Wake up, indeed..

Went to watch this movie- 'wake up Sid' and I thought it was a cute movie, well made. But this is not a critique of the movie. The predominant thought as I drove home was not how charming or good looking Rishi Kapoor's son is (Yes, I'm a fan of Kapoor senior)...I pondered instead on the simple message of the movie, that you need to let the mind be free, in order for an individual to achieve anything. I cant remember how often I've felt that as students in the current system of education we were merely being driven like sheep towards a common exit- to come out as factory productions of the ideal graduate. But there cannot be a common exit...each individual is different. The current system only succeeds in stifling the natural talents and inborn instincts of some of the most incredibly gifted students.

Macaulay brand education, which was meant to produce an effecient bureaucratic class for the Raj anyway (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1833macaulay-india.html) is today simply an instrument of the state. There is very little, if any, room for spotaneity or originality. We must all be clones.

No doubt the educational system in the country needs a fresh perspective and a complete overhaul. But this looks like a very distant dream, especially because the powers that be are engaged in a constant battle about which poltical party is able to influence the curriculum the most and twist and turn facts to reflect their ideology.

The educated elite of the country have no doubt lost faith in the entire setup. How else do you explain the intense enthusiasm that surrounds any politician who has studied abroad? As if by the mere act of having studied at Harvard or Cambridge, they have gained extra insight into the business of running this country, or would be more dependable or honest than your other run of the mill politicians. The level of faith in the Indian educatioanal system is pretty much at its nadir. What we need is someone with a backbone to take charge of the educational system and prove the naysayers wrong.