In a recent BBC interview, Indian actor Victor Banerjee lamented the marked lack of interest in poetry and literature among today’s youth. He also said that the majority of young people would prefer to pursue the science stream and become engineers or doctors, compared to the humanities stream, which offers limited employment opportunities.

The actor Rabindranath Tagore is what he should be because what the Nobel laureate represented and stood for is being replaced by the terrible sensationalism and narcissism of this digital age. One day he said it’s not a popular connection. According to him, Tagore doesn’t belong to the people now.

This begs us to question: Have we as a society become too obsessed with math and science? Cracking the IIT/JEE is considered the holy grail of success for our younger generation. Isn’t it possible that some ambitious parents live on behalf of their children by putting them into careers against their own wishes and feelings?

Televisions are flooded with advertisements for educational apps. With an unhinged attitude, demanding teachers warmly welcome aspiring engineering and medical students and convince them of what is essential to success in competitive times. The lives of these students revolve around tuition and coaching classes.Success is now like a student reason for existence, the lifeblood of his/her existence. The promoters of these apps send a clear message.

The world belongs to hard-working, fast-learning and intelligent students. But no one is talking about how such maniacal competitiveness can damage a student’s mental health. These ads conveniently obscure the fact that he was unable to complete his B.Tech/M.Tech degree due to excessive study pressure, and that there are examples of students suffering from flames like Icarus. I’m here. We tend to judge subjects by their usefulness in real life, and in this regard, the scientific current seems to have the greatest utilitarian advantage in our parents’ eyes.

What about students who take less traveled paths and make unconventional choices? Perhaps a nature-loving student with little interest in chemical equations and formulas would not be considered a “successful person.” Because the dreamer is considered an insignificant soap bubble. It doesn’t count as much. One is reminiscent of her 21-year-old Larry Darrell in Somerset Morgan’s The Razor’s Edge. Larry seeks transcendental meaning in her life and she has an instinctive love of literature. The idea of ​​making money doesn’t interest him. He believes that ultimate satisfaction can only be found in the life of the spirit.

We have been conditioned to think that only intelligent students choose science subjects, while mediocre students settle for humanities subjects. was a student of , proving that you don’t have to study only science to be successful. It turns out that many unsuccessful students pay exorbitant amounts to buy fake her B.Tech and her MBBS degree in hopes of getting a lucrative job.

The reason artistic and literary talents are so often sacrificed on the altar of parental absolutism is that we do not make the effort to identify and steer them in the right direction. should be encouraged to study humanities in advanced classes.

Science students may look up to CV Raman, Sundar Pichai, and Bill Gates as role models. Just as students of literature are inspired by the writings of VS Naipaul, Law Hinton Mistry, Amitav, his Ghosh, and the poetry of Shelley and Keats.

Honestly, there is no description of the taste. Every individual has the right to live life the way they want without being pressured into following parental orders. Whether you’re a musician, a singer, or an athlete, you define and measure success differently.

Find satisfaction in whatever goal you choose in life. The problem arises when judging and justifying success in terms of money or social status. A moderately successful writer or poet may not sell his books for huge royalties, but he is content with the idea of ​​choosing writing as his vocation and satisfying his literary instincts. I’m here. Make no mistake, success is always relative.

(I am a senior.
Delhi-based journalist)