Why is it so, that a nation so obsessed with a handful of institutes that provide acceptable higher education has been so forthcoming in appreciating a movie that claims to place a question mark before the education system? How can it so happen that students and parents who so willingly undergo what is often referred to a five year ordeal (inspired by the now infamous five year plans) so heartily appreciate the epigram that “success follows excellence”? Does the success of the “Three Idiots” means that many in the nation believe that a rat race exist in our system? More importantly does the nation consider this Rat race as a crisis? Let us here evoke the US president’s envy for our students.
The Higher education as the idiots or for the sake of originality Ryan would put is certainly screwed, but does it matter to many, or do many in the country actually understand what the real trouble with the education in the nation is? A first look on the movie, and it desperately fails in throwing any thoughtful insight into the education system, a long way away from the uninviting realities, and one of the reasons that it attracted the country which shelters itself behind the cut throat competition of the school days, when it comes to the quality of higher education.
With the movie, the intention was not misplaced, the idea pretty appealing but with the concept Hirani could have gone places and he chose not to, either for negligence or for commercial reasons . The crisis of higher education institutes is tangentially different from the heavy bags of school days. Reducing the labyrinth that exists in our education system to an anti-common sense tale was layman’s idea. A film maker is expected to do and produce some exploration even when he creates a pure entertainer in which the director of an ace institute is reduced to a mocked upon, research paper producing archaic contraption. The situation becomes acute when you wish people to draw message out of your uncannily unapprised flick.
The movie is dangerous in the message it propagates. We can only hope that it was not the intention of the moviemakers to undermine the importance of books and theories that encapsulates common sense yet go farther over the simplified generic learning, we can only pray that the movie has not cashed upon the retained ire upon the education system that has made books and blackboard so much as villains. A graduation study brings with it many revelations, it is a joy going through historic revolutions in the field that you start considering so much yours, and the vastness of the subject, the depth of the hardback before you is an invitation. It is frustrating and teasing how in one stroke of commercial film making all this is nullified and how the nullification is glorified. It’s dangerous that none is talking about it.
The other disappointment is a more generic one, the storyline produced an opportunity to redefine the purpose of education and the definition of success but it was badly destroyed, the protagonist at a school in Laddakh was one of the stand out idea of the movie but it was all ruined when the school took a backseat and what shone bright was 400 patents in 10 years. So humbling it was for each of us who tend to take wings at time that even a superhuman, as the protagonist Rancho was, requires papers and patents to be called a success. Such a pity, and such a fall for what could have been the idea of the movie.
The movie aside and the response it generated, should the response be a worry? Certainly. The nation and its youth are tiring early, we do not wish to study further and at the slightest hint of such an opportunity we display the desire. The secondary education is a trial for the institute and course of choice (not debating whose choice), the higher education on many occasions mocks to be an extension of school, fortunately a lot of the action happens outside class and keeps many interested but the shelf life comes to play a role in most cases, the higher education should be path towards successes of life but it has reduced into a tool at the hands of credulous mechanic. The constant run and incessant lack of joy is one the many problems haunting the higher education, and this need to be fixed. Education is meant to produce bliss, it’s meant to contribute to joys of each day. This miserably lacks in our classrooms where the next term exam is more ominous and imposing than the beauty that decorates the class in black and white, the blackboard and chalk need to reaffirm themselves to salvage the joy of rising over common sense.
1 Comments:
Aditya, I bumped into your blog via that of Siddhartha and thought of reading this post on three idiots chiefly because I really liked the movie. ( there you go , another cause of worry for you lol) I must say your post was quite intriguing and insightful. It truly makes one think, ponder over the deeper issues associated with education.
I particularly liked the way you have emphasized upon education being a matter of bliss and how you express concern over students getting tired with it too early in life ( the education system being partly the reason for the same)What are you studying if I may ask and what appeals you the most about studies/education?
I suppose Hirani has this knack for writing about universal issues, topics that majority of the people regardless of their age can relate with.The movie could have been deeper of course but then it wouldn't have clicked with so many people and would have called for a more intellectual audience which ofcourse would have resulted in a commercial loss. That's not the only reason of course. My thinking is always a little disjointed in the mornings so umm I think I'll try jotting my thoughts over this..in an attempt to understand what facets of the movie appealed to me n why. Would let you know when I'm done if you wish! ;)
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