Education

We, Indian middle class women do lead a sheltered life in India. More so if we are not working. We are surrounded by elders who protect from bad bad world out there, most of the time. That was the feeling I had when I watched Rain Dog in Netflix. It is a story about a single mom in London who is battling to have a roof over her head and put food on the table for her and her young daughter. 

One of her colleagues suggests that she should apply for homes by the government. And the answer is she could get it if she were a foreigner (I think they meant immigrants). 

Contrast this with the story of Sandhya in the Hindi film Pagglait. She has the entire family taking care of her. Her in laws, her parents. Though her six month old husband dies suddenly, he has left behind an insurance of 50 lakhs in her name. 

I am not belittling the struggling we go through. But we more often have to worry about how to buy the next not-so-necessary thing. Not about roof over our head or food for survival. 

Education has changed the social fabric of our society. And I am proud of that. 

That reminds me of a exam question - electrical engineering question about induction, capacitance etc. in an IIT paper. But the sad and ridiculous thing is they are quoting Arvind Kejrival, his defeat in Delhi election in the question. Are the people so insecure that they have to make fun of others in such silly ways?

So coming back to education, Sandhya in the film is educated. But her better 'existential' position is not due to her education, but that of her spouse and her family. Our parents and grand parents struggled hard, got themselves educated and released themselves out of the poverty and backwardness.  And moved up in the social ladder. 

Not that Costella from London in not educated. She has a graduate degree. But sadly, the only job she can get is that of a dancer. And is struggling with alcoholism. 

So does that mean, that western society went through our phase - educated the men and women, got employed, lived a good life. Then things started going south, for many of them. Luxury made them slothful. Lack of busyness led to addictions. Which led to negligence of children. And the next generation suffered with homelessness and poverty. Did these things happen? Or I am sitting in a corner of a third world country and making wild guesses about far off lands? 

The worry is, is that the next stage for our people? Or does the societal pressure will keep our people in check?