Recently, I saw a disturbing article in The Hindu. The author laments the fact that for the second year in a row, the Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) of Andhra Pradesh, will not be offering any arts streams at +2 level. I was really shocked. I mean, arts streams were always looked down upon even ten years ago when I was doing my +2, but completely eliminating them!??!. That is perfectly disgusting.
Perhaps the Board is not to be blamed. It's how the middle-class ambition works; like sheep, follow whichever is the easiest way to make money, attain the next step (if not several) in social ladder, be happy. And it is especially disturbing to see at my home state (ok, not really, to be fair, my home state is Pondicherry because my native place is Yanam). But my mom is from Andhra, and we all speak telugu, and we all consider ourselves andhraiites/telugu people. But you get the point.
This probably is the reason why I don't go back to Hyderabad. It reminds me of the days I was ruthlessly pushed around by ambitious parents, even more ambitious relatives who thought they knew better as to what I want to do with my life. Everytime I go back, I have to suppress the desire to say "F_ck you all! F_ck your misplaced priorities, f_ck your goddammned sheep-like thinking, f_ck your hankering for one more buck, f_ck your empty lives". Yes. That's why I don't go back. So I'm happy doing my thing in a city which cares as much about art and culture as technology (or so I hope).
But I have to say my generation got off easy. There was quite a bit of pressure even then, but this generation is completely hopeless. Ten years down the line, they will have no idea what to do with their lives. My home state is like a machine which gobbles fresh-faced innocent young minds and spits out zombie-like engineers who have no clue what's happening around the world and would not understand any thing except their textbooks and what their mommas and daddies say.
I'll give you an example. I have a nephew who studies in BITS Pilani. I asked him what books he reads - he's 19 yrs old, and the only books he could recall was Harry Potter series and a couple of John Grisham novels. Harry Potter! I let loose a silent curse to the entire set of relatives I had - but this guy is not any different from the kids that are coming out from the gazillion premier technology institutes across India. They're brain-dead when it comes anything apart from their textbooks. They don't have lives apart from their studies. They don't do any sports. They don't anything else for fun apart from watching those godforsaken tv serials and movies. I'm generalizing here, but you get the idea.
So the next time somebody asks me "why don't you come back to Hyderabad and set up your company?". I'm gonna show them the middle finger. F_ck off and die. I will have nothing to do with you. Ever. At least, not until everyone of those IIT coaching factories are wiped off the face of that soulless place they call a state.
Perhaps the Board is not to be blamed. It's how the middle-class ambition works; like sheep, follow whichever is the easiest way to make money, attain the next step (if not several) in social ladder, be happy. And it is especially disturbing to see at my home state (ok, not really, to be fair, my home state is Pondicherry because my native place is Yanam). But my mom is from Andhra, and we all speak telugu, and we all consider ourselves andhraiites/telugu people. But you get the point.
This probably is the reason why I don't go back to Hyderabad. It reminds me of the days I was ruthlessly pushed around by ambitious parents, even more ambitious relatives who thought they knew better as to what I want to do with my life. Everytime I go back, I have to suppress the desire to say "F_ck you all! F_ck your misplaced priorities, f_ck your goddammned sheep-like thinking, f_ck your hankering for one more buck, f_ck your empty lives". Yes. That's why I don't go back. So I'm happy doing my thing in a city which cares as much about art and culture as technology (or so I hope).
But I have to say my generation got off easy. There was quite a bit of pressure even then, but this generation is completely hopeless. Ten years down the line, they will have no idea what to do with their lives. My home state is like a machine which gobbles fresh-faced innocent young minds and spits out zombie-like engineers who have no clue what's happening around the world and would not understand any thing except their textbooks and what their mommas and daddies say.
I'll give you an example. I have a nephew who studies in BITS Pilani. I asked him what books he reads - he's 19 yrs old, and the only books he could recall was Harry Potter series and a couple of John Grisham novels. Harry Potter! I let loose a silent curse to the entire set of relatives I had - but this guy is not any different from the kids that are coming out from the gazillion premier technology institutes across India. They're brain-dead when it comes anything apart from their textbooks. They don't have lives apart from their studies. They don't do any sports. They don't anything else for fun apart from watching those godforsaken tv serials and movies. I'm generalizing here, but you get the idea.
So the next time somebody asks me "why don't you come back to Hyderabad and set up your company?". I'm gonna show them the middle finger. F_ck off and die. I will have nothing to do with you. Ever. At least, not until everyone of those IIT coaching factories are wiped off the face of that soulless place they call a state.
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