Education is no less than a brand today. Most of us seek to get into the best of the college or institute to have a secure and hefty placement.
I spent three years in Delhi University and eventually went to a lesser famous university Jamia Millia Islamia. As soon as we got admitted, my class knew that we would have to put up a group effort without any help from the faculty to compete against the existing brand names like DSE and JNU. We went ahead with the flow .. with a sense of belongingness and did whatever we could to make the department a better place. Department became our second home .. from our HOD to faculty members, Office staff to helpers ... it was no less than a family. Eventually ours was the first batch to get campus placements with 100% success. I clearly remember the last day at Jamia .. where Professor Bhat, the HOD said that this batch would be counted as one which created history by indulging into activities that were never a part of the curriculum .. Might sound pompous ... but that fact remains ... that Jamia was a place where I learned to be on my own ... to use my own potential .. to showcase my own individuality different from the university brand ..
A few days back I interacted with my first year Economics Honors students and I realized that they are nowhere like we used to be in our college days. My students told me that they could not related to the college ... since it is an off campus college, with no sure shot placements and the crowd is not so happening according to the north campus standards. Many of them admitted that they could not acknowledge that they study in Kalindi College publicly as they feel ashamed ... I was so disheartened ... I tried explaining to them .. but felt so handicapped as .. the competition outside actually compels the young minds to think likewise. If you do not get into a good college ... it means lesser bargaining power according to the market trends ... and thus lesser comforts in terms of good packages and profiles ..
Studying is just a way to life now ... what you learn holds no importance ... So if you are from SRCC or Hindu ... and studied a fort night b4 your exams .. you will still end up with good job offers ... I think the whole essence of edution has been lost somewhere ... the process of learning .. has been over taken .. by commercialization.
