Impact of a Degree

India is a diverse land offering thousands of career options to everybody from different verticals. One can pursue to become an engineer, or a doctor or a cop or a cricketer or even a photographer. There’s no limit to what you can dream and what you can become if you strive to work for it. However there’s one catch. The options are plenty, but you dont get to choose any of that.

A “respectable” family always strives to make their sons either a doctor or an engineer. There is no plan C.Two key reasons behind this is to get a good paying job and also eligible to be married.
So whats next ?

If you are a student living in India, you probably have only two courses ahead of you. Either pursue engineering or medical. Assume that you manage to pass out with flying colours in your 12th standard and still manage to get only a “Management quota” seat in a decent engineering college, which supposedly claims 100% placements from companies like Google, Microsoft etc. Though the latter has no knowledge of the existence of the said college

Again, a second assumption that you manage to complete all four semesters with or without arrears and sit for placements(if you have enough attendance to attend the same). Now you are faced with three options. Take up the 3Lakh/Year Software job. Else study for CAT examination by joining courses like TIME/IMS etc.. Third option is to pursue a MS by writing GMAT and taking a bank loan for 20 Lakhs(thanks to the ever growing disparity in the USD-INR currency)

The engineering degree is no longer in focus. This degree has impacted you so much in the last 20 years. Yet after completing it successfully you feel as if you have done anything with your life. You get the “settled” feeling, only if you manage to get a job in either TCS/CTS/Infosys. Other companies are just secondary when it comes to your relatives.
So I look back at my life or basically every engineer’s life and think what  was the impact it had on me. Here’s some

1. You are constantly going to tuitions. There’s no such thing as Saturday or Sunday. Probably it just means that the hours of tuition is just double.
2.  Relatives constantly ask if you are securing 80% or 90% in your school examinations. 60-70% is never an acceptable answer and you are looked down upon

 Points 1 and 2 imply that the school ensures that you don’t have a life. During the month when there are no examinations you are faced with loads of record work or assignments which makes absolutely no sense to the final exam

There is no time for love, music, movies or even meeting friends. You are either seen at a coaching class or a school or at home studying. You can get to feel the fresh air though on the way to your coaching class

A constant humiliation by almost everyone you meet, right from school teachers, parents, friend’s parents and of course your nosy pesky relatives
So after all the endurance if I am asked if the struggle and the massive impact I had all along was worth it, I would completely disagree. Nothing is worth if it means taking the fun out of your life.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can  apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.