‘What you want to become when you grow up?’
Teacher asked little Tom. Nervous Tom blinked innocently. Depressed, confused and clueless Tom was in search of familiar faces across his kindergarten class room that stated only 2 days back. Fresh in a place, away from his sweet mom, little Tom knew nothing more than his name, let alone his future career plan!
‘Tom, you are grown up now, what’s your plan next?’
Convocation ceremony has just finished, Tom along with his tons of batch-mates threw their graduation hats high in the sky. Before even those hats could touch the ground, his college professor posed the question. Little Tom is no more little now. He became Tom The Graduate. Years of education, marathon examinations, note taking, endless lecture hours, Tom must have figured out his future by himself, took up the responsibility and move on to his career master stroke. Teachers expect this. Parents demand this. Neighbors and society impatiently waiting for this.
Tom blinked once again in his life!
Depressed, confused and clueless!
This story is not an isolated case study. Many graduate youth like, and sometimes, unlike, Tom reaches to a station where one can only stand and blink.
15+ years of education never equips these youths to answer the very fundamental question of ‘what next?’. ‘How to be employable?’. ‘Which wall to bang?’, ‘Which door to knock?’, ‘How and When to knock?’.
Tom started his education with a right question. But, did he end his education with the right answer?
It’s our turn now. Let’s blink.
Published in TheMujeebPatla.Wordpress.com (May 1, 2020)
Mujeeb Patla 