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A disheartening news of yet another IIT student committing suicide, its high time Indian parents get over their engineering mania and let their children live.
Disheartening news of yet another IIT student committing suicide; it’s high time Indian parents get over their engineering/ medicine mania and let their children follow their passion.
Trigger alert: This post contains discussions & descriptions of suicide.
Imagine a world where all the people, each and everyone, can either build infrastructure, deal with computers, machines etc., or treat illnesses and that’s it, nothing else. If that’s the case then who would write books which we love to read, make films that we all enjoy watching, sing or dance to entertain us, or run businesses to earn money for the country?
Many of our parents, bound by the societal norms of best careers, wish the same for their children. They are caught by society’s fixation for specific professions like medical, engineering, law or chartered accountancy. They want nothing but a bright future for their kids. So intending good, they discourage their sons and daughters from perusing a career of their choice, apart from the ‘regular’ ones.
The recent news of a Karnataka girl studying in IIT-Guwahati committing suicide is a result of society’s whims and fancies being imposed on children. She was depressed and wanted to peruse engineering no more. She felt she would be hurting her parents by not meeting their expectations. Hence decided to sacrifice her own life instead. This is heartbreaking.
Many Indian movies have made tons of money dealing with this very issue, hundreds of articles and books have been written as to how its absolutely fine to choose a different career path, and there are many real life examples out there – of successful people who have earned name, fame and money by following a career of their choice. In spite of all these efforts, the society’s notion hasn’t changed much. Parents are still made to feel that it’s not right on their part to encourage children follow a ‘wrong path.’ So, the poor cries of their children never reach their ears?
It had just been one and a half month since this girl joined IIT-Guwahati. It’s hard to even imagine the emotional trauma she must have undergone to take such a drastic step. It’s so hard to crack JEE exams, and the very fact that she made it to IIT proves her mettle. It’s clear that she must have been feeling desperate to take such a step, and it’s important for all of us to be more supportive of young people and their aspirations, rather than steering them towards what we think they need to do.
Image Source – Pexels
If you or anyone you know is feeling suicidal, here are some of the helplines available in India. Please call.
Aasra, Mumbai: 022-27546669 Sneha, Chennai: 044-2464 0050 Lifeline, Kolkata: 033-2474 4704 Sahai, Bangalore: 080–25497777 Roshni, Hyderabad: 040-66202000, 040-66202001
Apart from being the Associate Editor at Women's Web, where I get to read, edit and write a lot of interesting articles, my life is simple. It begins at 'M' (Movies) and ends with ' read more...
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