Where do we go from here?

I was on vacation these last two weeks. And I decided not to travel comfortably so I accepted the free tickets offered me by Citibank. To say the least, after angry shoutings at the customer support personnel and probing intrusively to get the PNR number from them, I still have not received the e-ticket in my email box as promised by them. But this is not about how inefficient Citibank can be. It is about me and others like me.

The Air Deccan flight from Bangalore was late. And I did not know that one has to stand in queue a good one and a half hour early, infact immediately after checking in, to board the plane. 'Free seating' I am told. One can sit where one pleases. If I do not stand in front of the line, I do not have a chance at getting the best seat.(Other things great about Indians) What really is the best seat anyway. And it is not as if Air Deccan is suddenly going to say, "We are sorry we have just about space for another person. See you in tomorrow's flight". I pulled up my nose and scoffed and decided to go in after all the desperate passengers were on board.

Of course once on board, I realised one does not have much choice in the matter of standing an hour in queue. As I walked down the aircraft and tried to take an empty seat, I was quietly informed, "This seat is taken". And there I was, sailing down the aircraft with people on both sides saying, "This seat is taken". It was somewhere right at the back that I got a seat but no overhead luggage space. I had to slip my cabin baggage under the seat.

So what is the point? Surprisingly, I do not know. I do not have the slightest clue and worse, I might just stand in queue the next time. Of course that does bring up memories of my college days in Pilani.

BITS Pilani has a unique educational system in which one need not attend classes at all. Another unique aspect is that, one has to reserve one's place in the class much before the lecture starts. Preferably, right in front under the lecturer's nose. And so, early morning and as early as the night before, one of us in the hostel wing would go and book these seats using our semester timetable booklets. On top would be written in bold letters, 'BOOKED FOR 3rd HOUR. RAKU's CLASS'. Then all we had to do was to swagger into the classroom, even a little late, and still have the best seats waiting for us. It is not as if there was not enough space unless it was a multisection course and all students had to attend the 'popular' lecturers. For those classes which had only a single lecturer, it was all about being noticed by the lecturer and the infinite opportunity to suck up to the great one at the black board.

This year has seen a lot of unrest in the country, particularly with the issue of reservation for OBC (Other Backward Classes) students in Post Graduate medical courses. I feel strongly about the fact that it is seen as a sure digression from meritocracy. What is happening in reality is an outcome of the social inequality that we allowed in our civilization. From the time when education itself was a privilege for the upper classes or for that matter the Brahmins in particular, till now, when we are finally realizing that one does not attain greatness by birth and that the once subjugated classes of dalits, harijans and OBCs form a majority of the voting population quite capable of swinging the balance of power towards any political party, India is awakening to real peoblems. Therefore, as a means of appeasement, the HRD ministry decided to allocate a greater share of the resources (in this case opportunity for higher education in medical studies) to this vote bank. It is an investment mind you and one that no opposition will condemn for fear of inviting the wrath of the voters. Hence the silence while unrest prevailed.

So I have come to realise one truth. Be it the seat on an Air Deccan flight or the 'seat' of opportunity to pursue a higher degree in medical studies, I have to accept the reality of reservation. In the first case it is first-come-first-serve and in the latter, last-come-first-serve. My observation is that it might be a natural course in the development of a civilization of diverse ethnic/socio-economic/religious groups. The fact that a stronger section of society had suppressed a weaker section in the past causing the latter to remain 'backward' and that in a democracy, equality is a fundamental tenet, the urge to equalize all sections be it via resource allocation or representation is but natural. So is the opposition to such factors because one cannot afford to share in the face of dearth of opportunities. And no matter what the socio-economic conditions are, one cannot explain to a student that though his grades are higher he has still been passed over by one more deserving by virtue of his belonging to a backward class. And coupled with the corruption in this country, it is indeed a question to be asked; "Where do we go from here?"