Too many aiming for too few Stars

Yes, it is indeed true that most of us youngsters in India today are clueless about their Lakshya [Read Siddharth's comment to my blog Lakshya for the aimless. Many of them tend to flow with the water. The herd mentality is so common that in certain spheres, the competition is killing whereas in others, there is a desert. Take engineering, medicine, management. The number of youth who want to pursue it as a career are overwhelming. The number itself would be greater than the population of a few countries. But at the same time, the number who want to make it big in the Liberal Arts, journalism, art etc. and are clear about it early in life is so scanty that you could count these spirited and focussed students on your fingers. The ones who end up in these never go through a clear life plan, and mostly end up by chance or a choice very much later in life.

But to be fair to them, we cannot entirely blame them. The career openings in India are very few for the great number of youth in India today. The hope of the great middle class of India rests upon their children becoming successful. And the most sure-shot way is to enter the IITs, IIMs, or a premier medicine college. If these youth were to try untested waters, it would be too much of a risk both for their careers as well as for their parent's old age. It is almost a life insurance scheme many parents invest in by making their children go through the rigour of JEE, CAT and so on irrespective of their children's preferences. After all, one only looks at the returns while investing. The children too, due to lack of opportunities in their field of interest, end up plying the way of their parents, elder siblings, uncles and anybody who has been successful.

But then even among the ones who are able to get through to the premier institutes, we find a lack of apathy for working further. The entry itself is considered a license to greatess. After all, the competition for entrance is so mind-boggling that it leaves the student little more interest in studying. A student who has spent all his/her teenage years buried under piles of books is unlikely to be able to concentrate on them once he is successful in such exams. This victory makes them feel that they now ought to enjoy life, to make best of the few remaining days, and this explains the aimlessness. And this results in working without a view of the peak we want to reach. This makes us work hard for scholarships when we may not even be interested in studying the particular branch. This results in not getting results. After all, we can never get results when the heart is not where the mind is.

Each one of us have to identify our own 5179, our own mountain top, the lakshya, and be clear about what we would like to do. This does not have to be at age 6 when we start montessori. But it should be developed gradually. Also we need more opportunities in alternate careers, so that people do not choose it by default but by choice.

And as for the movie, I feel irrespective of the reviews the movie will be a hit in urban centres, in multiplexes, and just like Dil Chahta Hai, it will be a trendsetter. Farhan will recover his investments, and also make a tidy profit; rest assured.

I feel Preity was great the way she was - the dresses etc. she wore suited her character and that should be the motivation. Not every heroine has to do a Mallika Sherawat, and not every movie has to be a Girlfriend. Bollywood movies can be successful even without skin show and cheap characterization - and I think this is what directors ought to prove. However, I only feel that Preity should have had a more meaningful role, some intense scenes perhaps; there was a lot of scope in this which Farhan did not fully utilize.

Signing off.

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"I have a dream" --- only when i'm sleepin'