Making The Most Of A Wrong Choice!

We are defined by the choices that we make. Most of the times, these choices are made under a lot of uncertainty and hence there is no easy way of determining their outcome. Moreover, we are left in a catch-22 situation when we realise that the decision we made, wasn’t the best and all we are left with is to rue the situation and keep contemplating about the ‘what if’ scenario. However, every dark cloud has a silver lining. And once we start looking beyond our disappointments, we might just be able to figure out how to make the most of such ‘bad decisions’ that we make. For me, ‘Engineering’ was one such bad decision and following is the story of how I created the silver lining amidst my dark clouds.

 

Suicides Among The Youth ‘Due To Failure In Exam’ – A Rising Endemic

While the 100% cut-offs seem to reflect the evolving intellectual capacity of upcoming generations and grab headlines year on year during the admission season, another understated but equally critical fact that seems to get overshadowed by its more popular cousin is that of the increasing suicide rate among the students caused due to academic pressure, or as the Government of India puts it, ‘due to failure in exam.’

 

Engineering: The Love-Hate Relationship

Spending three years of the most impressionable years of your life in India’s most professional education setup spoils you to a great extent. You get used to classes filled with as many as 200 students; become accustomed to teacher’s wearing collar-mikes and listening to their voices from JBL speakers; get familiar with white boards shrouded with inks of different colours; and most importantly, you start expecting the same teaching level that you had experienced there, everywhere else. Yes, 3 years of stay in Kota had spoiled me to a great extent.

 

Chapter 1: Ordered Cheese Delivered Chalk

Chapter 1: The Arrival

 “Bhaiya, utho. Stop aa gaya hain (Mister, wake up. Your stop has arrived).” A harsh voice woke me up from my deep slumber.

Undertaking your first journey alone; moving out of the comforts of your home for the first time in your life is scary enough in itself. To be forcibly woken up from your deep sleep, on an unknown land by a rough voice, with the ugliest of face, is definitely good enough to send a chill down the spine of even the bravest of novices. So I guess ,I could be pardoned for the frightened expression I gave to the bus conductor upon his “God  forbidden” act of waking  me up from my sleep.

My fear notwithstanding, it took me two minutes to regain my senses, and realize my whereabouts. During my recuperation, a thought suddenly came across my mind, “Finally, I have arrived in Kota. I am here for real.”