Under the outrage against Smriti Irani, there are layers of historical, colonial, optimistic, selfish, amateurish and pragmatic arguments. 1. Intellectuals of Congress who bow like pets in front of less educated Sonia Gandhi and dubious degree holder Rahul Gandhi have all the reasons to oppose Smriti Irani, and we have all the reasons to ignore them. 2. Then there are elitists who have grown under a colonial mindset - groomed in the cradle of foreign awe and sleep under the effect of the colonial lullaby. It is very difficult for them to accept that a less educated woman will supervise the educational pathways of India 3. There are scientists, scholars, mathematicians, literature folks and artists who have failed to align administration with art. They are skeptic because capitalism often fails to preserve the motive of art and research. 4. Then there are millions of directionless people frothing on social media platforms who have to oppose it to exist. Fortunately, Smriti Irani has more people to defend her than to criticize her. Fortunately, the new generation has learnt to break shackles of stereotyping. Fortunately, BJP has come with a massive majority and she will survive. However, if you follow the Smriti Irani saga very closely, you will apprehend what exactly is wrong with the country. The dialectics have slowly deviated from Why are degrees important? to Cabinet ministers of UPA from Oxford, Harvard, IITs, IIMs, etc. have ruined us, so Oxford, Harvard, IITs, IIMs are worthless. People had started their arguments by quoting examples of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Ambani or Tagore to prove how education is not very important, but then they drifted to failed examples from good colleges to prove how degrees are so senseless. When we play with statistics, we must understand basic premises of statistics. A biased universe not only manipulates the results, but it also convinces us to believe in misrepresentations. When we exclusively present the case of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Ambani or Tagore, we neglect cases of many dropouts who have failed miserably, and when we only consider disappointing cabinet ministers from Oxford, Harvard, IITs, IIMs, etc., we discount off contributions from many Murthys, Rajans, Kalams, Sreedharans , who have driven the civilization ahead. Education doesnt add wings to people; it inoculates hopes of flying within them. Education doesnt pave your path for you; it acts as a map for you. Education doesnt make you special; it teaches you the power of the ordinary. Look at the core team of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates or Ambani and count the number of people who didn’t have formal education from good colleges. It is saddening to see how people have deviated in their discussions. Look at the rape case in Uttar Pradesh. All the culprits must be uneducated, but that doesnt mean that all the uneducated people should be criticized. Dont treat students of Oxford, Harvard, IITs, IIMs, etc. as special people, but please dont demonize these colleges just because of few examples.
Posted on: Sat, 31 May 2014 08:03:04 +0000