When I was a child, my father told me: ‘’Dear son, look, if you work hard, a day will come when you will secure your future. That day I will be the happiest father on this earth.’’
Twenty years later, I had literally completed my studies although getting education has no end. We learn from the cradle to the grave. It was a dream come true for me to have completed my post graduation. It was all the more satisfying as I was the first one in the family to have achieved this feat! My father was elated that soon the day will come, when his wish and his prediction will come true and he will get to see his son getting what he desired of him. After all, my father had left no stone unturned in educating me. Despite the hardships, my father had to face, I got education in the best of the schools and colleges and finally I was lucky enough to get admission in the prestigious university of the Valley.
After two years of university life, I finally completed my PG. In the meantime, I qualified several other exams such as National Eligibility Test for Lecturership (NET) and B. Ed ,M. Ed ( a must to get a teaching job). In short , I can say that I had enough ammunition in the bag which would land me a  job. What else could one desire for at the end of his studies? Now, I was waiting for the day, when some posts would be advertised. I was certain that I will get a job with ease and it was only a matter of time. Finally the posts were advertised for many positions and in many departments. I applied too and was duly shortlisted and then called for the interviews. I could see the dreams of my father coming closer to realisation. Meanwhile the selection lists started to come out one by one. As ill fate would have it, my name did not figure in any of the selection lists! I was stunned. My father asked me, what went wrong? I had no answer. I did some self introspection but could not find any substantial fault in me except that I was having a PG, a B.Ed, and an M.Ed from the prestigious university of the Valley!!! But that should be an asset not a reason to get dropped. In no time I got the answers of my failures. My esteemed university had awarded me the marks in the range of 60%-70% and my compatriots who got their degrees from less celebrated universities outside the state were having percentages in high 80s and 90s and in the system where percentages matter, this difference was huge and this was the reason for me to get dropped.
 The irony is that no matter if you have got only 45% marks in you board exams and 50% in your graduation while in the Valley but once you go to study outside, you are guaranteed to come back with 90% marks. I don’t say that there are no exceptions. There are students who are really brilliant. Do these outside varsities have any magic wand which helps them in changing a student, who has been an average one all through his career, into a gold medalist and that too overnight? I doubt!! They say, ‘a dream does not become reality through magic, it takes sweat, determination and hard work’. I too had a dream, I too broke sweat, I too did work hard but the magic simply did not happen! Maybe I did all this at a wrong place. As if this was not enough, we have witnessed a mushrooming of Deemed Universities that have opened their shops (read study centers) in the Valley. They also sell dreams (read degrees) but those dreams don’t require hard work and perseveration. The only pre-requisite is how much money you are willing to shell out. You name a degree and they will deliver that at your doorstep with no shipping charges! The percentage depends on your requirement, you need 70%, 80% or 90%, that is entirely upto you and the size of your pocket. The hottest selling degrees in these shops are that of B.Ed and M.Ed. they would have even started the sale of NET certificates also but they are yet to sign an MOU with the UGC and the CSIR! Once that materializes, you do not have to burn midnight oil for passing these exams.
Coming back to my hopes and dreams, there is still one list which is yet to come out. That of a ‘teacher’. Exactly a year ago I had applied for the interview, but the list is yet to see the light of the day. The reason...a tussle between percentages!! No wonders there.
 My dear father…. I am extremely sorry; I could not fulfill your dreams. For a moment I turned your dreams into hope but all of a sudden they changed into despair. Now I have decided to use my degrees as my room decoration. In the future they may come to help me whenever my children would talk about getting the higher degrees. I will warn them, ‘BACHO SUDHAR JAO WARNA ME AAPKO ISS PRESTIGIOUS UNIVERSITY SE DEGREE KARAVONGA’! 

Lastupdate on : Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 IST