The great Indian Engineering saga...

Although watching ‘3 idiots’ was there on my cards since it was released, I could not watch it till last Friday. On this day, to my surprise, I was advised by one of my favourite teachers to watch it. Maybe, he wanted to see a positive change in me. So without delaying further, I watched the movie that night.

I think the movie has broached up a very important and always neglected topic for discussion. Though it is a typical bollywood movie, with more emphasis on entertainment and earning revenues, no doubt we have been left to ponder over a situation which many of us (particularly engineering students and their family members) face at some stage in life.

Keeping in mind the Indian thinking, I have a general picture of the Indian minds. Whenever the words ‘Engineering’ or ‘Engineer’ are uttered, brains of different people respond to this ‘stimulus’ differently. In case of a youngster, the images that flash in his mind are – 1. A man, wearing a yellow safety helmet and blue apron, supervising junior workers around him OR 2. A geeky guy working on a computer in a comfortable, air-conditioned office OR 3. A manager, with an IIM degree under his belt, always threatening to fire his sub-ordinates. One thing which is common is that wallets of all three people are full of hard-cash !!

If a parent is considered, these images are like this – 1. A high-earning son who owns a long car, a big house and has a lot of respect in society OR 2. Again a high-earning son who often visits foreign countries and brings back dollars and pounds and euros.

A case-by-case study of different strata of our society reveals a lot behind this kind of thinking. Going from bottom to top, there are three different sections : School-children, Engineering students and Parents.

School-children

This group mostly comprises of naive, but most sensible (in my view), people. If you ask a school-kid about his future plans, his replies would be any one of these – “I want to design new buildings”; “I want to make new machines”; “I want to create new gadgets” or simply “I want to be a good engineer and invent new things” The word ‘new’ dominates their thoughts when they think of engineering. Although these replies seem very childish, but they have an element of the ‘idiotness’ hailed in ‘3 idiots’.

Engineering students

When the same kids enter an engineering college, they are introduced to an all-new world. This new world is, in anyway, not even close to what they expected it to be. After a semester or two into engineering, their replies to the previous question change drastically – “I want to go for MBA and become a manager”; “I want to get placed in an MNC or a PSU (in order to start earning cash!)”; “I want to start my own company (that most of the times has nothing to do with engineering)”; or simply “I want to finish off with this engineering course as soon as possible!” The word ‘new’ is replaced by all sorts of ‘more intelligent’ words! Terms like PLACEMENT and MBA are the topics of all ‘meaningful’ discussions in an engineering college.

Parents

Indian parents are the most typical and unique in terms of their deeds and expectations regarding kids and parenting. The most productive and meaningful phase of a man’s life (during which he contributes most for his own success as well as the nation’s development) starts around the age of 25 and ends up around 35. The reason why it is so is simple. After 35, most people have kids to worry for. They sacrifice a lot of things to ensure that their kids get best education. They don’t go for a better job if it, in any way, causes constraints on their kids’ educational proceedings. They have no interest in putting in extra efforts to increase their efficiency at workplace, as this interferes with their duties towards their kids. In short, Indian parents don’t wish to indulge in any affair that would put the education of their children at risk. So if they see the images like what I’ve mentioned earlier, then there’s nothing wrong in that. After so much of sacrifice, they can at least expect this from their children. After years of their hard work and patience, if their child says that he wants to be a painter, then disappointment, anger and disapproval are obvious.

THE CAUSE

I am not going to leave you without the cause of this peculiar situation that exists in our society.

Let us first talk about the parents. Why parents want to ensure that their kids take up engineering or other professional courses? Of course, it is all about money. Engineers and managers start earning money earlier and hard-workers can grow much faster. But what is the rush? It is the lack of social security in our country. If you are unemployed, there’s no one to care for your expenses. If you get cancer, there’s no one to prevent all your money going into the pockets of greedy doctors. When you grow old, there’s no one to understand that it is not possible for you to earn money anymore. In other words, the governments don’t care whether you live with dignity or not, in fact, whether you live or not. But why this insecurity? Its simple. If our governments start worrying for our dignities, forget the lifetime, our dignities won’t last for more than a day! Indian government will be bankrupt in no time, trying to worry for its >1 billion population. If a recent US medical insurance bill could create such a deluge of opinions in that country, imagine what could shape up in India! Our population is the mother of all our sorrows.

Now talking about students, why ‘New’ is replaced by ‘Placement’ and ‘MBA’? It may be termed as ‘growing up’! It is their conscience which makes them aware of their duties towards the parents, and chiefly towards themselves. They simply wish to fulfill their parents’ desires and make their futures secure in this insecure environment. There is very little scope for 'Let-the-kid-do-whatever-he-wishes' in our society. If you have a rich dad, there's nothing to worry about. Do whatever you want to do. But if it is not so, then to survive, you do not choose a path that you want to, but the one you have to.

What all I can do is just keep my hand over my heart and say – “Aal is well !!!” :)