“Hey! at least finish your juice” mom shouted at my back while I ran out of my house to catch the college Bus. Just as expected the bus was about to leave, I ran and caught it in time. Catching my breath, I stared at the familiar faces, Classmates, Sports club friends, Gym mates and so many others, no one noticing my presence…everyone lost in their expensive mobiles. Well what’s new in that I was gonna do the same thing once I get to my seat. And there he was…my Childhood Friend Rishi holding a seat for me as always. And obediently without saying a word I went and sat next to him, no exchange of words we both just sat there going through our Facebook notifications.
The bus halted and we were at the front gate of our second home “Our College”. As a kid I used to feel that college going kids are so cool! there life is so awesome, new bikes! their own mobiles, they had this group where they would study together, enjoy together, party together, bunk classes together. But when I am going to college now I feel like…childhood was the best! Well we can’t help it we all have to grow up someday and be what the society wants us to be…anyways moving on to my class. The bell was about to ring and every one was busy in their groups playing Mini Milta and some were completing their assignments. The people who do that are called Nerds, who are very regular in completing their assignments and are really good at studies. I was just about to settle down when our professor entered with his big heavy reference book. He was getting ready for his lecture. Wrote the name of the chapter on board and started with a short revision of previous lecture. As the hour went by the was getting hot as there was no electricity today because It was Wednesday and it’s an official load-shading day. Everyone was in class, but mentally very few seem to be listening to what the professor was saying. Backbenchers were playing Clash Of Clans and rest were just staring in to space, no one aware of others thoughts and no idea where they might be right now inside their mind which was endless and unfathomable. Suddenly we all were brought back in class with a knock on the door. Our professor mumbling in an irritating tone went towards the door, we all could see him talking to someone but couldn’t see who it was. And suddenly a group of seniors entered our class with serious looks on their face, It was quite unexpected to see this gang of people serious cause this group of seniors was one of the most famous groups in college for there stylebajji, their attitude problems with almost everyone and especially their bikes! These group had some of the best bikes in the whole town and they would perform stunts on college ground with no helmets! How cool is that! It was live stunt show for us. But seeing those super cool studs so silent made us think what might have happened? Why are they so serious today, no cool RayBan glasses no funky style…they were not even in their best outfit today!
All five of them stood in front of the class and one of them had a big white cardboard box in his hand, one we see in voters’ ballet. They all looked at each other and one of them made a gesture that he would speak, he moved forward… but, he couldn’t speak, he opened his mouth to speak but instead tears rolled down his eyes. And suddenly we all were in a shock this was last thing we wanted to see! One of our coolest senior crying in front of us like a baby. And then we noticed our professor approached him and told him to calm down and made him sit down. Then he turned towards us and spoke, “You people might be wondering what happened, do you see one of their group member is missing, yes, that guy is in coma right now and this bunch of youngsters whom you call your seniors have just realised how dangerous it’s to drive bikes rashly.
And suddenly the picture was clear as water they were here to collect donation for that guy’s treatment. Student life… doesn’t it sound something that is exciting and full of dreams and success stories. Well the reality is something different it’s not the same as before. Today’s youngster has access to all kind of stuff due to the changing trend of owning a mobile at an early age. As a Student we are supposed to be studying and learning to be socially responsible about people around us and learn and analyse the wrong happening around us and doing something to make it right…but, instead we will be wasting our time on Instagram and YouTube liking the videos and sharing them with our friends, it’s like a competition who shares the best junk from the internet. The student today knows everything but is unaware of the fact that all that knowledge is not gonna help them build a good carrier. A good carrier starts from a book and a Teacher who understands you in a way which Google and YouTube can’t. As a student we are given a choice, whether to go with the flow of madness that’s going on around us or to stick to the primitive laws which defines a person as a student.
Today we are surrounded by thousands of distractions. Becoming a part of the heard is easy but, sometimes it’s better to step back and see where the heard is going, or you might end up doing something you don’t want to do, being someone you don’t want to be and living a life you don’t want to live.
Success is like an addiction too but it is an addiction you must have to see through other addictions and distractions that surrounds you. Being a student in 21st century is not easy. There is more competition and more ways to run away from it with statement like “I want to do something different, I will do something exceptional, I will become a YouTuber… and few other trends which seem easy to today’s generation than to sit in a place and study something from a deeper perspective. A student is supposed to be creating reasons to live a life at its full potential, instead we see them playing games like Blue Whale, because endurance through hard times of life is distant trait in today’s young generation. There are thousands of opportunities and jobs sitting out there but there are no employees which are illegible for those jobs because we were failures at becoming a student in the first place. The phase between 10 to 25 is the time where you decide how you are going to live your life for next 50 years. 6 years of hard work can get you into best colleges and best jobs where you can independently work and follow your other passion at the same time. In the end I would say, things seem to be ok right now…but, soon there will be time when being a student will become a joke and something that is followed only by the people who didn’t change with time still and believe in something which goes as ‘education is power’.
Short Verses 