Inktober-2018 / Day 29

My very first 'Inktober' sketch!! The the prompt for day 29 is 'Double'

Vampires live amongst us and roam around wearing charming masks. They suck all happiness, hope, excitement, will and reputation so one must be careful of the company he/she keeps. Janus faced people are very toxic and sadly are so ubiquitous these days.

Medium- Pitt pens

Brains In The Drains

A benevolent elderly lady who lives near my house casually told me a thing that left me pondering about attitudes that can eat up our nation like termites. She told me that her daughter, an MBBS, MD, got married into a wealthy business family. However, things were not rosy for long; only after a few months, she was forbidden from practicing by her parents-in-law, who felt that household and kids should be the utmost priority of her life. She tried a lot to convince them but finally, they put their foot down and now she is a full time housewife and a devoted mother to her two college going children. Her medical degree not only got wasted but this has far reaching effects as well. A medical seat that she had occupied got wasted since as a doctor she is not contributing anything to her country that is always short of trained doctors. Also, a lot of taxpayers’ money goes into making one specialist doctor and non-practicing people from medical profession only add to the liability of the nation.

In yet another case, a lady I know personally is a trained mathematics teacher but was forced to quit her job after she had had her first kid and since then is a full time housewife. Despite repeated requests from her and her parents, her in-laws are still adamant about the issue. Maths is not a subject that many kids enjoy and that can boast of a good teacher pool in the country. In such a case loss of a trained teacher that too one who decided to take up the profession out of her love for teaching the subject is a big loss indeed.

There is no dearth of such reports, facts and figures; we all know that millions of students, especially girls, occupy college seats but provide nothing in return. There are a few things that I really wish to shed some light on. 

Firstly, Higher education that churns out specialists like doctors, architects and engineers etc. costs any nation a lot and it is literally a crime to waste the national wealth like this. If someone aspires to be a skilled professional, she/he should always keep in mind that giving services back to the society is the most important thing, the aim of higher education. Also, I personally feel that education liberates you from the banal and monotonous drudgery of life and elevates living and mental standards.

One of the girls I know is an MBA but left her job as soon as she got married. The reason she gives is really annoying: her husband will take care of all the expenses and she need not work. Another girl I know is a PG but stays at home all day and spends her precious time in day dreaming or chatting. She has her own reasons; she says that since her father is rich enough, a job is not required. Job or business, whatever you take, adds to personal growth as well. An independent and empowered woman can maintain and protect her self-esteem and can ‘choose’ to even walk out of an abusive or broken marriage, hence saving her life for better.

We can further add to the list, the people who acquire higher education in some special professional field and then switch over to an entirely different one like administration, entertainment and showbiz, politics or business, which has little use of that professional skill and in which they could have done well even without snatching and wasting one seat from some other deserving and needy aspirant.

We cry ourselves hoarse on ‘brain drain’ but what about those millions of brains that are doing nothing for the nation and are wasting their precious skills in other mundane things.

Images taken from:

http://www.rediff.com/news/report/code/20060509.htm

http://sitagita.com/todays-tips/Indian-House-Wife.html

WHATZ CHARITY FOR YOU??

This morning while thinking aloud, just like that a stray thought entered my mind. It has to do with each one of us; we all want to be altruistic, we all in some way or the other wish to do some sort of charity or social service and all of us always lack time for that. Charity is often the most neglected task of our lives. Today, I was thinking about what exactly do we mean by charity?

The dictionary defines it as “generous actions or donations to aid the poor, ill, or helpless: to devote one's life to charity.” But let’s go a little deeper; is it only about giving a currency note to some NGO or is it taking pains to provide relief to a needy? Since the world is not same, each individual holds a different viewpoint on what exactly charity means. Some even consider the entire concept of charity a crap.

Ask a busy executive, for him charity is donating a yearly cheque to some well known NGO; for a businessman charity may be a good means to get tax rebates, while youngsters, mostly students, are confused about where should they start off as they wish to do a lot but their plans are hazy and ambiguous most of the times. I know some people who visit orphanages and NGOs to volunteer their money or services but they also make sure that it’s well known to people that X goes there every Sunday to do this service or that. Is charity a mode to be perceived as a local celebrity?

Some people although perform social services but behave exactly the opposite with people they hold power over like old family members, servants, pets etc. The old customs of doing charity like it used to be depicted in films has worn out. Now for most people, specially busy urbanites, it means simply donating money since it’s easy and saves their precious time.

But I view it differently. I feel the real charity is done when you take pains to provide relief to someone else in some way. Big or small doesn’t matter, but without expecting any returns including recognition from acquaintances, otherwise it would be akin to a business investment or a bond you expect to encash at an opportune moment in future! If you stand in a long queue to get a ticket reserved or pay the bill for an old citizen, that’s real charity.

I feel charity has nothing to do with money, whether you can donate it or not. What really matters is whether you are willing to make an extra effort to help someone you do not know. It may not be done only in an NGO; the basic attitude of charity can be and should be inculcated in daily life too, for example giving a piece of left over food to a stray canine is a kind of charity too :)

Her 'illiterate' mother

It was a cool Sunday evening and I was sitting in my hall, when she came. She is the daughter of our colony’s press-wallah. She is mal-nutritioned and stick thin like her mother and the rest of the family who never skip a day no matter how kind or cruel the climate is to them (I feel they can much better feel the mood of the climate for they work everyday without any break under a tin shed clasped to a small tree).

Yup, coming to the actual thing, she came inside and saw me reading. I could see a twinkle in her eyes that comes only when she spots a book. She told me that her illiterate mother is very particular about her studies (she studies in a local govt school) and wants her to study to the highest level. She told me that her mother never ever discriminated between her sons and daughters and wants them to become educated and sophisticated and that she personally asks each sibling to explain what happened in the class, that she tells them not to throw garbage on roads and that to carry a book with them always to avoid any time waste. These thoughts look nice to hear but even nicer when they are come from an illiterate woman having half a dozen children.

Now in contrast, the ‘literate’ people who teach their kids attitude and arrogance, to treat public property like a dustbin, to use hook or crook to get things done, middle class mothers who start looking suitors right after their daughters’ graduation. And all those educated families preferring sons over daughters. Now the basic purpose of this post is what the meaning of education is – to be able to read and write or to be able to understand things and create a positive and open outlook? I feel that illiterate mother of six kids is far more educated then all the degree holders.

The English statesman and author George Savile (1633-1695) had said

“Education is what remains when we have forgotten all that we have been taught”.

How true!!