When I hear from my daughter that her friends are going to Kota (termed India’s cram city by New York Times Magazine!) or would be non-schooling in 11th-12th to focus on engineering/medical prep, I am shocked every single time. And wonder, will Bokaro never change?

30 years ago…

My class 10th results were declared on the day my mother had to undergo surgery at BGH, the Bokaro General Hospital. Mom was taken to the OT at 8 o’clock in the morning and her mind was not on the impending surgery but on my soon-to-be-declared results. Which speaks volumes about the collective psyche of Bokaro.

But before talking about the psyche of people living in Bokaro, I must tell you a bit about the city itself.

Bokaro Steel City is a township that was established for the people working in Bokaro Steel Plant, a SAIL Maharatna company. One quirky thing – its acronym is BSL and not BSP because BSP is Bhilai Steel Plant! BSL apparently stands for Bokaro Steel Limited 😀. Its foundations were laid in 1962 and my father joined it some 10 years later in 1972.

One of the most unique features of Bokaro is that it is (or rather was!!) a melting potpourri of people of same age group, similar background and common aspirations. It is normal for anyone not familiar with the place to disbelieve me, but Bokaroites will agree with me. They were typically fresh out of college or having just a couple of years’ experience. Most of them were first generation service holders, roots deeply set in a rural setup. They aspired to be successful and raise their as well as their families’ living standards. And at that point of time family meant the joint family system that is gradually disappearing in the 21st century.

Bokaro of 70s had an old world charm that was the right mix of rural values and urban environment. Fortunately or unfortunately it still retains most of that charm. That charm is boring in these times of malls and cineplexes but it is still the right place for you if you are a young parent having school going kids.

Anyway, I digress; I was just trying to give you an insight into the collective psyche of the people living in Bokaro in the 1970s and 80s. My parents’ generation. They had themselves achieved success in life due to their academic excellence and hence saw it as the way for their children as well. And hence, their very existence revolved around their kids’ academic performance. They left no stone unturned to ensure that they excelled academically.

In fact, if I start writing anecdotes related to that, I could write a complete book!! For instance, I had a senior who was an awesome dancer. She won accolades in interschool and inter-DPS competitions but her mother continuously fretted she was wasting time in these “useless stuff” rather than focusing on her studies. When she reached class 10th, her parents finally put their foot down and barred her from performing. I myself was a good guitarist; my teacher said so. But I remember, my father forbade me to be a part of any orchestra that performed outside school as that would affect my studies. That too, when I never wanted to make a career out of it. I very much wanted to pursue computer science; guitar was something I enjoyed.

I resented my father’s stance then and I resent it today but I can’t find fault with his argument even now: “studying is the easiest skill to acquire.” पढ़ाई सबसे आसान विद्या है।

Anyway, as I was telling, my mother was more worried about my success in Board Exams rather than the successful outcome of her surgery. It was 1st week of June and we had been waiting for the results for a couple of days. I used to jest with her that it will come out while she was undergoing operation and that is how it exactly happened. There was a Max phone (a rotary dial phone system installed in all BSL institutions and many homes) near the OT and we kept calling the school every half an hour to see if results had come.

Those were not the days of internet or online declaration of results. The manual results arrived in school a few days after they had been declared, and put up on the notice board. My kids can’t even imagine having to wait for their results for 4-5 days!

Finally, my mother was shifted out of the surgery for observation and we gave a last call to the school before going home. And lo and behold, results were out. We – my father, brother and I – hurried to the school. We met an uncle outside the school gates, father of my classmate; he said I had secured about 90%. My heartbeat soared further as that was obviously a rough estimate and could mean anywhere between 89 and 91. But it would have been so great to touch the magical figure of 90. And that’s what I did – 90.2%. It was an exhilarating feeling.

Today’s kids with their 10 CGPA will never experience it as they know they might well have scored below 100% despite the apparently perfect score. My brother was more thrilled than me. He never said as much but I know he regretted missing out the 90% mark by a mere 0.4% and was overjoyed to see me reach that landmark. Of course, what all he achieved after that surpassed everything whereas I could never match others’ expectation of me!!

Which brings me to an important point – should we try to meet others’ expectation or do what we want to and believe in. That’s a recurring theme of thinking, exploration and discussion in my life!! Of course, the modern generation do not think much of fitting in or meeting others’ expectations. But the way my generation was raised, we were conditioned to first blend in and only then try something different.

I have already digressed a couple of times initially itself but that’s probably because I have so much to tell that linear storytelling seems stifling. So let me come back to that day in June 1993.

As I was telling you, I was very happy and satisfied with my class 10th results, as was my family. But all my friends had not fared that well. Social Studies results had taken a beating that year and quite a few of my friends were victims of that. But barring that it was a good result overall. I wanted to take Computer Sc. and I did, but none of my (girl) friends took the same course. They went for courses like Biology, Economics and Accountancy.

But don’t let Eco or Accounts confuse you. They were all engineering aspirants (willingly or unwillingly, wittingly or unwittingly) who had PCM+Eng as their core subjects and then a fifth one. Our school offered only Science and Commerce stream. Most of the other schools in Bokaro did the same. Arts stream was offered just by a couple of schools like DAV. And that’s the trend till date. Though a few other schools have started offering Humanities. So if my daughter, who is also in DPS, my old alma mater, wants to take Arts after her 10th, she will have to change school.

The options for fifth subject might have increased, what with introduction of such subjects as Information Practices, Web Technology, Physical Education, BioTech, etc. but the core is still the same: Science or Commerce. This is a very unfortunate scenario in current times where the emphasis is more on vocational courses rather than pure sciences or humanities, as the case may be. Pure sciences or humanities is best left to the rather academically inclined who will benefit more than others who study it only because it is a part of the compulsory curricula.

30 years later, as my daughter prepare for her boards, I see the same paranoia surrounding the exams. The same single-minded focus on academics. As if it is the be all, end all for the students. Yes, it is crucial and an important milestone in their academic journey, but at what cost? But that’s a discussion most parents don’t even consider.

Many eons ago when my elder daughter was preparing for her Nursery admissions, both my husband and I would often have discussions around the dated academic system, importance of co-curricular skills such as creative writing, speaking, creativity, etc. To be honest, the term co-curricular itself was distasteful. And we often found ourselves at loggerheads with the more conventional parents. Soon people around us started terming us crazy, and they preferred not to come in contact with this craziness!

That’s why when I hear from my daughter that her friends are going to Kota or would be non-schooling in 11th-12th I am shocked every time. And wonder, is it the right thing thing for them?

What is your opinion on this, dear readers? You who live far and wide in every part of the world and have been exposed to education system and parental psyche of different parts of India as well as world.