Trilok Singh
Aside from the fact that study material in the arts tend to lean towards the left, there is another subtle thing that makes almost every student, in any college, a socialist for some period of his life.It is the that subtle art that our teachers practise, called partiality. The “best students” become pet students of teachers, whether in reality or in perception. For the unwashed masses, this becomes so unpalatable that their general outlook becomes firmly socialist – “why should all the rest of us be treated like we don’t matter, just because that gets marks? Do you think we can’t be ahead of him in life?
And even if we aren’t, what right do these people have to treat some people special?” It is only in due time, when these “average” people find out that they’re in fact more talented than a large number of their peers, that their outlook becomes dramatically capitalist – “hey, I worked so hard and scored so much more in a tough competitive exam, why should I start at 12k per month like those losers?”. So, in conclusion, it is our own sense of self worth that inclines us towards capitalism, in due time.
when the economy opened up in the mid-90s, everyone possessing half a brain went to industry. Overnight, the quality of people entering education dropped like an iron ball in ether. For 20 years, we’ve had the dregs of previous batches teaching the “future” of our country. The better lot of the crop, believe it or not, is bored housewives teaching to gossip in the break room.
As a result, parents just don’t believe that they can entrust their wards to the trustable care of these teachers. That’s justifiable. For the remaining part, because of the number of glamour avenues being peddled by dream merchants (read, the IIT coaching classes raising Private Equity for spreading their ugly tentacles), parents believe that their wards’ futures are better taken care of by these soulless robots, and that school teachers are not worthy of even basic respect.
As a net consequence, there is zero trust all round. Where there is zero trust, there is no commitment, and there is no courage of conviction. To tell history like it is, to put yourself out on a limb and actually give students a definition of patriotism, of social consciousness, of moral courage, you need to possess these yourself, or at least believe strongly in them. How and why would the school teachers of today?
As far as college faculty is concerned, the less said the better. They come to deliver garbage from archaic textbooks and walk away without a care, resentful that half the class they teach will be making more than them in 3 years’ time.
Your ideological void, my friend, can only be filled by you. Be a good peer at work – it’s much tougher than a desired junior or a respected senior. Pass on credit, sometimes even when it’s not due, to boost up a flagging colleague. Be the first to put your arm around a nervy youngster that no one thinks much of. That’s an ideology worth preaching, worth inculcating.