I can’t kick a football or for that matter up to no good in terms of sports. But this has never been an issue. Everybody was happy with the fact that I was not lagging in studies. However, my father would always say, ‘Kheloge koodoge to banoge nawab, padhoge likhoge to hoge kharab.’ Deep inside I always felt inferior because I could play no games. But so is not with the people, I don’t know from where has this belief percolated in our subconscious that immaterial everybody can’t play, everybody should study.
Studying out of interest will not suffice one has to be the best in their discipline. In spite of all the Bill Gates and Zuckerbergs as the champions of dropouts, children are compelled to compete with numbers. Children are put in school from the age of 2-3 years and they subconsciously encounter the pressure of performances much before they can understand it. In our country, a child generally becomes an engineer by the age of 23, and the stress game continues. If he finds a job, he succumbs to the work pressure and if not then to the unemployment. Instances of students committing suicide in prestigious institutions under the mounting pressure are common. The race of ‘becoming the best’ has no end.
What I can infer is, the biggest perk for such drive is the salary package. The humongous amount offered is strange. With such packages comes the life sucking work schedules. Thus, harboring a work hard and party harder culture. I don't object to the money offered, but can't the employers reduce the package and rather increase the number of people to be recruited. It would reduce the work pressure; increase the productivity as 1 and 1 make 11 than 2. This will also increase the job opportunities and people will have more family time.
I often see parents bragging about the packages earned by their children at younger ages. A youth of 22-25 years should have more access to the liberties of life than being subdued to money vending machines. Besides having good money, they fail to maintain good health and fell prey to disorders like depression. We have evolved into a society that believes one should have their own money to be happy. The abundance of money has altered our perspective towards life. It is strange how money is dictating our lives. Performance should not be the only paradigm and success the only goal.
Close your eyes and focus on your body. It is a marvel of perfection where billions of cells communicate, co-ordinate and perform to help you breath, blink, shake or sleep and laze around. Every single human is a huge investment of evolution. Then who are we to categorize them into genius, average, and moron? No genius uses less machinery than a moron while breathing. So, why this race and disrespect of human life?
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