Too Hefty A Price?

‘When we were kids, we gushed outside in the evening. As restless tots, it was tough sitting at home and most of the time we played games you never have heard of and, sadly, will never do.’

‘When we were kids, going outdoors meant to coaching centers. Yes, it was tough sitting at home and most of the time we remember rushing our vehicles from one tutor to another, learning things we have never used, and sadly, will never do.’ 

What definitive grounds to take pride on. We, without chewing any gum, owe the above transition of statements to the unprecedented competition and of course, the unabated power of time. Who, in our grandparents’ era, must have even had the slightest of the ideas that outdoor games would soon be replaced by the frantic schedule of the coaching centers, the bats and balls with the ‘Speed Maths’ and ‘Basic Physics’ at such tender ages, the childlike stress less smiling faces with spectacle laden dull robots, and Rajan’s house with a huge luring building of some coaching institute. The times have changed, or more so, the climes. Two three years back, nothing seemed so demented so as to hint me that within no time I’d have to quote things of my childhood with a prefix ‘In our times’. But today if I don’t, would they even manage to get the ABCs of the issue being discussed?

So, ‘In our times’, a parent had to rationalize the extra help being provided to his child in the form of tuitions. My father had a tough time justifying even my 10^th class test series in Mathematics. After having me enrolled into one, I wonder if he even considered me capable enough to appear for the boards. A massive tide of water has swept the old notions, and the new ones are occupying the space so hastily that one is left not with a choice but accept them. One doesn’t intend to denigrate the education being offered by the coaching institutes; maybe that’s exactly what the need of the hour is, aptly what the ever increasing competition calls for, but give me just one second of your life to calmly and impartially think upon this question: Is this education worth a childhood?

Stories of kids going to coaching institutes since their 4^th grade or maybe 5^th, aren’t new. They rarely manage to astound a person these days. ‘You Dream, We Fulfill’. Yes, yes, you aren’t a bit wrong in guessing the ‘we’ here; the million lane flooding institutes. The fees of a coaching institute is not 50,000, it’s a childhood.

Who has not heard the childhood stories of their parents form their own mouths? Of course, we all have. And no matter how much ego we have to shed in agreeing to the fact, that theirs was a more carefree time, we all do. Some of the incidents narrated by my father are hard to get through, but that’s where the real fun lies. Imagine, someone finding it hard to believe that something as crazy as what you did, could also be done. Flying kites is fun for us, making the strong thread used for flying the kites with sharp glass in screeching sun, was for them. This is where the metaphorical difference lies. One surely doesn’t expect a person to make threads out of glass but there is no harm in expecting the same happy-go-lucky attitude. Going back, are these coaching institutes demanding too much of a child? Too much, too early? Is being an IITian commendable if the child is being trained unabated for 6-7 years? Are we conscious of the fact that this is not the same as ‘going to lengths for realizing our passion’? When they grow up, will these kids ever know that there is a world beyond course books, and that strangely enough, it did exist even when they were stuck with the concepts of force and momentum? Where are we heading? These grey and white haired people think not a second before cursing the social networking sites for snatching the real world from today’s youth. Could they, for a change, tilt a bit and think in this direction too, of who is to be blamed for the present scenario?

I am not trying to defend the online world (I would love to, though), but till when are we going to be ruled by the old ideology of ‘No matter how much you study, it is always less’, and always blame the advancement in technology for whatever seems to be going the wrong way? It is not as true as it seems. Wait for the right time. It is not only not right but wrong to pay 100$ for a 2$ commodity.

Whatever you do, at the back of your head be aware, that someday you’d be narrating each incident as a story to your kids. Make sure, you do not invite mockery, or even worse, a pitiful laugh. Trust me, there will be no point repenting then. How about considering your deeds, now?