Saturday 11 July 2015

The parliament of crows

Borrowing a phrase from classical  writers i would term the next experience as "the Parliament of Crows". I will spare the fowls as they are hardworking birds which give us our real food these days.Let's have a simile in that urban phenomenon, so common in Delhi, where i am at present, the crow. The creature braves all things urban ,namely, electrocution, manhandling, starvation and the weird rains of delhi, which are capricious at best. Just like them, the youngsters look when they gather for their interviews for admission to undergraduate seats,in one of the private universities of Delhi.

They were all sitting in a huge comfortable room sizing each other up. My son, too, after his harrowing ordeal at a private medical college was there.He wanted to be considered for a seat in architecture. A girl sobbed as she came out of the interview for the medical physiology course. Another looked worried so my son coached her somewhat.After all he used to have aspirations for medicine.Once. She was really happy as the questions asked were a little tougher than expected.

Then there was the geek whose parents wanted him to do architecture while he wanted the predictable computer science engineering. He had a good score in the architecture aptitude test. But his genius gained recognition. I watched all the young ones indulgently. Parents are not always self centered maniacs driving their kids up the wall.The geek's parents, obviously wanted to give him a creative break but the geek was not up to it. He wanted the challenge of long hours.

I watched as all of them turned into 18 year olds and spoke happily to each other about their dreams and aspirations. I watched my son's eyes turn cheerful once again as he went for his interview. There were no more fears in this world, no harassment or donations. Yes, fees in some of these private universities are high.But are they really for a privileged few? or are they for discerning parents who care for their children? We are ready to forgo all pleasures and make drastic cuts in the home finances so that our children can go to a real college.

Yes, if we think about it ,that is what it has come to.The government system has failed us totally. Some of the private medical colleges are setting a trend that can benefit just a privileged few. For most of us, tax payers ,the choice is limited to a few private universities and colleges who have tied up with universities abroad to strengthen their courses. I would say that they have restored youth back to the nation. Is it too much for a teenager to ask to safely go to college? without his parents getting harassed or his being murdered?

My son came back beaming from the interview.They had really grilled him.They also said that he could be a good doctor but hey, maybe that would be a loss for architecture. His lecturers had showed interest in his blog and said that his photography portfolio was terrific. Private universities. May their tribes increase....... As the parliament folded ,once again i decided to turn back to Kaku's theory......

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