India boasts about this asset which it has: the Indian youth. Well yes, true youth is an asset. It has more energy, stamina, enthusiasm, fresh brains and what not. But, are we just seeing one side of the picture? I am one of those people who chose math and science in intermediate studies because this is what every parent expects to. Well yes at that stage I didn't knew what was best for me. But, I was never asked to think what was best for me. The path was chosen and bridges of expectation laid out for me. This is just about me. There would have been many more sharing the same unsaid code of conduct.

I write this article to raise two points. First, aren't we wasting the potential of Indian youth who is enrolled into umpteen number of coaching classes for IIT, IAS and what not? Second, do we not see the distress of the youth who is getting employed but he is moving to metros in order to get an employment of his standard.

I will talk about them one by one in this article. When a youth decides that he is capable of clearing an entrance exam and he needs one more year to crack it. That is a good thing to do. If he has the capacity, he should achieve it. But when he decided he needs to crack some entrance exam because there is no other future which would be accepted by the society and thinks ne needs to crack it just to earn that acceptance from the society he lives in, this is I think a waste of precious energy, time and money which is hard earned by his parents. I lived in a rented room in Katwaria Sarai for six months when I first came to Delhi. I was shocked by what I saw around me. It was like a beehive. Everyone who aspired to crack some or the other exam, stayed in rooms all over the Sarai which are overpriced for what they offer and then share with more number of people than is convenient to minimize expenses. Is this what we call the productive youth? The asset we are very proud of? Should that youth need to spend its precious years in such state? Coming from a small town, the place looked to me like a mini slum and I couldn't imagine what circumstances would have forced these young people to leave the fresh air of their small town in search of a better future and live in such drudgery.

When I see this, I question the relevance of examinations for each and everything we aspire to be. Yes, the people who have made this would argue. How else are we to decide? But how can you decide by keeping everyone from every background on the same level and ask everyone to prepare for everything from scratch. What is the use of the education I acquired in schools and colleges? Why not make the exams they take in that institution a competitive examination in itself and let those marks speak what a person is capable of? Do you mean that the formal education system is just a bluff? We need to strengthen the system of formal education and introduce more interdisciplinary systems of education in order to use the mind of the youth to its very best potential.

The second issue I raised earlier was why we need to create all jobs in the metros. Why make the metros crowded and degrade the quality of lives of everyone. Like me many people have moved to metros in order to earn a decent living and a standard job suiting my qualifications. But what is the life I had since then? To get a room which consumes half of my salary? Even then there is no satisfaction. Rooms are made not for a human being to live but for an entity who just needs basic things like shelter for sleeping, a small bathroom fitted inside the room for bathing and of course kitchen in the room itself where the entity can cook if needed. When initially, I started looking for an apartment to rent in Delhi, I felt I fighting a battle. My office being in Lajpat Nagar, I thought about taking a room there. The first call to the broker, and my hopes were shattered. I told him my budget was Rs. 7000 for a decent two room set. He first looked at me like I was insane!!! And he gave me straight no it's not possible, raise you budget or lower your standards!

Sadly, since I left my home to complete my graduation and then my post graduation and then my first job, I never got a chance to go back and stay with my family. This might be a small thing at the surface. But, inside everyone wants to be with their family, the place they grew up in, the place they are comfortable with. I hope the world changes for the better and sees the problem of educated and employed youth migration as equally important as the migration of labor from villages to cities.
If you don't have capability then it is one thing. But, if you cannot channelize the umpteen sparks of youth into something productive, then this is a crime we are conducting. And we must remember that we are all part and parcel of that crime. Because the seed of this injustice are born in our minds when we accept things for how they are and ask others who protest against it to shut up and do the same. There is a purpose for which our lives are given to us, let the purpose be fulfilled. Let the mind be put to use where it fits the best. Let it live and not perish forever. There is a light we need to light, one by one and pass on till it lights the whole world to make it a brighter place to live in!

About Author / Additional Info:
I work as a social researcher and like to write about my thoughts. Feel that words can make a difference even if it is a small one.