Is Education a checklist? A mere piece of paper you receive as a degree? A degree to dangle on the wall? To receive validation? To fulfil your “wedding proposal requirement?” Or become a millionaire and yet perplexed to your responsibilities as a citizen!

Perceive the stated quote steadily once again. India’s literacy rate is 74.04% which seems superior but actually is poor and let’s reconcile oneself, among them how many are “literally” educated? (which I suppose doesn’t need an instance of) In many families education hardly is a matter to attain a degree, so that their children are vindicated qualified. Motive: clear out your college, get a job and start bringing in the money! Sounds good? After all, what the other motive of education is! And for girls, it’s more horrifying! For them education has a discrete meaning: get a degree to be eligible for the “highest bid” translated: so “in-laws can buy you.” Many have claimed to be well – educated and are thrilled to present the degree as evidence. But can they be called literate? Watching their beliefs, living pattern, I’ll tag them “degree educated.”

Education isn’t limited to writing big captions or witness an argument with the family over privacy or to act decently over dinner or mock waiter/someone for not knowing English.

I have seen people claiming themselves educated on one hand and being completely self-seeking on the other. By said self-seeking I am not agitated to looking out for ourselves. Do that, that’s your choice to live your life. Here, I refer to a person who does not avow his responsibility towards the society, towards the environment as a citizen. Let me put under few instances of people bragging about their education and how their lifestyle contradicts that: often I ask them why aren’t you turning off the Air Conditioner while you’re leaving, there reply I get: C’mon! “It’s a 30 minutes bath and I am coming back, hardly matters.” The next one is more fun. While we’re in a cafe I say: Let’s take the leftovers along, we’ll drop it outside to the needy. They’re are like: “what? Samyak speak low! What would the waiter think!” Sharing the left overs with someone (which we’ll eventually dump) who sits hours on pedestrians in a hope “someone might drop a bread” is not vital but what would the waiter think is!
With this, a quote by Malcolm Forbes popped in my mind:

“EDUCATION’S PURPOSE IS TO REPLACE AN EMPTY MIND WITH AN OPEN ONE.”

– MALCOLM FORBES

Hypothetically, (though it’s a daily habit) you began earning and are in a pace of settling, got financially stabled but are impudent to others, avoids how your bathroom tap is leaking since months or the lights/Air Conditioners/fans are never turned off even when you’re out. “Why? the bill is cheap” and can be easily afforded! Doesn’t respect your parents, doesn’t give a shit to trees (which no technology can replace F.Y.I) or your vehicle emitting black smoke since months but too bothered to get it to check. And, you’re cool that it won’t matter how continuously you waste your food or decided a business though hundreds of trees need to chop down and you won’t plant them, again why to take the trouble? You’re cool, its the government who’s responsible for the social work which by the way only works to solve their own “party” issues. And then, you’ll call yourself educated and “haha” about it among your friends.
Well, this ain’t being educated! And you shouldn’t be calling yourself one.

That’s what “we the youth” call education. One thing which forces me to ramble is how fast we are advancing monetary & technologically but ranks 177th out of 180 nations globally in EPI (Environmental Performance Index) & ranks 116th out of 157 in SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals)! I am not suggesting you become an activist or tag yourself a social worker, I am aware how complex we have made our lives, it’s hardly possible for many of us to even spend an entire day stress-free. But if you call yourself educated then act one! While looking out for yourself look a bit for the environment, for the society. We have the ability to do that, we are just so self-indulged that we don’t realize it. Broaden your horizons!
With this, another thought came by Robin Cook:

Education is more than a luxury; it is a responsibility that society owes to itself. ~ Robin Cook

What a real education is?

Let me give you a glimpse: Education doesn’t only help us to stand financially. We invest our energy to settle and in the aim to reach high we start compromising with the society & environment. This is the selfishness I am referring to: being too self-involved that you forget your basic responsibilities as an educated individual/citizen.

Education is a privilege, it’s the right of an individual where you get yourself separated from the crowd who couldn’t afford or because of any reason couldn’t have one. The objective of the education shouldn’t be just a degree which you can flaunt & get respect through. This peculiarly applies to those who cram to get passed. Education teaches you numerous things: your rights, values, to create your own view! It helps you to differentiate how things use to work and how to bring a change needed, how to be adaptive. Realize the power of education! You become a whole person. Without it, your existence doesn’t matter. You should be able to step up, speak for wrong, raise your voice, don’t walk in the same crowd, don’t hide behind thinking how would “they” react! Minding your own business is correct and many citizens in our country especially (I should say is a must), are in a much need of it but it won’t take much of you to speak up when needed let it be for a human, an animal, a tree, water, air, etc. We have laws supporting us, be aware of them. “Jago Grahak Jago.” Your parents have fulfilled their duty by providing you with the education, now it’s your turn and way to utilize it. Don’t necessarily follow the same path as your parents have, they might not have that extent of awareness as we have now. Be capable to bring a necessary change by doing your bit, a positive influence.
And again, with this a thought came:

When should you call yourself educated?

When you have control over yourself, have patience. Having certain principles is a must so that while you settle for yourself, you surely keep a perspective of how immensely significant your actions are for society. The whole concept of education is to separate you from the others, make you better, competitive, build you to bring a positive impact over the society. You don’t have to follow the lead, if someone is a millionaire and doesn’t has his eye over the environment or the society than he is doing no good, if he ain’t working under the parameters of a better tomorrow, then he is not worth to follow.
“Earning money is no hard, earning with leaving a positive impact over the society, is a real game.” We need who can contribute to the GDP and to the better future simultaneously.

Do your business, do your job but as said while looking out for yourself realize your responsibilities toward the society too because you are lucky enough to get the power of education! Help others, give respect, step up!

If our freedom fighters wouldn’t have fought together, then we might still be slaves. Hence, one can’t bring a positive impact, but together we can achieve high. We know that the above paragraphs are true and real but hard to accept, so why shouldn’t we start by letting more audience to know. Share it, like it so that I too can be more confident to write more.