By Sahil Mehta
It’s a little funny and
ironical; 30 days of studying, fretting, late-night mugging etc. for exams –
all of which are sort of components of my education - made me forget the reason
why we chose “Education” as the theme for this issue. I’ve been scratching my
head on this for days and all it took was 30 minutes on reading up on the
internet. Some education we have, huh!
Back to topic. What does
education mean to Indians? I think it’s an incredibly difficult question to
answer because everyone has a different interpretation of it. Nonetheless, I
shall attempt to list down as many interpretations as i possibly can. To the
poor and underprivileged, education is a way out of their miserable lives. For
the middle class, it forms the backbone of their day to day lives. For the
politicians, it is an important election agenda. For the political activists
(like Anna Hazare), it is an issue to screw over the government. To the
economists, it is the foundation of ever growing economy; for the students it’s
a pain in the ass mostly. To the cynics and skeptics, education (or the
problems related to it) is the cause for many of India’s problems. To the
optimist, it is the key to a better future. I’m sure you will have your own
definition of it too. But to me, it was a mystifying question.
Education in the simplest,
and yet most complete definition, is “the process by which society deliberately
transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills, and values from one generation to
another.” – Wiki.
When you put too much
value on the outcomes of an act, you can easily forget what it means to you. I
for one have found myself in that position time and again. And I do not think
I’m the only Indian who has sought the true importance of education. There is
no doubt that imparting quality education is the key to solving many of India’s
social problems but at the same time it is important to recognise that
education is product of humanity’s thirst for knowledge. It is imperative to
understand that the fundamental reason for education is for us to evolve as
human beings.
