Muntaha Amin
Every individual has his/her own field of interest in which he/she could achieve mastery and perfection with proper guidance. But most of the parents mostly don’t seem to understand this very simple thing. It needs to be given thorough attention that if a footballer is given a stethoscope. A writer is given a technical equipment. And, a doctor is given a cricket kit. Then, what will they do with all these things. For sure, they will end up messing everything and creating chaos and confusion in the society.
It is a serious thing to ponder upon. And, it is to see how parents thrust their decisions upon their children as per their own interests. Most parents are bent upon making their wards doctors and engineers, not taking into account their potential, abilities and above all, their interest.
The recently unearthed CET scam is the bare evidence to show the mentality of some parents. Either these money-minded parents crave for more wealth or for status in the society. Mostly, it is seen that the parents who are themselves doctors and engineers, are hell-bent upon making their children opt for Medical and Technical streams. It seems as if opting for Arts, Home Science and other streams will hurt their ego and degrade their so-called high status in the society. And then, those are the parents who end up creating problems for their children.
Children are forced to do things which they are not interested in. And, they end up becoming unstable citizens of our society. These parents are so blind to see the reality that despite observing weak performance of their children in medical and technical streams, they go on thrusting their wills upon them. And instead of changing their minds, they go for donation!
They make their children—doctors and engineers, by cashing some bucks. So, eventually we end up producing illiterate and incompetent doctors—who create lot of problems in the society. Many cases have been seen where patients suffer or die due to carelessness and lack of knowledge of some random money-made doctors.
Yes, folks! Yes. These are the same donation doctors who perhaps may have wanted to become writers, social activists and artists to serve the society. Or cricketers who could have entertained the people—but unfortunately, they end up harming the society as well as themselves. They, then, bury their conscience and desires deep down in some hidden corners of their hearts. Some even put an end to their lives for the remorse of having sacrificed their dreams and fields of interest—notwithstanding the compromise, forced on them!
So, it is the need of the hour to create awareness in the public to let their children pursue their dreams. Career counselling cells and units should be started at every level—be it school, colleges or universities. Mindset of the adults needs to be changed. Perception of seeing doctors and engineers as money-minting machines needs to be changed!
Let the youth take a milestone in the world of their interest—to see, the fruit of their labour. Let us love the work we do and only then, we will do it perfectly. And, let us allow our posterity do whatever they like. The things they are interested in can take them to the world of mastery. Everyone will be a specialist and master in his/her field and serve society accordingly.
We, too, then can dream of having ideal societies—like in the West. Parents in these societies allow their children to indulge in the fields of their interest since very early childhood itself. And, it is not surprising when they become masters in their own fields. Thereby, such societies are producing many masters in all the walks of society.
And before we could dream of inching closer to such societies, we need to take a positive initiative.
(A bibliophile and an aspiring writer, Muntaha Amin is from south Kashmir’s Islamabad district. She has just passed her Class 12 exams)
