There was a time during the first session of the second innings in the third Aus vs India Test match when India were 6 down and trailing by 50 runs that Ravi Shastri made this telling comment. He said that Virat Kohli should now focus on getting his century irrespective of the result of this match, in order to ensure his place in the side. I was shocked and appalled at this comment. It is not that the comment was something blasphemous but it's timing made me realize how horrible our mindset is with regards to cricket. We are a nation obsessed with personal milestones and don't give a damn about the overall outcome. Now that I think of it, this mindset is not just in cricket but in all spheres of life.
In a typical middle class family of India, a child grows up learning that he needs to get good marks to get respect in the society. He is in awe of his colleagues top scoring and making it into premier colleges. It does not matter how much he really learns in school as long as he has good marks to show on his report card. Recently I read this report in Times of India regarding some international exam that tested students skills in math, science and languages. Not surprisingly, our Indian students managed to outscore only Kyrgyztan in the overall tally.
Our country's education system obviously takes the primary blame but I think parents also take an equal amount of blame. They want their children to be engineers and doctors. There is absolutely no encouragement for developing the creativity of the child by introducing him to arts and sports. The arts and crafts that are taught in school are so lousy that they put off a student rather than fascinate the young mind. From my personal experience, I was really disappointed with the arts and music courses taught in my school. The teacher taught us songs and expected every student to sing beautifully. A bad singer was looked down upon. There was no effort to teach students music theory or musical instruments. There was no broadening of horizons of music for the child. All it did was that it ensured that students will not seriously consider music in their lives. Same was the problem with arts and crafts. There was no exposure to students to experience great works of art. Not surprisingly, Film studies were nowhere in picture. Today, film in India can be studied seriously only in FTII and NSD for which there is naturally, huge competition.
Every sphere of life in India is full of such competition. Life is a rat race. You often wonder why a person has to go through all this? Why an average student with genuine interest in some field cannot pursue it just because he doesn't make the cut off grades in some entrance exam? Many people don't have the courage to go against the convention and chart out a career in fields of their interest because they never got any formal education in it. As a result, they are full of self doubt and insecurity and can never find satisfaction in their careers. A lot of the blame goes to our culture which discourages an individual to live life on his on terms.
There is a way out of all this though, provided there is early intervention. Parent's in India have a huge influence on their child's life. Try not to force your child into anything. Expose him to the various pleasures of life. The pleasure of invention and discovery in science,the aesthetic appeal of arts as well as the sense of pride in sports. Recognize your child's strengths and encourage him to pursue it without worrying too much about his career. Do not let him get lost in this mindless rat race or make him develop an inferiority complex. You will be doing a huge favor on that young life.
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