The "Success" Story

Scanning the papers over the last 48 hours or so, I have seen the same pictures of proud parents and beaming candidates over and over again beneath headlines screaming "22 year old tops UPSC exam". And since we are in the age of overinformation and social media, I am also told who stood 2nd, 3rd...with page long interviews for us to peruse so that we come to know how they worked hard to achieve this feat. Similar stories feature on front pages of newspapers every year when the CBSE/ISCE/ISC Class 10 and Class 12 boards results come out (although these days, the topper does get royally trolled online as well). The IIT or PMT exams are no different and the toppers are usually found giving tips and interviews so that others benefit from their experience and methods.

I respect these students. Not because they cracked super difficult examinations, but for their sheer perseverance and hard work. Being a doctor myself, I know how hard I worked to get in here and yet, I was among the thousands who gaped with awe at the toppers list to be amazed by those people who made it to the top colleges in the MBBS and post graduation entrance exams.

What remains more baffling to me, though, is how candidates doing well in these exams qualify to be on the frontpage of newspapers. How is the fact that a certain candidate, who undoubtedly worked hard and has the results to show for it, considered to be of national importance? Why does the country need to know who topped the Medical, Engineering or UPSC examinations?

Treating certain exam toppers as some kind of war heroes, in my opinion, is simply a reflection of how we, as a society, tend to equate "success" with academic brilliance. Not that academically brilliant people are not successful, but is academic achievement the only parameter to define success? How about the candidates who top in the exams conducted for classical vocals or dance? Are they not brilliant enough? Or is it simply because people with creative pursuits are not expected to do well financially in comparision to their academic counterparts?

It is this mentality, reflected in these page long ads and interviews splashed across our newspapers or beamed primetime into our living rooms, that ultimately trickles down to parents pressurising their children to become home grown versions of Albert Einstein.

Every year, we are force fed information about the pay package landed by IIT or IIM passouts. Parents dream about seeing their own children in their place some day. The dreams of the average middle class family centre around their children becoming doctors, engineers, MBA etc and these dreams and desires are somewhat made earnest by such nationwide hero worship of academic toppers every year.

Cracking a certain exam which guarantees you a plush job need not make national news, because what you do once you are in the system is what really counts. There are people who have dropped out of these courses/job sectors and moved on to follow their passions and done equally well in life. These are the stories that inspire, the stories that tell us that success need not be defined by how well you remember what's between the pages of your textbooks or how much you score in a given exam-- and that brilliance needs to be respected irrespective of the financial benefits of the same.

It is ofcourse easier said than done, but until we realise that the real success lies in being honest and sincere in whatever we do, and giving it our best shot is all that really matters--this rat race will only keep getting more desperate with time. The implications of idolising academic toppers and putting them on a pedestal may be more far reaching than we realise, and the sooner it stops, the better. Till then, celebrating the fruits of their hard work is fine by me, but glorifying their "success"-most definitely isn't.