Education for all!

At home shared auto is one of my favorite modes of commutation. Not only is it cheap, it also gives you the golden opportunity to have fleeting interaction with the hoipoloi of the city.

One of these times I had a small lad of 11 or 12 as my co-passenger. He boarded the auto with a big empty bucket. He was there in the auto with me for some 10-15 minutes. All the while I was observing him. There was a unique brilliance in his face. A typical satisfaction which is atypical of the school-going lads of his age. On interacting with him I came to know that he was going to some place for some wall-penting. So he was a child labour devoid of education. But then he was happy.

This made me think about the contemporary education and if we should make this type of education as compulsory. The education that the Indian government can make compulsory and free, is simply good for nothing! You have to be extra brilliant in numbers to get any benefit from that education. If you are mediocre or less then you simply waste 10-12 prime years of your life. Do we have the right to shatter the lives of so many kids of the nation in the name of "right to education"? May be we should look around for a better education system before making it compulsory and a right. This might sound harse, but then lets stop living in a fool's paradise; lets stop speculating sitting in our cosy rooms, lets come out and look at the problem with proper empathy...