SABARI GANESH

How important is studying and learning in life. What would happen if both are not done properly? Do we have to study and then learn or should we do both of them in parallel?

Our teachers would say in 10^th standard. You study hard for your board exams. Thats it. Your life is settled. 10^th standard marks will be taken into consideration everywhere. So with a blind faith that our tenth standard marks are more important, some of us worked hard to score good marks.

Then after two years, we come across 12^th standard exams followed by various entrance exams. Again the emotional intimidation continues, If you don’t get good rank you will not get a good college for engineering. So, 12th standard is the most important phase of your life.

Everybody joins engineering colleges according to the marks they scored as if one elder sheep showed the path and all others would follow. It is a common phenomenon in our society where a literate herd of sheep aims bigger in life.

Now the real action packed movie begins and it continues for four years with eight semester breaks.

Each semester exam is a climax. And unfortunately the threat sits upon us again. “If you have backlogs or history of arrears, companies will not prefer you.” Here the most important thing is getting a job with fat pay package.

The high voltage action movie is not over yet.

When we step into a company a corporate intimidation warns us. “You are a fresher now. You have to work hard. Learn new technologies and keep updated with your skill sets regularly otherwise it is difficult to survive in this highly competitive world”.

We think the movie is over. But it is not. In post credits scene, we get married and bullied by our wife to cook for her. If we don’t know how to cook, we have to learn it and should become master in it, at least to have some respect in our family.

An anonymous idiot told me that life is a process of learning and it is damn true. Every time I hear the dialogue, “Do this, your life is settled “I became a fool. Life is not settled and it will never. We have to face challenges at any point of time.

I explained in the context of an Indian middle class engineering graduate. I hope the same applies in other contexts too.