In a country like India, where your neighbours and relatives play a bigger role in deciding whether you’ve achieved success or not, the word ‘admission’ bring nothing but stress to parents and students alike.
The admission process has begun – standing in long queues to collect admission forms, filling them out with complete concentration, running around the city to submit the forms, only to know that the date for submission has already passed(?) is a common process at such times. There is so much pressure on the student to perform and give his/her best so as to get admission in their ‘dream college’. There’s a need to get a decent percentage (read: 75%+) to get into a decent college.
The formula is simple : Good grades = Good college. And if you don’t manage to make the mark, then God help you. “Sharmaji ke bete ko 81% aaya hai, aur tumhe sirf 72%?”.
Of course I’m not generalising all parents and students when i say such statements but there’s a vast majority of parents out there who prepare their children, sometimes at the tender age of 10, for a bright future. Coupled with the pressure to score well, there’s the constant comparing with the neighbour’s kid, the childhood friend or cousins. It almost turns into a competition between parents of other children.
Not just this, the decision of which stream to pursue after the10th grade becomes another topic of debate. If the student gets 90%+, he must become a doctor or lawyer, if he gets between 75-90%, he must do commerce and those who barely manage to get a 65% should do arts. Yes, ‘Arts’. The very word makes people cringe. “You’re doing Arts? Must’ve fared badly during the boards, no?” is a common question.
I’d say no. Pursuing Humanities (NOT Arts) is no crime. I myself managed to score a decent 83% and still chose to do Humanities. It’s a question of choice and liking, really. If I followed the crowd and did Science to become a doctor, I’d have puked in my mouth looking at all the dissected bodies around me.
I was lucky enough to have parents who supported every decision I took. There are many out there who aren’t as blessed as I am. It’s important to understand the negative impact this admission stress has on students. Some can bear it, some just cannot. Some take extreme measures like committing suicide to escape this stress bubble – the bubble that students get trapped in because of constant pushing, bickering, comparing and taunting . They find it an easy way to leave this pressure behind.
This bubble needs to be broken. Infact, there should be no such bubble.
Saying this, we also say that there’s no need to fret so much. Take it easy, breathe and do what you have to.
Cheer up, because you are a firework!
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