A couple of days back, I accompanied my brother to his Anna Univ Engineering counselling. Now Venki my bro is a classic example of MPD..lol..he was oh-so-tensed, but tried to put on this brave front, and ended up with a fever. He has his priority list set, and wanted Computer Science really bad ('I love programming..Im born to code!') but it was very sad, because his first and second choice colleges did not have any CSE seats remaining, so he had to settle for IT. All prepared, we stand in the queue, the family, for moral support, and we were, lets put it this way, listening to everyone else talk, simply because we had nothing else to do. So picture this. My brother, getting constant updates from friends..'dai machan, 3 seats left in Meenakshi da', my mum, who goes like..'cha, whats the point in having scored so much! No CSE..we should have paid up somewhere and got a seat..you know..XYZ aunty's sister's daughter got into CSC in ABC college paying 4 lakhs! What is the point in earning so much money..who else can I spend it for..' and on and on..!And I was just looking around, fretting about how old I have got, because I really felt old, looking at all the kids around..('man so young these people are.. oh great..Im aging :(' )
So then I was 'chanced to overhear' this girl's dad on his mobile. It was very convenient because she was standing right behind us. 'Sollunga maaplai, no problem! She will surely get computer science from PSG or CEG..Being an SC ST carries with it its own advantages!' My brother turned around and his jaw dropped like..like it would have hit the ground if not for all those muscles and everything else holding it in place. I mean, here is a girl, who is just as intelligent as my brother, who has scored the same marks as him, but is allowed to study in a college that any other equally intelligent student from a different caste will not even have in his priority list, simply because it is way beyond his score!
I know many of you reading this would have had first hand experience in the same. But well, what is the point talking about experiences right now. The question is what can be done regarding this??!! A good many private college (not those that sell seats) take in students on merit basis.For instance, SASTRA, Tanjavur, has just one criteria for students applying to it-a score of over 1100 for 1200. Colleges like Symbiosis have their own screening tests which only the best of the lot clear, and so do IIT and IIM, but the caste-shadow-ghost-evil spirit makes its presence felt everywhere.. and how! Finally, everybody, except those benefited by this, everyone else cribs about it. I mean..why why WHY cant we adopt something like the western education system??!! After one entire semester of a paper called Research Methods, and cramming this detail answer on how to do a questionnaire, my internship guide asks me to frame a questionnaire. My first practical attempt at it. I took one entire day with 3 re-do's. I mean, why dont we have any practical learning!! A few zoologist friends from the USA work in zoos through the summer, because such practical exposure will only get them into a good college. So how many of you guys have done anything like that...? I believe every module taught must have the students experiment it themselves. But this needs to be initiated from primary school.We might say how important this is, but we are not at all accustomed to this method and we might rebel..Whatever..Maybe I might just teach my kids to not make the same mistakes I did..to love derivations; to understand equations..and to revel in the magic of numbers..*sigh* OMG!!Did I pen that last line??!! Okay guys, lets bench that for now..Bring out the exam guides people..You shall PASS!! cheers!
