A techie recently shared an impassioned post about why engineers and techies are "fixated" on Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) rankings.
Reacting to a post mocking engineers who are still upset over not getting into an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) or other prestigious engineering institutes, a techie posted on X that not being able to crack the JEE still "haunts" him after ten years.
He explained that middle-class children have relatively few opportunities for social mobility and transcending their backgrounds. IIT is one of the few institutes that can essentially promise high-paying jobs for its graduates, Economic Times writes.
The techie further said that many of his family members, except his mother, did not contact him after he did not make it to an IIT. But he refused to blame them. "Not their mistake. They sacrificed everything for me. Expectations are imminent (.sic)," he wrote.
He showed the extent parents take to finance coaching programmes, many of which charge astronomical fees, and stated that at least 30 people he knew traded off their ancestral lands to fund coaching in the city.
Not the same burden for everyone
Describing students’ struggles and how they differ across class differences, he shared how the exam offers a completely different experience based on one's economic background.
For those from rich or upper-middle-class households, JEE is only an academic challenge. However, for students from the poor or lower middle classes, the journey is cruel and dehumanising.
These young aspirants frequently leave their homes as early as the age of sixteen to live in congested and dirty hostels that are described as hardly livable even for the healthiest of people.
These confined spaces are not only physically taxing to live in, but also mentally draining, with little to no comfort.
In many situations, students rely on worn textbooks purchased from roadside stands, patiently waiting for someone to bring in a cheaper copy that they can afford. Their meals are frequently of such poor quality that they could be deemed unpalatable, but they have no other choice.
A never-ending cycle
The techie stated that this cycle occurs so frequently in his surroundings that he has become virtually desensitised to its severity.
Every year, he witnesses the same terrible events happening in his neighbourhood. Tragedies, such as the deaths of young JEE aspirants as a result of the stress and misery associated with these tests, no longer surprise him. This emotional detachment, he said, feels uncomfortably unnatural.
"Bokaro, Jamshedpur and Ranchi incur 2-3 suicides a week. Kota is what comes to the mainstream news (.sic)," he wrote, implying that what many people know about IIT aspirants' suicides is just the tip of the iceberg.
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