I start by defining the 2 terms.
Ed-u-cat-ed
1. Having under gone education.
2. Characterized by or displaying qualities of culture and learning.
Lit-er-ate
1. Able to read and write.
Literacy simply means to be able to read and write. Education, on the other hand, means to acquire knowledge to enhance one's ability to reason and make sound judgment.
Scenario 1
A group of a thousand farmers rush to Delhi to protest against the Central government's Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) resulting to a lot of traffic congestion throughout the city. They protested at Jantar Mantar for its proximity to the Indian Parliament. The media came out with headlines like “Capital's heart vandalised” and "Sugar cane farmers lay siege to Delhi as prices fall". This was because these farmers “broke electric poles, flower pots, roads signs, dustbins and even defecating and urinating inside Jantar Mantar as if it were an open toilet”.
Scenario 2
More than a 5000 odd MBA aspirants appearing in a major entrance exam in a college in a village. These guys are parking their vehicles anywhere they get a space both on and off the road, not a bit worried even if there vehicle would make it a trouble for the others to pass through the same road. The guard (an uneducated rural) there has been tired explaining these “literate” people to park their cars at a parking lot a few metres away from the centre as it might cause trouble for their fellow aspirants as well as the village people. But why would a literate urban person listen to this poor uneducated guard? The story does not end here. On way back, these literate people did every possible thing to annoy the poor villagers. They bought the eating stuff and threw the left overs on the roads. In order to overtake the large trucks, these literates made 4-5 lanes on a 2 lane road, making it impossible for the traffic from opposite side to come and leading to congestion. As if this was not enough, they even honked for the time the traffic was not moving.
So, what do you guys make out from this? The farmers were the uneducated lot who came to the capital to raise their issue, being an uncivilized lot they “vandalised” the city. But, the scars of such an incident can be erased within a day or two, for they will be back to where they belong to and do what they are good at- farming.
The literate MBA aspirants on the other hand are going to be the future managers of some MNC in a couple of years from now and they are here to stay, continuing their vandalism throughout the life. This is not just a one day experience. I am not saying that what those farmers did was acceptable. What I am saying that what we guys have been doing is even worse!
Even if this is not enough, one can experience the same in his/her daily life, be it when you are purchasing some ticket (movie or metro or bus) and there are some smart people posing themselves as VIPs ignore the line.The worst thing is that the ones in the line are the real losers. Or when you get on or off the bus or a metro, you can easily relate the same uncivilised manner which we guys experienced when the farmers came to the city.
So, does that conclude that the urban and rural both stand at same stage as far as being uncivilized is concerned? NO. We are far lower than them. The reason being, that we are the future of the country and we can’t just ignore the things as we have been doing right now. The person who has been littering around all over India blames the country for it being filthy, and the same person drops the waste in dustbins when he/she goes to a richer nation. In India, while the person who is civilised enough to look for a dustbin to throw the waste becomes a piece of joke for others. Why such step motherly treatment towards your own country?
And we say, that the “uncivilized”, “uneducated” farmers “vandalised” the city, as if “literate” people are the only ones licensed to “vandalise” the city. Please guys, don’t be just be literate. Become educated.
Ed-u-cat-ed
1. Having under gone education.
2. Characterized by or displaying qualities of culture and learning.
Lit-er-ate
1. Able to read and write.
Literacy simply means to be able to read and write. Education, on the other hand, means to acquire knowledge to enhance one's ability to reason and make sound judgment.
Scenario 1
A group of a thousand farmers rush to Delhi to protest against the Central government's Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) resulting to a lot of traffic congestion throughout the city. They protested at Jantar Mantar for its proximity to the Indian Parliament. The media came out with headlines like “Capital's heart vandalised” and "Sugar cane farmers lay siege to Delhi as prices fall". This was because these farmers “broke electric poles, flower pots, roads signs, dustbins and even defecating and urinating inside Jantar Mantar as if it were an open toilet”.
Scenario 2
More than a 5000 odd MBA aspirants appearing in a major entrance exam in a college in a village. These guys are parking their vehicles anywhere they get a space both on and off the road, not a bit worried even if there vehicle would make it a trouble for the others to pass through the same road. The guard (an uneducated rural) there has been tired explaining these “literate” people to park their cars at a parking lot a few metres away from the centre as it might cause trouble for their fellow aspirants as well as the village people. But why would a literate urban person listen to this poor uneducated guard? The story does not end here. On way back, these literate people did every possible thing to annoy the poor villagers. They bought the eating stuff and threw the left overs on the roads. In order to overtake the large trucks, these literates made 4-5 lanes on a 2 lane road, making it impossible for the traffic from opposite side to come and leading to congestion. As if this was not enough, they even honked for the time the traffic was not moving.
So, what do you guys make out from this? The farmers were the uneducated lot who came to the capital to raise their issue, being an uncivilized lot they “vandalised” the city. But, the scars of such an incident can be erased within a day or two, for they will be back to where they belong to and do what they are good at- farming.
The literate MBA aspirants on the other hand are going to be the future managers of some MNC in a couple of years from now and they are here to stay, continuing their vandalism throughout the life. This is not just a one day experience. I am not saying that what those farmers did was acceptable. What I am saying that what we guys have been doing is even worse!
Even if this is not enough, one can experience the same in his/her daily life, be it when you are purchasing some ticket (movie or metro or bus) and there are some smart people posing themselves as VIPs ignore the line.The worst thing is that the ones in the line are the real losers. Or when you get on or off the bus or a metro, you can easily relate the same uncivilised manner which we guys experienced when the farmers came to the city.
So, does that conclude that the urban and rural both stand at same stage as far as being uncivilized is concerned? NO. We are far lower than them. The reason being, that we are the future of the country and we can’t just ignore the things as we have been doing right now. The person who has been littering around all over India blames the country for it being filthy, and the same person drops the waste in dustbins when he/she goes to a richer nation. In India, while the person who is civilised enough to look for a dustbin to throw the waste becomes a piece of joke for others. Why such step motherly treatment towards your own country?
And we say, that the “uncivilized”, “uneducated” farmers “vandalised” the city, as if “literate” people are the only ones licensed to “vandalise” the city. Please guys, don’t be just be literate. Become educated.
Cricket game
2 comments:
Very interesting write up. Seems like a lot of thought went into this one. Believe me this is one question that has been hounding many.
According to me, being educated doesn't mean much. This is because education may give us the sophisticated edge but what we lack is knowledge. Due to this we easily pass statements on rural India being illiterate and so on. In a country where literacy is measured on the basis whether you can or cannot write your name, being educated too, doesn't mean much. We love using the word civilized. Are we? No. Just because we live in a city, have the best of education and other urban amenities doesn't make us civilized.
It is a long standing argument and an interesting one at that. We shall discuss more when we meet!
Education these days is a passport to earn moolahs rather than to use it for the development of the society.
The conditioning which we receive since childhood is a reason that we forget our basic duties as a citizen of the country.
The moment a child is born, he is tagged as a doctor, pilot, engineer and what not.
The child in majority of the cases doesn't dissapoint them, and goes on to become one, and then earns back all that his parents have spent in exponential terms.
Well this is the sad story of India which makes the educated lot happy
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