thoughtsofyasir

“Rahul has scored 89% in his higher secondary board exams. Wonder how much did Mrs. Shanti's daughter score? Listen, we must apply for admission for our son, before it is too late. They might say there are no more seats available. But if we give them some 'gifts', many seats will start appearing out of nowhere. We must get admission for Rahul in a top college. After all, we have our reputation to take care of. What will others think of us if after earning this much,  Rahul studies in some small institution?”  Don't these lines sound familiar? Though not exactly spoken 'word to word' like this, the substance of these words are something that one would normally hear at the end of every summer each year; when the board examination results are announced and the rush to procure admission forms begin. Each family begins to worry about the institution and the course that they will enroll their child in.  But shouldn't they rather be concerned about what education t...

  A fter I finished my chores and had my breakfast on one Sunday morning, I sat down on one of the couches in my house's front room and had a look at that day's newspaper. I liked to be updated and aware of the latest occurrences, all over the globe. But I turned aghast  when the only news I saw on the front page was that of violence and loss of several lives due to a natural disaster. I then turned over to the other pages, but was disheartened to see many such similar news almost until the last page. All articles spoke of murders, warfare, robberies, corruption, human abuse, poverty and natural calamities. Somewhere in between them, I finally saw a glimpse of light when I saw a small article on some latest advance in science. Also, I felt pride in myself and my country when I read an 'eight-lined ' article on soldier who lost his life while stopping illegal intruders from entering the country. The final pages were that of sports, of which I voluntarily read all deta...