What is Education? And how learning is done in this process? From kinder to elementary plus high school and now at college, as a third year Bachelor of Science in Information Technology student, I already have accumulated 14 years of going back and forth to school and, hopefully, I will only have to spend another two years, including this year, in order to finish my degree. But is the sense of education simply the thought of going to school and, after hours of discussion, go home empty-handed? Or is learning a process of simply memorizing the lessons without understanding them?
Last July 3, during our technopreneurship class, we watched the popular Bollywood movie - “3 Idiots”. It was not my first time to watch the movie because it was recommended to us by our higher years last year where at that time they were also taking their technopreneurship class. The movie was great, very entertaining, very funny and heart-warming. The three main asts of the movie were Farhan Qureshi played by R. Madhavan, Raju Rastogi played by Sharman Joshi and Ranchoddas “Rancho” Shamaldas Chancahad/Phunsuk Wangdu played by Aamir Khan. I’m going to describe each actor and let see if the role they potray exists in true life.
Let us start with Farhan Quereshi. He is the only child of a middle class family. Since birth he was already sealed to be an engineer by his father. He was pressured by his own family that is why he took engineering at Imperial College of Engineering. His parents, especially his father, worked hard and did everything to make sure that their son will be a successful engineer someday to the point that they installed an air conditioner to Farhan’s room to make him comfortable while studying. His father did all of this because he expected his son to be a rich man in the future. Although he was lucky for being one of the students who passed the entrance exam over thousands of applicants in Imperial College of Engineering, his heart still stayed to his true passion – photography. His dream was to be a wildlife photographer but his father did not put his aspiration to consideration. If you are a college student like me or if you were a student before, it is possible to have a classmate who was just forced to take a degree instead of following his true passion by his parents. Let us face it, money is essential especially in these times but the reason why some professionals earn large amounts of money is not because of their professions but it is their willingness and passion to what they are doing. Let us take note that not all graduates of engineering courses or other degrees that is said to lead you to a high-paying job becomes successful. This makes me realize that it is not the profession that matters but it is where your passion is.
Next is the religious one, Raju Rastogi. He is the only male child of a paralyzed former postman and a stressed mother. He also has a sister who has difficulties of getting married because of their cultural traditions in India. He is expected by his whole family to uplift their status in life. And he knows, as the only son, his responsibilities to his family. He prays everyday and wears a ring for every problem he is encountering. Unlike Farhan; Raju’s, as he said in the movie, wife and mistress is engineering. But due to the pressure of the need to be a successful engineer to help his family he succumbed to the erroneous system of the Imperial College of Engineering. Rather than learning, he was just memorizing the words of their textbook never minding if he understands a thing he was memorizing as long as he can pass the exams given to him by his robot-like teachers. Even though I am the third child of my parents, they still expect a lot from me because my two older sisters do not have any jobs yet. They expect me to be the one who will, like Raju, uplift our current status in life. But as much as possible, I’m trying not to get pressured because I do not want to end up like “Silencer” who is like a photocopy machine that just scans the pages of the textbook without understanding it but instead I want to learn as much as possible in order to apply my learning when I get a job.
Last but not the least, we will find out who is Phunsukh Wangdu who disguised himself as Ranchoddas “Rancho” Shamaldas Chancahad in the movie. He is, among the three, the kind of a person I did not met yet in real life. Well, some people do have some characteristics or beliefs like Phunsukh have but if talking about the whole package, I doubt that I have ever encountered such person. He believes that in order to learn we must be do what we want and not because of what other forced us to do and we must learn not because we are ought to do but we want to gain knowledge. In my personal opinion, he is right! Obviously, learning is different from memorizing but is it really that simple to break the system even though we are still students? Is it that simple to announce to the whole university or to the whole nation that they are giving a misleading system of education? I can only think of one solution which is also what Rancho did in the movie. First, break the system in yourself. You should not succumb to the system. Do not let the system be in front of you but rather let the system follow you by enjoying what you do without caring if you are first or last. Second, pass it to others. Spread to other students how important it is to go with your passion and understand the true process of learning.
These three characters thought me the true meaning of Education and how learning is done. We don’t have to chase success but rather let us pursue excellence and success itself will follow. And when things will not go as we planned, let us always remember to put our hand on our left chest and tap it like you’re talking to your heart and say “Aal izz well”(All is well).
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