Engineer-ing

 Being an engineer was a big deal, may be, till 2015. By then, those bazaru, cheap engineering colleges in every nook of each lane had not really mushroomed like weeds during the monsoon.  In such cheap colleges without a proper campus, forget adequate infrastructure, money-wise rich but intellect-wise extremely poor students bought seats with their fathers' ill-gotten hawala type money!

Such horrors destroyed the reputation of engineering. Somehow they scraped through such courses, using the potent potion of ill-gotten monies and the 'crook' power of the 'Daddu' types. No wonder, as a fallout, by now, many, many engineers do not get any jobs.

Otherwise, being an engineer was a glory so much so that the COEP regatta, too, was famous. Engineering as a career was so much looked up to that it was quite fashionable for the bigwigs to declare how they were unwillingly forced in to it by their aspirational middle class  parents, while their passion was something else!

 The oft repeated actor Atul Kulkarni story is one such example. Unfortunately, such "engineer-ed" narratives conveniently overlook the fact that out of some lakhs of hopefuls, not even ten actors grace the screen. Mumbai is full of the sad stories of the remaining extras whose lives are forever ruined. But narrative makers never care! The Sushant Singh sad saga hopefully has opened some silly eyes! He, too, was an engineering student who left that career to become an actor!

In brief, the engineers' day should remind us that following in the footsteps of masterful minds such as Sir Vishweshwaraiya is a better track. At least, one might make a small little contribution to one's own life, if not to the world. The engineer-ed narratives of all types always are crooked lures that consciously lead astray, and knowingly laugh at your problems, given their wicked sense of fun!

Pratima@ Truth speaks harshly, but honestly. Lies always smile and simper in your presence; but, behind your back, laugh out loud at your misfortunes!