Mayo - An Indian Anamoly
I just read an article about Mayo College in The Financial Times . Mayo college is a boarding school located inIndia in the town of Ajmer, in the middle of Rajasthan's Thar desert.
The article was about the revival of Mayo and had some comparisons to Doon School, another school established by the British. The strategy of such schools is nicely summed in a comment made by Lord Macaulay, a bigot and racist who considered anything Indian to be inferior. He said that idea was to create a loyal "class of people who were Indian in blood and colour but English in opinions, moral and intellect". The amount of drivel and hatred these colonial thugs got away with is mindboggling.
Anyways, for many Indians Mayo College will be an anamoly. It is one of those schools that focus on general education and not intent on preparing students for the Engineering/IT/Medical/Legal professions. Even though the professional landscape has changed in India (one can not belong to these professions but still lead a relatively affluent life), most students still aspire to be in one of these professions. However, most of the students that enroll in Mayo are from affluent, upper middle class families. I dont think their goal in life would to earn 2 square meals but to augment their affluence.
I think the preponderance of students in the so called professional fields is itself an anamoly. Although these fields have traditionally assured a good quality of life, it is sad to see hordes of students blindly entering these professions because of this assured affluence or because to humor their old man or old woman. Yes matriarchal famililes do exist in India. I believe that this imbalance will correct itself slowly as the number of non-engineering companies grow - companies that deal in the more lucrative banking, investment/portfolio management, insurance etc.
The article was about the revival of Mayo and had some comparisons to Doon School, another school established by the British. The strategy of such schools is nicely summed in a comment made by Lord Macaulay, a bigot and racist who considered anything Indian to be inferior. He said that idea was to create a loyal "class of people who were Indian in blood and colour but English in opinions, moral and intellect". The amount of drivel and hatred these colonial thugs got away with is mindboggling.
Anyways, for many Indians Mayo College will be an anamoly. It is one of those schools that focus on general education and not intent on preparing students for the Engineering/IT/Medical/Legal professions. Even though the professional landscape has changed in India (one can not belong to these professions but still lead a relatively affluent life), most students still aspire to be in one of these professions. However, most of the students that enroll in Mayo are from affluent, upper middle class families. I dont think their goal in life would to earn 2 square meals but to augment their affluence.
I think the preponderance of students in the so called professional fields is itself an anamoly. Although these fields have traditionally assured a good quality of life, it is sad to see hordes of students blindly entering these professions because of this assured affluence or because to humor their old man or old woman. Yes matriarchal famililes do exist in India. I believe that this imbalance will correct itself slowly as the number of non-engineering companies grow - companies that deal in the more lucrative banking, investment/portfolio management, insurance etc.
posted by brihaspati | 6/09/2005 02:13:00 pm
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