I was very pleased the other day, when the results for the HSC exams were announced – though I do not remember whether it was the ICSE or the CBSE results. The reason – one of the toppers in the exam mentioned that he does not aspire to get into an IIT, because almost everyone who graduates out of IIT end up becoming a software engineer. Some go for post-graduation and then end up becoming what – a software engineer, albeit with a better pay. This young lad, all of 17 years of age, wants to do research in pure science. So he wants to graduate in science, go to some ivy league, top class university to earn a doctorate and come back to India, so we all can benefit from his research. It is indeed a shame that I do not recollect his name now.

Why does that makes me happy? He has the right platform to get into one of the top Engineering institutes in India, obtain a bachelor’s degree with good score, get into one of the top IT companies in India and earn good, fat salary. Eventually go to the West and make good money and settle down. Isn’t this what one would expect from an HSC topper? Isn’t this what most of the young graduates in India aspires for? Isn’t this what most of the parents of such people dream for their kids? After all, an IT job is a path of glory, a quick highway to wealth and prosperity? And yet, he has chosen something that very few with his achievements would dare to do, all such material appeal notwithstanding.

Over the last few years, the youth in India have blindly followed the lure of the IT industry and its luster to such an extent that it has now become disheartening to see. These are the best minds in India, with good education, support system and the necessary infrastructure to make use of their education such that it benefits not only them, but the millions in India who can do with some help in alleviation of their fundamental challenges like hunger, health, poverty, education, living, etc. And yet, for a quick buck and a peaceful life, these people overlook their intellectual capability and their wherewithal to influence a larger landscape; and end up doing IT jobs that pay good but are extremely isolated from getting answers to the challenges above. And so in a nation where farmers commit suicide by hundreds, small children die of starvation, more than a third of the population is illiterate and our urban centres are crumbling under the influence of migration, all we notice around us are people who get into the IT industry and heave money by the shovel, proverbially speaking. It seems that the other aspirations are dead; and all we see is an enticement that has no creativity in it.

Contrast this with some of the nations in Africa or the Middle East, which are less peaceful than India and even less educated than us. And yet if we look at some of the students from these countries pursuing higher education in the US and elsewhere, then the trend is to learn and give back to their country. Most if not all of these students are keen to do research in things that affect our everyday life. These students go back with learnings in economics, agriculture, life sciences, and engineering, unlike those from India who thrive for IT.

This is not to say that IT jobs are to be discouraged, far from that. IT has been a huge enabler and we all have witnessed the benefits of IT over last few years in our lives. IT has made lives easier, saves time and money and can be secure and assuring. And even the mundane, back office jobs in IT, operations and processes must come to India for the reasons well known. But I would be a happier person to see more and more young people looking forward to make the best use of their education, intellect and opportunities to support the mankind, rather than letting isolation lead their lives. They need to get online.