>
> Something is bound to give, sooner or later.

Yes, the scenario is pretty much the same in TN. I went to a post-12th
std career counselling fair organised by the paper I worked in.  The
first session was like watching a messiah in action. Parents and
children in a packed auditorium looking up to this one person on the
stage. Each parent or child stood up to say one number - the 12th
standard percentage. And this guy, after a moment of reflection, will
pronounce the name of the engineering college and the stream they
could hope to get admission in. Predictions of non-IT streams meant
droopy faces and defeated bodies. This man is a self-styled expert on
admission process, question papers, and exams.

The next session had three people from the IT sector. I was arguing,
what is the use of having such a session for someone just in 12th, it
made more sense for students in the final year. Mistaken. That was the
other session which had a full house. The remaining sessions, where
alternative careers were discussed had some ten to fifteen people
attending.

It did feel like something was bound to give. But what I encountered
when I reported on the sector didn't feel like it. Perhaps it was
because you speak to individuals, and for them it is their story. And
it is just one part, however important, of their complex lives. Then
this 30,000 feet astronaut view didn't make much sense. It does have
some merit, but kinda doesn't fit at the same time. Am reading Mr.
Palomar by Calvino now. It has some of the same struggle - the complex
and sometimes confusing relationship between micro and macro.

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