugiri?"


G-2, " No! Bhaiya said it`s a smart subject."


G-1, "Okaaay, but next one is my choice, Geography! The teacher is really thanda. No issues for attendance. Plus we go out for trips, it`s very scoring also."


G-2, "Hey , I am not very good with drawing maps and diagrams."


G-3, "Shutup! We took your subject na ? Now tell me Anthroplology ki Psychology?"


G-1 and G-2, "What is Anthropology? "

G-3 ," Surabhi said you study things like,' why Africans have curly hair and why are Europeans fair'.You know very new kind of subject. Practicals too. So very scoring."

G-2,"I have never liked Surabhi. I think we should opt for Pycho."

G-1 , " Are you mad? It`s a weird subject and that Ms. M who takes the class is really strict. Forever screaming. I am not taking it. I think Anthro."

G-2, " Sometimes I wonder, ' Are you really My friend?' You can`t take Pycho for me ?"

G-3, " Listen ,just shutup! We took your Eco na? Bhaiya`s smart subject. Now write Anthro. "

A little later in the day.

G-1 , " Mummy... I filled my form today."

Mummy, " Good. Girls college na? "

G-1, " Yes Mummy. Arts."

Mummy, " Ok. "

January 2010. Metro city in India.

A group of people chatting animatedly in a Restuarant.

Dad-1 , " So, how are the prelims.?"

Dad-2, " Just ok. I don`t think we will hit 80."

Mom-1, " Did you get the form for RN College? "

Dad-2 , " No. I think we will go for JNS. I think ISC is better board. "

Mom-2, " Yeah, we even went to the Career Counselor. He feels ISC is a better bet."

Dad-3, "Really ? I think you are making a grave mistake. Go for CBSE. It will train your kid for national level exams. "

Mom-1, " Yeah ,even my niece did that. RN is very good. Classes from 7 to 1 pm. Then Training for national level exams from 2 to 7pm. No time for loittering around."

Dad-4 ," 7 to 1 and then 2 to 7 ? Isn`t that a lot? No , No I think maybe HSC is better then. No attendance issues. We could take the integrated programme."

Mom-5, " Thank God , my Daughter wants Humanities! I think we are opting for Eco, math, Stats. All very scoring, except Eco. Then ,maybe go for LSE in 2012."

The cell phone rings.

Dad-1, " Yes C ?"

"Dad can I apply for Humanities? All my friends are..."

Dad-1 cutting him short, " Have you lost it? We can`t do that! I will be home in a while."


14 comments:

Balvinder Balli said...

Very right Arti, when we look back at our days, we actually look light idiots in front of today's generation.

my space said...

Hi Balvinder..you know what ? On the contrary, I feel the parents today are the idiots!! Forever hankering our kids. My mom was just happy knowing that i am studying in a college. Subjects didnt matter. But now! There are marathon meetings with like minded parents, serious discussions on subjects...whooosh!!

How do we know said...

umm.. pata nahi.. i think its a bit of both.. all's well that ends well yaaar..

Manish Raj said...

I am happy to see that we are blogging, talking about these aspects..

Hope we will get better and do better with our kids..

Aparna said...

My mother never cared what subjects I took, as long as I was happy, but in the process, she failed to guide me to take up a suitable subject that would have helped me in my career. At 17, what did I know about the world?
But today's parents, though are more savvy, do not care what would actually be better for their children. They only look at the commercial aspect and insist on their kids going in for a course which has a better market value.
I think there should be a balance. Happiness is important, but so is the right guidance....both generations in my opinion are idiots. Completely my opinion though.

Unknown said...

Hi, I loved the post. Its so through... I think ambition is taking the fun out of education.

Renu said...

I was happy if my father knew my class even, he bothered only about my ranking..must beat the top..bus:)

BTW Aarti..kahan busy ho ajkal?

Reflections said...

Agree with Aparna....I too faced the same problem. I sometimes wished my parents guided me more.
Again like Aparna said there shd be a balance...but the problem is like it usually is for every situation or problem...either we are too much into it or not bothered enoff;-S

Mampi said...

Wonderfully put.

Roshni said...

haha!! Good one! But I thought parents of yester years were also quite dominating! However, you are right that today's parents are also hyper, more because they want to show their kids off to their friends!

my space said...

@hdwk..yep!

@ manish..i hope so too :-)

@ Aparna , reflection......yes i agree.. i wish i had more options but when i see my kids..spoilt for choices n getting utterly confused , i really don't know which one i prefer..

@sunshinesafar...u bet it is..

@ Renu...yahi hoon..bas zara off blogging mood mein hoon..

@mampi :-)...kya haal hain ??

my space said...

@ Roshini..yeah..trophy kids syndrome is fast catching up !

Shalet Jimmy said...

Before, life wasn't too complicated and everything looked so beautiful around. But things have gone too materialistic and it seem as if life is loosing its charm.

Renu said...

hello Aarti !..I am so happy to see you back and thank you so much for remembering me..I really miss you and Patanjali too:)..kabhi kabhi hi sahi aa jaya karo.