When I was growing up my father’s varied business interests often put our families financial logbook in the red. Our blessings came in the form of our maternal uncles, who were forever there, not only to support us(me and my sister), in our educational pursuits but every other way
My mom was a bit different. She was a working woman, which was why she understood things about financial independence ,which few do. I am talking about India in the eighties, when working women had no perks at all. I had 3 things instilled in me:
1)Study hard
2)Get a good job
3)Live life debt free.
India was still full of hope and good cheer. Corruption if present, was not so blatantly exposed. The social media phenomenon was still in the making. The family was everything, it still is.
Education is the biggest blessing and the only way to a meaningful life. I am talking about both mainstream education and that which we get by reading things other than textbooks .I was never told I can’t dream because I was a girl. My mom told me to study hard and pray all the time. I tried to make it fun. There’s really no other way than learning and asking God for his blessings.
I often hear people complain about the study pressure, competitiveness at school .I believe all children need to learn. Most often that doesn’t happen easily , because of the skewered teacher-student ratio .So what happens is, they get scared. Parents get upset. But life is not easy. The less we learn, less we can cope with challenges All the subjects we learn at school ,go a long way in making us think out of the box. YOu should never miss the forest to staring at a tree.
India is a country with a soul. That’s why people come here to meditate. The west is suffering from the loss of family structure, where there’s no one to share your sadness with. What’s worse , you have no one to share your joys with.India has the best of both worlds. We love our families. Even when we don’t get along, we try .We also believe in higher powers guiding our way. We believe in education. Because that’s the only way our children have a chance.
Subsidised education in Premier Government Institutions
Only in India is the best medical colleges, engineering colleges, still heavily subsidized. I studied at Asia’s oldest premier medical College, Calcutta Medical College for Rs 250 per year. That was the annual fees in 2005.My relatives helped with the books, but education luckily didn’t cost my mom her peace of mind. Where else in the world could this have been possible?
Why the sense of indebtedness?
Probably that’s the reason I feel a sense of deep indebtedness to my motherland India. For making me self-sufficient. For being able to be financially independent. For giving me the ability to help people. If not for that, I would probably not understand the need for working in a Government Medical College, for helping train the next generation of doctors. Doctors who will compete with doctors, trained in Private Medical colleges of questionable repute, with degrees that have cost them a crore.
If not for being an Indian I would not have understood the need for the right to quality education. That educating one more member of your family, can change the socio-economic profile forever. In this regard quality education access is needed for everyone. That’s the kind of equality, which takes countries ahead. But if merit is compromised, then society will implode. It’s not sustainable. Darwin’s law of Survival of the fittest works at multiple levels.
The cost of post-secondary education in USA & Canada makes getting a college degree inaccessible for many students Outstanding student debt in the United States totals in trillions.
If this was the case in India, many like me would never have made it as a doctor, debt-free!
Sharing is good Karma!
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Hi Amrita
Happy to land here today.
Good to see yet another wonderful blogger from India who writes on health issue subjects.
I am here today via Janice wald’s page Mostly blogging.
Will come again to read more
Well built with lot of health articles.
Thanks for sharing
I am book marking it for my further read.
Keep sharing
Have a great weekend
Best Regards
~ Philip
Thank you Philip
Beautiful post and it is good to know about your journey Amrita. India and love of our family make us what we are and it is all about love of family. We can be anything if we try and our country give us many opportunities.
Very interesting article. It is wonderful to study and work really hard. It leads to greatness.
Excellent post Dr. Amrita. I have never thought of education system so seriously until i read it here.
Thanks Minakshi
Excellent points here!!! I really believe if you put in the effort and work hard, you will succeed at anything
So awesome that hard work was instilled in you at a young age. That was also the case with me, as both my parents had really great work ethics and worked really hard to make a living. I really wish that the cost of education was less here in the US. 2 out of 4 of my kids want to become doctors, not looking forward to the costs.
Yes thats a big problem.The cost !
Excellent post over education Dr. Amrita ma’am. It is very late for me now. My daughter is completing her B Tech is Computer Science. She often talks about doing MS from USA.
Recently, I visited Kolkata for an official meeting.Though before leaving Lucknow, meeting Dr. Amrita was in my Agenda but the two day’s busy schedule did not allow me and I missed the chance.
Next time, whenever I visit Kolkata next, you will fine Arjun Kishor in the list of your patients who had taken your appointment.
Thanks
Arjun Kishor
Lucknow
Very kind of you Mr.Arjun.Hope you dont have to visit me as a patient though.Most welcome to meet me.
True Amrita. Our Indian mindset is to work hard, study, earn a good job and then take care of family. This is somewhat deep rooted in every Indian. As you said, higher education is very expensive in other countries when compared to India.
Yes very true Ramya.
Excellent points. Never estimate the power of education. People tend to take quality education for granted, but that is not always the case. I am glad you got the good education you deserved. Take care.
Lorna at savingchamps.com
Thanks Lorna
Thank you for sharing this. I feel like more and more children are missing these points as they get older. I am 30 now, and going back to college for a new diploma. The options are there for people to learn and go after their goals in their life, they just have to put the effort in!
Britt | http://alternativelyspeaking.ca/
Very true.Best of luck for all your dreams.
These are some of the very things I try to instill in my children. I always encourage them to their best in school and live debt free.
Thank you
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us , Amrita. I was really moved at all the hardwork behind the Dr in front of your name.
I am lookjng at our education system in a new light after reading your post.
India is truly great.
Yes India is great with scars and stars !
This is actually quite interesting. I love your method of thinking with this.
Thank you