“We want to fit them [students] into the Real World we have created. But what if they want to create a new world? What if they think our corrupt, polluted sycophantic world is a monstrous construct of decadence and plain jobworthiness?”
—Jerry Pinto
Our lifestyle is changing so fast with technology, and every object becomes more expensive for us day by day. As a result, what happens? The young generation feels this world is so much more competitive for them.
At the age when they should fill their teenage life with lots of colours, they spend it with lots of academic pressure with the hope of living a high-standard lifestyle in the future.
In our Indian culture, a bright future is defined by being a doctor or an engineer. So, the students are constantly pushed by parents to build a bright future and succeed in life. If you can’t be a doctor or an engineer, you aren’t successful in your life.
I was shocked to hear the news of the death of the 18-year-old girl who was preparing for JEE in Kota and died by suicide. She left a message for her parents in her suicide note, “Sorry, Mummy and Papa, I’m a loser, I’m not a worthy daughter of you. It was the last option for me.”
Her suicide note is forcing me to question ourselves. If she were an engineer, does it make her a good daughter? Who forced her to realize the definition of a good daughter like this?
She isn’t the only one who died by suicide just because of not being able to crack the JEE or NEET exams. many young lives have sacrificed their lives. In 2023, at least 29 students died by suicide. In 2024, 4 students have already died by suicide.
Who is responsible for it? Are our society’s high expectations responsible for it, or is our Indian education system accountable for it?
How can we draw a deadline for the list of suicide cases? The world has become competitive for us; it’s a universal truth. But to live in this competitive world, we shouldn’t force the young generation to die by suicide with lots of lies and false promises about life.
