We The People Of India

There is fresh gossip in the corridors, once again. Everyone is included... except the ones who usually gossip. Ironic, isn't it? Well, its not exactly the subject of their interest. Or so I concluded when I didn't see them. I could be wrong. This isn't about some new kid in school, or about a celebrity. Not even WDW (Who's Dating Who, in case you don't know). So what the hell is it about?

Everyone saw We The People yesterday. It was a debate titled Education Reformed. Now, why would someone talk about something like that? Like we don't have other stuff to do. Well, if this will make it clearer, it was a debate about whether the boards, the 10th grade exams, should be scrapped out or not. All we could do sitting in front of the TV was to boo the dozens of people who stood up and said, "No, I don't think this should be the case. The boards have helped me decide my career, and I'm sure it would help the others." My foot, it would help the others. We, The People of India, could do nothing to help the poor Barkha Dutt, going from one end of the set to the other, hunting out a person who said the boards should be cancelled - and sigh with relief when she found one.

We think that it should definitely be cancelled. And we are hoping that the kind hearted Mr. Kapil Sibal's proposal comes into action fast. Especially the current 10th graders. I also know why the people said no to Sibal's proposal. Because they've already given their board exams, and would love to just chill in college while we slog all day and night, and completely disappear under the pile of books. We think that boards should be cancelled because:

a. Cramming: Learning for boards is not learning, in the sense knowing. Its just cramming all the content of the books, page by page. Go to any ex-10th grader and ask her/him about what he/she knows about, the derivation of Newton's second law of motion or Pascal's law , you'll realize that he/she will say it like a poem. They will just reproduce what they roted a few months back. So does this show how intelligent we are? NO. It just shows how well we can mug up.

b.Pressure: Every year thousands of children fall victims to anxiety attacks. I am pretty sure I will be one of them. I worry about every single thing, and class 10 exams are going to be on top of my 'to worry list'.

The mothers are also included in this debate. Every mother, including my own, feel doing away with the boards will be a blessing for us. But then how will they assess our performance? Will the schools make impartial judgement about each and every student? Let's face it, teachers have been known to be biased at times.

Everyone in the corridors is confessing to a startling fact. When they pray at night, they don't ask for a new cell phone, a laptop or a book. Not a new pair of Ray - Bans. Not even 'good health' and all that garbage. NOR an A grade in tomorrow's History test. They pray to God for success to all the noble men with noble intentions - the likes of Kapil Sibal, the Minister of Human Resources of India. God, listen to our pleas.

We are all praying - We, The People of India.