The road not taken.....

This should ideally have been in my other blog.But there was too much of sensitivity involved in it to be treated as just another social issue.

So much of hue and cry over the new decision over reservations.Brickbats and blessings.But obviously this time the rare once in a blue moon event of relative consensus happening.Debates and discussions.But this time,my mind doesnt revert itself back to the all-anaysis-do-nothing mode.It races back to the memories which haunts the more sensible part of my brain sending emergency signals.

Scene 1

A tribal school project of an NGO in the deepest rural recess of Maharashtra.

Ofcourse there are no kids because of the seasonal migration of he particular group of tribal population due to rains. We the enthusiastic kids purely motivated only on the fieldwork grades climb up the worst terrain of hillocks and valleys and reach tribal hamlets to try canvassing kids. [By that time, our ideas of reviving and cleansing India into a 'shining' one was lost beyond redemption.All it mattered by then was grades].Well,there were kids.The elder ones looking after the younger ones.The more healthy ones going with parents in lieu for work, which was incidentally growing cannabis.And whats the real use of preaching the values of education to those who never really came to school expecting nothing other than free clothes and the occassional feast provided by the NGO.
The rural school they were part of never encouraged them to be in attendance because of the apparent difficulty in teaching them.And the only time they were needed was when the district officials came in for a check.And the NGO kids like us did go,but in limited time and with limited resources.Gross lack of initiative and severe absence of direction.I still have never been able to answer the one question a mother asked so sincerely-"Will it atleast help her son becoming a school peon?"Honestly,I didnt know whether the primary education which they got so sparsely would equip him with that.
And do we really think this guy would make it to the higher education institutes with the benevolent reservations when his ability to even read and write is at stake?
The questions remain with no evident answers.

Scene 2

Tete a tete of some of the so called intellectuals in a cosmopolitan campus in Bangalore

Everything under the sun is a possible discussion point.Some to show off, some genuine and interested opinions. "Whatever said and done, no matter how evolved I can think deep down I still feel proud that I'm a Brahmin and I really find it difficult to closely interact with the lesser castes"- This came from a very close friend of mine and was not really surprised at her brutal honesty
Because I am not qualified to judge her. I do make assumptions when someone says they are a Varma or an Aiyer.I do try consoling myself when an exceptionally brilliant Math student turns out to be a Brahmin.No matter how much I try,it seeps within and is always there without even me knowing.How can I get rid of something which is so deep within the iceberg?

Scene 3

A workshop conducted by the suicide helpline I volunteered for

It was for a league of the most prestigious educational institutions all over the country.The IIT's,IIm's and the works.Triggered by an unprecedented rise in student suicides, there were any number of counseling help beckoned for any kind of educational forte right from the nurseries to institutions par excellence.Answering the why's was a curious exercise.But it soon revealed that the most fiery reason as evident as day light was loneliness and inability to fit in with the pressure.This leading to the most devastating step in campuses where there are hordes of fellow students and professors.

Do we really assume that providing reservations would actually make a student competitive enough?Will he survive in a mad rush of always being at the top?Is anyone going to help him out in his moments of loneliness and despair?Wont he be reminded that he is an outcast every single second of his life?How fair is that? Scene 4

My own postgraduation campus of international repute

We did have reservations.And boy!I could seriously understand how Aryans did invasion over the children of lesser gods.It would have been atleast a little endurable if the disgust was not made so obvious with snide remarks and casual ostracizing.And worse, it was politicized as well by the different parties involved.This, in one of the most evolved campuses known for its social conscience and moral fibre.I have heard sob stories from fellow management classmates [who happened to be belonging to a caste which offered him reservation] on how a faction of the class literally scowled at them just because of their surnames not belonging to a particular genre.

What reservation would ensure basic human dignity?And how can you enforce respect for another human being?

Scene 5

A probable future scene as an aftermath

The queues in front of coaching centers would multiply in geometric progression.Some fortunate few will have reservation seats and some others can buy it with money.The middle class can buy only coaching classes and pile up pressure on poor kids.We will have more student suicides, desperate parents and a vile future.


Are we as a society really prepared to ensure equitable distribution and a fair share? Are we socially evolved as we claim ourselves to be? Aren't we still hypocrites who immediately judge a higher official by his color and brand his job as the mercy of reservation?

The answers are not black and white...its all shades of grey.

And mostly,its all in our mind.