1. Have an Interesting Snippet to Share : Click Here
    Dismiss Notice

An appalling crisis!

Discussion in 'Cheeniya's Senile Ramblings' started by Cheeniya, Feb 9, 2008.

  1. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    12,626
    Likes Received:
    16,903
    Trophy Points:
    538
    Gender:
    Male
    Dear Chithra
    I read your FB ,particularly the portion that dealt with Vish's TVS days, with great interest and ,of course, a smile. It brought me back to my own professional days when I was an Executive of SBI. SBI also followed the same policy of appointing only 10th failed candidates to the sub-ordinate cadre. The problem was when these guys got promoted to the clerical and officers' cadres, they could never perform their duties efficiently. They were all monumental examples of 'Peter Principle'!

    You are right about the software jobs which, besides other things, have caused the rentals in South Chennai going through the roof. In my days, getting into the IAS used to be the ultimate dream of every student. Then came the Engineering and Medical courses. But today, there is a mad rush for software jobs. No one can offer the kind of salaries that multinational software companies offer. It is not uncommon to see a bright student getting picked up by these companies straight from their campus at salaries exceeding Rs10 lakhs per annum!

    In the famous NIIT ads, you can see IT companies shooting down bright candidates with tranquilisers and bundling them off to their companies! With all these, the travails of middleclass parents in giving the kind of education to their wards that would make them prosperous continue to exist!
    Sri
     
    sindmani and knbg like this.
  2. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    12,626
    Likes Received:
    16,903
    Trophy Points:
    538
    Gender:
    Male
    Dear Mythraeyi
    I am deeply sorry if my thread has sounded derogatory to women. If I suffer from any kind of prejudices, gender bias is certainly not one of them. In fact, in my own household I am a minority being the only male member!

    Whatever I have written, as I always do, is based on my own experience. Being a father of two daughters, I have never felt any bias towards male children and I never left my daughters high and dry just because they were girls.

    While writing for a Women's Forum, I have always endeavoured to confine myself to issues that were common to both men and women and in expressing myself, I have strictly guarded against making any remark that would be hurtful to women.
    Sri
     
  3. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    12,626
    Likes Received:
    16,903
    Trophy Points:
    538
    Gender:
    Male
    Dear AC
    First things first. A big WOW to your FB! It shows how thoroughly and seriously you have gone through others' FBs before writing yours. I have always stated that whatever I write is to promote a discussion and I am glad that such valuable FBs add strength to my threads.

    The issue of educating our children transcends all gender considerations. Today every parent wants to provide the best education for his children irrespective of their gender. If this is not so, then girls would not be outnumbering boys in certain professional courses. In fact BPOs prefer mainly girls for their operations.

    Today's parents are aware that education is an absolutely essential investment. In the good old days, youngsters were expected to follow their family profession only. But this thought, strongly propogated by Rajaji, was nipped in the bud fortunately. Today we see a cobler's child emerging victorious in IAS exams and a servant maid's child making waves in software business!

    You are right about the need to be well prepared. The trend where the parents took all the decisions regarding their children's education themselves is now changing. It is a welcome thing because the student would not feel that something has been thrust on him against his own inclination.

    As regards the change in my narrative style, I find the same with yours too! Where is all that delightful 'chindumudinjifying' without which my threads are becoming too serious!?
    Sri
     
  4. Anandchitra

    Anandchitra IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    6,617
    Likes Received:
    2,620
    Trophy Points:
    345
    Gender:
    Female
    Dear Sri
    Thanks for the WOW words.. :bowdown BTW I thought I will answer your question .."Where is all that delightful 'chindumudinjifying' without which my threads are becoming too serious!?.."
    You cannot begin to fathom of difficult a task I have..Rant As soon as our "OATS" friend:hiya writes here I go thru her post line by line word by word scanning for something to Chindus but nooooo hmmmm? And you on the other hand could have dropped in words like Oats, Barley, Bran bonkand whatever else to help.. but noooo.. so left to my own:spin .. Andha amma kunjam vitta kuduthal namma velai maja than but ora adiya andha cooking pakkame thali vachu paduthu pakkam vandhal keesituven keesu nu enaku ore payam ..what to do?Big Laugh
     
  5. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    12,626
    Likes Received:
    16,903
    Trophy Points:
    538
    Gender:
    Male
    Dear AC
    I always thought that Anandchitra was a synonym for fearlessness. Please dont change that impression! I mention oats so much that she has directed me to focus on bran.I dont think she can 'keesufy' anything more than her oats dosa! Have no fear!
    Sri
     
  6. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    12,626
    Likes Received:
    16,903
    Trophy Points:
    538
    Gender:
    Male
    Dear Vidya
    When Tendulkars and Brian Laras can get out for a duck at times, this poor mortal coming out with mediocre stuff from time to time may be smiled away in sheer indulgence! But then tell me, how is that you leave out my better ones and zero in on such stuff as the one under discussion?

    I wrote this thread to highlight the increasing cost of education and how it is getting beyond the reach of middle class people. I was even accused of gender bias because the example that I cited unfortunately was that of a girl. The problem has nothing to do with gender at all. The point is that many parents have become burdened with loans beyond their capacity to repay. Further, all this capitation fees and other forms of graft change the outlook of the students. When these youngsters complete their courses successfully and become gainfully employed, they are left with no option but to generate extra income through dishonest means to repay the debts. Over a period of time, they get used to the luxury of easy money.

    If Doctors fleece their patients through unnecessary diagnostic processes, they can be justified doing that considering the hefty donations they were forced to make for getting a seat in Medical College. Corruption is a continuous process. It is like the victims of Count Dracula becoming vampires themselves!

    I do hope you will manage your time well in future and ensure that you dont miss my threads. You also owe it to me as my moderator!
    Sri
     
  7. Vidya24

    Vidya24 Gold IL'ite

    Messages:
    2,654
    Likes Received:
    181
    Trophy Points:
    155
    Gender:
    Male
    Dear Mythraeyi,

    It is always refreshing to see varied opinions being expressed in a sub-forum. And every member in IL is free to voice her perceptions and opinions. And Cheeniyasir's forum is not one where he welcomes only praise.

    I see that you have spoken about an apparent gender bias in Cheeniyasir's post 'An Appalling Crisis'. You have spoken clearly and openly. That is appreciable. And Cheeniyasir has replied stating his position and opinions.

    From what we have read in Cheeniyasir's sub forum over the last months, it is clear that he holds no gender bias. There have been posts where he has specifically spoken about empowerment of women. Most African communities have an 'elder' whose voice is always heard in silence and reverence. Cheeniyasir is quite one such elder in IL.

    I am glad that we could have such a discussion where all parties can speak their mind and leave no bitter after taste.

    regards
    Vidya


     
    1 person likes this.
  8. Nivedi

    Nivedi New IL'ite

    Messages:
    713
    Likes Received:
    15
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Gender:
    Female
    Dear Cheeniya Sir,

    I have a family friend in India whose daughter is now in her early 40's. She lives with her parents. She was a brilliant student and an out-standing sportsperson. While in her std 12, she continued to spend the same time for her sports activities as she had done before. Her std 12 marks however shocked her and her family. She had scored some 45 - 50% and she fell into a depression that soon turned into a very deep mental disorder. She began attacking her family members at times even with a knife. She continues to live a drug-dependent life now. This shows how monstrous those Plus 2 marks can get. They can tear up a person's life beyond repair.

    Very often parents coax their wards to go beyond limits that they themselves never achieved. They do'nt look at alternatives and do'nt accept an average child. Parents are not looking at life-skills. Life is not always about achievements and more achievements. Parents want a child who scores 99% and breezes into a college without having to pay money and land in a high-paying job soon after and have a cake-walk in everything else. I will not find fault with the youndsters. They are doing much more that what their parents did and getting caught in the whirlpool of unrealistic expectations.

    The worst hit are those who get 98% and fail to get into a course of their choice because they had missed those dreaded cut-off marks by a .1 % or less. The most unfortunate in India are those who get 95% and have no money to pursue higher education.
     
  9. abhatv

    abhatv Senior IL'ite

    Messages:
    273
    Likes Received:
    5
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Gender:
    Female
    Dear Cheeniya sir,

    I read the post - very interesting from my point of view especially because my son is going to write his 12th exams from March 1st. I can only say that though we urge him not to waste his time and study, he does not seem to take anything seriously and is in a world of his own. So we parents have stopped telling him anything now and left everything to God's will. We have provided him with whatever he needs to study well but he does not seem to make full use of it. And when I think of the limitations we had in our days, I do not know what to say. Have tried explaining to him in all possible ways, but it is like "pothinu vedamothunnathu" I feel. Ayway whatever happens can only be for good....., in that hope we find some solace.

    Regards,

    Abha.

    P.S. Did we in our anxiety provide him more than what was necessary? Sometimes I feel so......
     
  10. Cheeniya

    Cheeniya Super Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    12,626
    Likes Received:
    16,903
    Trophy Points:
    538
    Gender:
    Male
    Dear Nivedi
    "Very often parents coax their wards to go beyond limits that they themselves never achieved. They do'nt look at alternatives and do'nt accept an average child. Parents are not looking at life-skills. Life is not always about achievements and more achievements. Parents want a child who scores 99% and breezes into a college without having to pay money and land in a high-paying job soon after and have a cake-walk in everything else. I will not find fault with the youndsters. They are doing much more that what their parents did and getting caught in the whirlpool of unrealistic expectations"

    I wish every parent reads these profound words of yours. The pathetic case that you have narrated is the direct result of the acute pressure caused by too much expectations. While it is natural for parents to expect their children to outperform them in all fields but then such expectations should be realistic.
    My grandson is in his 10th and the way my daughter drives him scares me at times. I wonder how the youngsters are able to cope with such parental pressures. The incident that I had narrated in my thread is not fiction. I have seen parents bombarding their wards for scoring less than 98% ! As you rightly say, they themselves would not have scored that kind of marks in their entire lives!
    Most of the parents never consider the 'load bearing capacity' of their children. They forget that overloading them can make them crash emotionally. That's what is the lesson to be learned from the episode that you have narrated
    Sri
     

Share This Page