The Indian teenager has come a long way literally. From repression to a vulnerable stoicism often clothed in bravado, the journey has been exhilarating, to say the least. In recent years, the Indian ‘gen next’ has had a formidable task to perform — to behave as an adult in times of stress and to behave their age when the adults want them to. Virginia Satir couldn’t be clearer when she said, “Adolescents are not monsters. They are just people trying to learn how to make it among the adults in the world, who are probably not so sure themselves.”
Add to this, tremendous parental pressure, a society that dazzles them into believing that show-and-tell is everything and you have a heady cocktail of greed, ambition and youth. The wrongs begin at the school itself. Disinterested teachers at school who do not know how to teach innovatively and overambitious parents who want their children to excel, particularly in science, at any cost, is the obvious part of the problem. The not-so-obvious part is the rapidly changing mindset of the children itself.
“There is something to be said about the Indian educational system, i.e., the ills and problems that it has, and that it encourages ‘rote’ learning, rather than encouraging the spirit of enquiry and reasoning,” says Dr Anand Inbanathan of Centre for Social Change and Development, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore.
Today, unlimited opportunities opening up have proved to be both a blessing and a bane! The IT boom, the BPO deluge, have all given birth to high-paying jobs. So, instead of opting for something that speaks to their hearts or something that needs a lot of patience and dedication such as the armed forces, students prefer to go for engineering courses that straightaway take them to the luxurious IT lap or even simpler and more rewarding moneywise, a job with a BPO.
Overstated?
Is this shortcut to success sustainable in the long run? “Making mistakes in their career choices is something anyone can do, but taking up a career for the material benefits it promises, is something that many youngsters deliberately choose — where the high income is an end in itself,” adds Dr Inbanathan.
In their defence, Dr Shyamala Vatsa, a consultant psychiatrist from Bangalore, says, “Youth are not a homogeneous bunch of idiots. For most people there is a process involved. They either try getting into professional courses, or are aware of their limitations and settle for jobs that will at least get them some money and confidence. Also, there are kids who are genuinely trying to support their families by taking up these jobs.”
Family support
Dr Inbanathan feels that the move towards money is somewhat overstated. “There are still plenty of people who are madly rushing towards these kind of jobs but there are also still others who will take up what they are passionate about. Certainly, globalisation has to be seen as a possible factor here, in big money coming into India, and occupations that can now offer a size of income that was not possible even just a few years ago.” Has this pushed creativity and real talent to the backseat? “Yes, it has,” says Dr Vatsa. “People see a movie like Taare Zameen Par and appreciate it. But there are children in our world who have all sorts of difficulties, which cannot be easily diagnosed or remedied as such parents and teachers, as portrayed in the movie, are truly rare.”
“In India you need family support if you are going to pursue art of any kind. Many parents would understandably try to influence their child to take up commerce rather that fine arts as they figure he can get ‘some job’ with the former. If funds are limited they would not have the courage to pour money into their child’s dreams as they fear the consequences of the child’s failure,” she adds.
Of late, careers like teaching, research, the armed forces, etc, have been facing severe shortage. A fact highlighted by the shortage of good teachers and dedicated soldiers.
“In these professions you need dedication even more than talent. To be dedicated you need a certain amount of idealism and an ability to think beyond yourself. In this age of consumerism, people cannot acquire all the products advertised as must-haves on a teacher’s salary,” emphasises Dr Vatsa.
Principal, MES PU College, B G Prabhavathi deeply feels, “Don’t go for money — money should come in search of you.” The materialistic trend, in Dr Inbanathan’s opinion, is growing not just because of more job opportunities but also because of a change in the political-economic system itself. “From the old socialistic system, we have now become a society that accords the highest respect to money and the makers of it. In such a scenario, parents pushing their children into occupations or learning that provide for higher income/higher status is most natural. The children themselves are unwilling to let go of the promised ‘good life’.”
Great elasticity
“One can say that the middle-class youth have certainly changed as compared to their previous generations,” says Dr K G Gayathridevi, well-known sociologist of the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore. “Now they are far more decisive about their future, goals and ways of attaining them. In urban areas, middle-class youth have high aspirations as they know only education can bring them a high status. Despite parental pressure as regards choices in most cases, children have a great elasticity to adjust and grow to these expectations of the parents, relatives and society at large. To excel has become a virtue no matter what gender, caste or class background.”
While the youth stand at the crossroads — their journey has become more stormy in today’s greed-driven times. One only hopes that they get the loving support of a Nikumbh or two while they search for the mythical pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!
Parent speak
This confidence seems to reflect in parents as well. Renu Thakur, whose son, Rishineet Singh Thakur, studies in standard 11th at a boarding school in Mysore, says her husband and she share a good rapport with their son.
There are ‘no secrets’ and their son comfortably discusses all his problems with his parents. Shivkumar, an engineer based in Belgaum, differs with the view to an extent. Studying in a small town definitely has its advantages, he says. The child does not have access to the many ‘unwanted’ facilities that big places offer and leads a more disciplined life. There is the absence of mall culture that enables control on expenses as well. But, “ultimately what you become in life depends on the parents and teachers.” Ask him what his daughter Anvita studying in class X wants to do, and his reply is “either engineering or law — but she will decide what she ultimately wishes to do; we are here only to guide her.”
Teacher speak
The principal of a local school in Bangalore, says almost 70% students opt for engineering. One fact that rankles him — most parents pressurise their children to opt for science at the PUC I level even though they are either not interested in it or are not capable of doing well in it. Arts, Humanities, and research, seem to have no takers today, feel Lakshmi and Nageshree, lecturer at MES Junior College, Bangalore.
Student speak
Ask students in the higher classes what they want to do in life and they are pretty clear about their plans. Priya and Shalini, studying in Class XII, in Kendriya Vidyalaya, Hebbal, have both decided on doing B.Com and MBA, with the only difference being that Priya wishes to do her MBA abroad because she feels having a foreign degree has more weightage.
MBA remains the raging trend especially in commerce students today. Apoorva, a class XI Science student, wants to become an astrophysicist, with clear intentions to do her M Sc, and then work at the IISc in Bangalore. Nidhi, also of class XI, aims to be a neuroscientist. Manisha Yadav, a PUC I Arts student of MES College, Bangalore, plans to do her journalism (decided in class VII!) after having convinced her resisting family that it was indeed for her best! Contrary to the status of Arts in the past, now people have become more aware of the choices it offers, adds Manisha.
