Year 1992, the dreaded month of June. Dreaded not because of the killer heat wave, but because June, for a 17-year-old, means Class 12 results and college admissions. I was never a strong candidate for the SRCCs and Venkys, let alone the No 1s. But I was rather relieved with my 70 per cent score. Now it sounds alarming, but I didn’t even make it to the lists for B.Com (Honours).
Numerous trips to the house of a bigshot, who promised back-door admission to Khalsa College ‘Bade aram naal’, also didn’t help. My daily early morning ‘darshans’ at his house had to end abruptly when a demand for just Rs 15,000 as ‘donation for the needy’ was slipped in over tea.
It is still all about the 3 Cs — competition, cut-offs and colleges. And cut-throat. Newspapers are falling over themselves to publish the cut-off lists. First, second or third (or fourth, if you are lucky) lists are numbers that become the talking points everywhere.
With the cut-off percentages to apply in a sought-after course at a sought after college on this steep rapid rise, I wonder what kind of super intelligent species actually do get admission into Delhi’s colleges? If I were to pass out today with my 70 per cent, I would have certainly not been in the running for even a B.A. Pass at an evening college also. But would my life been ruined? I doubt it.
What is happening today in the admissions auction takes a toll on one’s mental health, that’s all. On one hand, the world screams its need for more teachers, social workers, language trainers, human resource people, hospitality industry professionals, writers, graphic designers and hair dressers. On the other, you have to be a pedantic nerd to score cent per cent in English or History, for college admission, which anyway is only a stepping stone to ‘real life’.
{{/usCountry}}What is happening today in the admissions auction takes a toll on one’s mental health, that’s all. On one hand, the world screams its need for more teachers, social workers, language trainers, human resource people, hospitality industry professionals, writers, graphic designers and hair dressers. On the other, you have to be a pedantic nerd to score cent per cent in English or History, for college admission, which anyway is only a stepping stone to ‘real life’.
{{/usCountry}}Fifteen years later, I am keying this in on my laptop, at some 30,000 miles in the air, flying back to India from Singapore, where I thoroughly enjoy my work in fashion retail and property. Readers will pardon my immodesty when I say I have a good life with a great family, a great job, great money and great everything else.
Would you have believed that my ‘career’ future would be great had you known that I pursued a B.Com Pass from DU’s School of Correspondence Courses and Continuing Education?