Arbitrary Notions

R eality shows are entertaining, especially if you are not taking part in one. There is a curious kind of satisfaction in watching a desperate group of unknown people thrown together and to have them fight it out for the ultimate prize. These have always been popular right from gladiator matches in ancient Rome to Roadies on MTV today. The only noticeable change being the cut-throat competition has become less literal and more symbolic( thankfully ). There is another reality show genre that takes place every year with lakhs competing but it has not been televised ( yet ), maybe because of the extreme nature of the content ( someone pitch this to MTV now ). I am talking of course of the admission process for the higher education in India. CAT should have a proper logo and theme song. Here is my suggestion for the logo, cool right?

Perfection has one grave defect: It is apt to be dull.       -W.Somerset Maugham

Y ou might have come across this video before. I am sure. It was all over the social media some time back. I guess it was this day, last year. This video titled 'I am 20' was made by the Films Division of India for the 20 th Independence Day. The lucky few born on the ‘stroke of the midnight hour’ ( not quite literally ) were selected and interviewed about their hopes, desires, expectations, fears and various other issues. Take a look if you haven’t seen this gem before.

Disclaimer : The stats and numbers posted here are completely made up by me. There is no source to verify these. T his post is going to be exactly what you think. Many before me have forayed into this area and done a better job than what I will do. Idea for this came to me a few days back when I saw a post on facebook which said ‘In India we first become an engineer and then decide what we want to do in life’. This actually was one of the most honest posts to have been put up. Outside India ( by that I mean USA and other western countries and not any of our immediate neighbors ), the kids usually get to explore their potential in fields other than academics during their school years only. This helps them to decide what field of study to choose and then they go on to make a career in that field. Also we have the arbitrary notion in India to have doctors or engineers in every home that our western peers don’t have. Some will say opportunities are given in India as well, but to them...