Kota-A Coaching Factory Or A Suicide Factory?

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.- Albert Einstein.

26 December 2018, It was a typical winter morning in north Indian state of Bihar, Mr. And m/s Sharma‘s (name changed) son was not picking up their call. They contacted one of his cousins to check on him. What they heard changed their entire life. “He’s no more” said the boy in a very brittle voice. The student was found dead, and interestingly this was the third suicide within five days. They all were preparing for well-known IIT and Medical entrance exam in the most infamous city for students, Kota, known as the coaching capital of India, and also the “suicide” capital.

IITs and Medical colleges in India are known for lower intake percentage .i.e. less than 2% of the aspirants get their desired college. So, to attain a better rank and study-friendly society, parents send their ward to Kota. Every year over 150 thousandstudents migrate to Kota for admission in premier coaching institutes, which means 150 thousand families sacrifice their lives for the welfare of their children.

According to Wikipedia, the major cause for suicide till 2014 is parental pressure in youth education which peaks the chart at 32,308! This means Kota has gulped over 32,308 families. The Brains of the student have become a pressure cooker and in a 2010 Bollywood film, 3 idiots, protagonist Aamir Khan quotes well. He says, “These engineers are very smart sir; they didn't invent a machine which can measure the pressure on the brain. If they had, we would have come to know that this was not a suicide but a Murder”.

Parents do their moral duty to send their kids in the best institutes in order to accomplish their “own” dreams but forget that their kids have their own life. They force their kids to satiate their unachievable dream and kids, in compulsion have to sacrifice their choices and passion. Suicidal tendencies in a student can be also be increased by peer pressure. In this competitive world, every student wants to outperform others.

Competition is necessary for quality, but we should learn that “healthy” competition is equally important. Following passion should be one’s goal rather than following what society says. Remember “Suicide not only kill someone, but also their family”!