Thank You Aditya Thackeray

The young always have a fresh perspective, and thank you AT for helping me look at things differently too!
With Nishna on the verge of entering the eight grade, we were faced with a huge dilemma. Should we take the tried and tested Indian board ICSE, or go with the relatively unknown IGCSE board?
As Indians who went through the Indian system and competed with the best,(and are not doing too badly in life) we felt that the Indian system is the best. And if you can crack the exams and get into St Stephens, SRCC or the IITs then you have arrived!
But Such a Long Journey, made me realise the futility of my dreams.Who am I fooling? From the heady days when we lustily protested against the Mandal Commission, things have only gone downhill for the educated Middle Class. Suddenly, instead of a 100% seats based on merit, there were only 50% seats that that you could potentially get into based on merit. Merit included not only marks, but Dad’s bank balance and political connections that you might have. Not that the SC/ST 50% seats got filled - but those were out of bounds for the meritorious.
It does not take a historian or a social observer to figure that the quality of higher education has dipped in India. Colleges are political hotbeds where teachers do not turn up to take classes and kids while away their time for three years.
Mumbai is even more special - unlike other parts of India, where kids are in ‘school’ till the 12th, the Mumbai kids get into Junior College! So whereas, other Indian kids waste three years of their lives, Mumbai kids are gifted an additional 2 impressionable years.
Compare to China and you can forsee that in the future Indian kids in India will lose any competitive advantage they may historically have had.
Why would I want my kids to struggle so much for such little value? It might be better for them to go abroad, compete with the best globally and make a life for themselves. Why would I subject them to a culture where creativity is hindered and where the poor VC capitulated immediately to a young Thackeray , because who was going to protect him from goonda raj?
This government is not for the educated middle class! That poor VC must have feared for his and his family’s life. He would not get police protection - that is only the prerogative of the politicians. He could have been beaten up, killed and noone would have been brought to the book. Even the police and politicians lose their nerve in front of the mighty Thackerays, so what is a poor VC?
Can we really blame him? Is he weak, spineless, an unthinking adult? I don’t think so.
He is a smart adult who wants to live longer.
And thank you Junior Thackeray - my kids are definitely going to be out of bounds for people like you!And will go international!