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00:00I'm from the medical stream. After a person clears the MBBS examination, everyone is so deeply conditioned and the market, the society, everyone says, this rank, this branch you should take. This rank, this branch. And it's in the West that the branches which are research-based given to the toppers in contradiction to India.
00:17Forget about the fields that require a lot of R&D expenditure. Think of the arts. Are we creative even there? Think of music, think of movies. Are we creative? We are picking, copying, plagiarizing. How does it matter who is the king? My job is to just...
00:38Even Indians who are doing well abroad, very few of them are innovators or creators. All that we want is a safe and settled life. And what does settlement mean?
00:50But when it comes to being disruptive, you won't find Indians there. We are up for sale. Come, come, I'm available. This is the price tag. Yes, we need money. But fear has seeped so deeply within us that we just cannot see beyond money.
01:06Creation is rebellion. Creation is rebellion. Do we see this? But when this becomes your life, how will you rebel?
01:16Pranam Achaiji.
01:17Achaiji, my question is related to the chapter, The Jungle in a Nicktime. Is education about making a living or having a life worth living?
01:28I'm from the medical stream. After a person clears the MBBS examination and is opting for further courses,
01:36when the person is scoring some rank. So, everyone is so deeply conditioned that they will be opting for, let's say, the branch like orthopedic, surgery, medicine,
01:47which are selling in the society during the journey of their five and a half years.
01:51Maybe there were some non-clinical branches, research-based branches they were very much interested in.
01:56And the market, the society, the motivation industry, everyone says to keep this rank, this branch you should take.
02:05This rank, this branch. And it's in the West that the branches which are research-based given to the toppers in contradiction to India.
02:12We want to become neither doctors nor engineers or anything else.
02:23It's not as if we like a particular field or a certain branch.
02:32We like nothing.
02:36Nothing at all. I'm talking of the way our beloved country is.
02:40Because we are just so afraid that we want to get away from our current position.
02:53Right?
02:54That's the way our upbringing, our culture, our education is.
02:59The media, the society, everything.
03:02So, you're a kid.
03:04Right?
03:04You are given an image to pursue.
03:10And that image is a distant one, far off in the future.
03:15Let's say that image means,
03:17that that image shows you enjoying life in the States, United States.
03:23Right?
03:24A villa of your own.
03:28Two nice cars.
03:29Two cute kids.
03:35Light-skinned wife.
03:37Such things.
03:37And that's the usual image that we are supposed to pursue.
03:44That image is everything.
03:45And where does that image come from?
03:47That image comes from a deep-rooted fear.
03:53Deep-rooted.
03:54That fear is who we are.
03:58That fear has become our primary identity.
04:02When you are afraid, you can't love.
04:04When you are afraid, you can't be creative.
04:07So, how is it that our internal processes move?
04:11Please understand.
04:12So, there is that image there.
04:15There.
04:16Right?
04:17So, at the age of 30, that's where I want to be.
04:21Now, from that place, we reverse-engineer our entire life.
04:32So, if you have to reach there, then you have to reach there.
04:36And if you have to reach there, then you must reach there first.
04:39To reach there, you must step on that one first.
04:42To step on that, you must step on that.
04:44To step on that, you must take a step in that direction.
04:47And that's the way we calculate what's the next step to take.
04:54Which basically means there can be no love for the next step here.
04:59Because this next step here, according to us, in our calculation, means nothing at all.
05:06It is just a passage towards that ultimate image that we must reach.
05:14And where is that ultimate image coming from?
05:16A deep-rooted sense of inferiority.
05:20Somehow, I want to feel secure.
05:23And I'm told I'll be secure when I'll have X thousand dollars in my account.
05:28A new passport, a green card or something.
05:35Social security, this, that.
05:39That's when, and it's not as if I really know whether that image deserves to be pursued.
05:45But that's in the air.
05:48That's the social message.
05:50If you reach there, you are good, you are doing well, you are successful.
05:53But life is not that.
06:00That may actually never be achieved.
06:02And one does not know what happens, if at all that is achieved.
06:06Life is all this.
06:09We have a certain ambition for that.
06:13We have a certain ambition towards that.
06:16Even that is just ambition.
06:18Nothing more than that.
06:19But towards all this, which really is life, we have no affection at all.
06:27Because this is supposed to be just the pathway, the route, the rites of passage.
06:38Why are you there pursuing this particular degree?
06:43No, nothing.
06:44If I pursue this degree, then it will be easier to take admission to the next one.
06:48Why the next one?
06:50Because that will make it easier for me to get an internship there.
06:54Why there?
06:55Because from there, I can pursue that stream.
06:57Why that stream?
06:58Because from there, it is easier to migrate to the US.
07:03If that is how the logic is, what love can you expect for all the intermediate status?
07:10The intermediate will remain intermediate.
07:12Something that you are just somehow tolerating.
07:19Something that is not meant to be lived or enjoyed.
07:23Something that is meant to be wished away speedily.
07:26Why can this part of it just vanish?
07:34So, it is not as if those who opt for computer science or tell me one of the preferred branches
07:38in medicine.
07:40Derma, radiology, medicine.
07:42Derma is the preferred branch.
07:43So, there are two basic reasons.
07:46Give me just one preferred branch.
07:48So, Derma is the preferred branch.
07:49So, somebody opts for computer science in engineering or Derma in, where this surprises me, dermatology?
07:56Because of the relaxed lifestyle.
07:58Oh, relaxed lifestyle.
07:59That is a different reason.
08:00Okay.
08:01Everything is skin deep, it seems, in life.
08:06So, there somebody wants Derma.
08:08It is not as if he loves to lick skin or something.
08:12Here somebody opts for comp science.
08:16It is not as if he loves chewing chips.
08:20Just that, that's the route you need to take to achieve that.
08:25And that may actually never be achieved.
08:30Worse still, even if that is achieved, it may prove to be a disappointing mirage.
08:36You reach there, you got it, and now you discover it is none of what you assumed it to be.
08:42Now, look at the whole deal.
08:47That would disappoint you, almost definitely, but in the end.
08:53But in the end.
08:55The bigger disappointment is all this because you were anyway choosing to pass through all this without being touched.
09:01Without putting any heart into any of this.
09:04Because your heart was reserved for that.
09:09Actually, not even for that.
09:11You don't have a heart.
09:12We are a very loveless people.
09:14Where is the heart?
09:16All we care for is security.
09:19And that's why there is so little creativity and innovation here.
09:24Even Indians who are doing well abroad.
09:29Very few of them are innovators or creators.
09:34We do well in operations roles.
09:38We are very disciplined and diligent people.
09:42We are called the model minority.
09:45Because we get assimilated.
09:47We follow rules.
09:49And all that makes us very good operations people.
09:52We are status quoists or at best we can be useful in terms of incremental improvement.
10:02But when it comes to being disruptive, you won't find Indians there.
10:07Are you getting it?
10:10Are you getting it?
10:13All that we want is a safe and settled life.
10:18Safe and settled.
10:19And what does settlement mean?
10:28There was this tiger pursuing me.
10:34And now I can relax.
10:38I have somehow managed to dodge the tiger.
10:41Right?
10:42Now settle down.
10:44What does settle down mean?
10:45That's the worst concept you can subscribe to in life.
10:52Settling down.
10:53What does that mean?
10:55Not changing anymore?
10:58Not improving further?
11:04Not having the guts or the stamina to be disruptive anymore?
11:09What does that mean?
11:16And if you go into where all of that comes from, it will become even more interesting.
11:26You see, when your very concept of the highest power is one of somebody outside of you in the higher skies,
11:37then how will you ever believe that you have the power to write your own destiny?
11:49I thought it was a thing of the last century.
11:55But look at how Gen Z and the younger lot are flocking to subscribe to astro apps and things.
12:04And where is that coming from?
12:07There is a divine power out somewhere controlling my life.
12:14So who am I to try too much?
12:18Who am I to walk against my fate?
12:22To swim against the stream?
12:24The best I can do is, therefore, it pains me to say this, but we are very great at psychophancy.
12:42Any organization, public, private, Indian, international, Indians are very, very good at...
12:49Because that's almost there in the foundation of our culture.
13:01Pray and your wishes and dreams and desires shall be granted.
13:09What do we pray for?
13:13Fulfillment of desires, right?
13:14So look at the message you are giving to the kid.
13:20If there is something that you want,
13:23don't be rebellious, don't be disruptive.
13:29Simply bow down to those in power.
13:34Praise them.
13:35Keep them happy.
13:38If you praise them, if you keep them happy,
13:40they will grant you what you want.
13:44And that gets so deep into us,
13:47feels like almost into our DNA.
13:51That has gotten here, inside.
13:57We are not people who can really
14:00weather the storms.
14:02We are not people who can
14:05craft their own identity.
14:10We prefer to go with the flow.
14:17The US has been attractive since so many decades.
14:19We went there.
14:20Now, Indian students are going to China.
14:22That's an emerging superpower.
14:24Schools are teaching Mandarin.
14:38Soon, the English speakers will be considered
14:41obsolete chaps.
14:49Colonial era remnants.
14:54Mandarin is cool, like K-pop.
15:00Go with the flow.
15:03How does it matter who is the king?
15:10Nrip is king.
15:12My job is to just...
15:15And this has done us
15:16tremendous harm.
15:19Tremendous harm.
15:20And that is even more
15:25lamentable when you consider
15:29that our fundamental darshan philosophy
15:32was extremely uncompromising.
15:39I will not accept anything.
15:41All that I have is a neti neti
15:43for whatever the world is.
15:45My job is to negate.
15:47My job is not to accept.
15:49That's Vedanta darshan.
15:50And from there,
15:53we became this.
15:58So, if commscience is on top today,
16:00then this too?
16:02Commscience?
16:04Tomorrow, if some other branch
16:06in engineering,
16:07let's say
16:08ceramics technology,
16:12somehow just a lot of jobs
16:14are created in that field,
16:16you will find
16:16J-top-100
16:18getting into ceramics.
16:26It's not as if
16:27those getting into commscience
16:29love commscience.
16:30It's not as if
16:31those getting into dharma
16:32love the skin.
16:33In the Hindi heartland,
16:44which lags behind the south
16:45in many ways,
16:47engineering colleges
16:48came up
16:49after
16:50a phase lag.
16:53The south was already ahead.
16:55Then the north
16:57tried to catch up
16:58and suddenly
16:59thousands of seats
17:01were created.
17:04Several,
17:04several,
17:04several thousand
17:05seats in IT
17:06and commscience.
17:07These were the two branches.
17:08In fact,
17:08there were so many
17:09colleges,
17:10private colleges
17:10that had just
17:11two branches.
17:13Commscience and IT.
17:16And everybody
17:17wanted to be
17:18admitted there.
17:19Why?
17:20Because the legend
17:22came
17:23riding the winds.
17:25There are these
17:25three,
17:26four,
17:26five companies,
17:27TCS Infosys,
17:29Wipro at that time,
17:30Satyam also
17:30and a few others,
17:31Tech Mahindra and all.
17:32They hire in droves.
17:35They bring
17:36huge trucks
17:37and carry away
17:38the entire lot.
17:43And then came
17:44the Lehman crisis
17:45of 2008.
17:46And after that,
17:47there was an IT shock.
17:50So all the capacity
17:51that was created
17:52between the years
17:542000 and 2008
17:55was now laid waste.
18:01And I have seen
18:02how students
18:03ran away
18:04even without
18:05completing their
18:06four-year course
18:07because it was not
18:08as if they loved
18:09coding.
18:10They went there
18:11thinking
18:11that that would
18:13somehow enable
18:15them
18:15a route
18:17to Bangalore
18:18at least,
18:19if not the
18:19Silicon Valley.
18:23When they found
18:24that this is not
18:25taking them
18:25even to
18:26Bahraich,
18:27let alone
18:28Bangalore,
18:30they ran away
18:31without even
18:32and the colleges
18:35were chasing them.
18:39Deposit the fees
18:40at least for the
18:41two years
18:41you were here.
18:42the fellow was
18:45better.
18:46He said,
18:46I'll do some
18:47diploma in
18:48plumbing or
18:48something
18:49because that's
18:51where some
18:51money is.
18:58From an angle
18:59it looks
18:59perfectly normal
19:00but from
19:03where I'm
19:03looking at it,
19:04it looks very
19:04loveless.
19:05yes,
19:07I understand
19:07money is a
19:08basic need
19:08but we also
19:10know
19:11that the
19:13point
19:13where
19:16money
19:17stops
19:18mattering
19:19in a big
19:20way
19:20anymore
19:21comes
19:22pretty early.
19:23if we were
19:25to plot
19:26welfare on
19:26the y-axis
19:27and incomes
19:28on the x
19:29then very
19:32soon you
19:32come to a
19:33point
19:33after which
19:34the marginal
19:35utility of
19:36money
19:36becomes
19:39very small
19:41meaning you
19:43can keep
19:43adding money
19:44to your life
19:45and yet your
19:46welfare won't
19:47improve.
19:51In fact,
19:52I suspect
19:52beyond that
19:54there is a
19:55point of
19:55negative
19:56marginal
19:56utility
19:57which means
19:58if you add
19:58any more
19:58money to
19:59your life
19:59you would
20:01actually
20:01compromise
20:01on your
20:02welfare.
20:08So yes,
20:09we need
20:09money
20:10but fear
20:11has seeped
20:13so deeply
20:14within us
20:14that we
20:16just cannot
20:17see beyond
20:18money.
20:18forget about
20:22the fields
20:23that require
20:24a lot of
20:25R&D
20:26expenditure.
20:27Think of
20:28the arts.
20:30Are we
20:31creative even
20:31there?
20:34Think of
20:35music,
20:36think of
20:37movies.
20:37Are we
20:38creative?
20:38Are we
20:38creative?
20:38we are
20:42picking,
20:43copying,
20:44plagiarizing.
20:47This book
20:48is just
20:49out of
20:50the press
20:50and I
20:52shouldn't
20:52be telling
20:52you this
20:53but
20:58pirated
21:00copies are
21:00already
21:01freely
21:01available
21:02and many
21:04of you
21:04would now
21:05suddenly have
21:05thought I
21:06just wasted
21:06money.
21:12That's
21:13what we
21:13are very
21:13good at
21:14doing.
21:15Not
21:15creating
21:15stuff but
21:16copying
21:17it.
21:27Creation
21:27is rebellion.
21:29Do we
21:29see this?
21:30But when
21:31this becomes
21:31your life,
21:32how will
21:33you rebel?
21:33who has
21:36ever
21:36rebelled
21:37with
21:37folded
21:38hands?
21:38Ever
21:38seen a
21:39rebel
21:39standing
21:39like
21:40this?
21:42Rebellion
21:42is a
21:43clenched
21:43fist,
21:44not
21:45folded
21:46hands.
21:50Mercenaries,
21:51which are
21:51some of
21:52the least
21:52preferred
21:52branches?
21:56Not
21:56preferably
21:57opt for
21:58physiology,
21:59biochemistry.
22:00Biochemistry.
22:01Tomorrow,
22:02if the
22:02job
22:02market
22:03in
22:03biochemistry
22:04heats
22:04up,
22:06all the
22:07toppers
22:07will be
22:08rushing
22:08towards
22:08biochemistry.
22:11Where is
22:11love?
22:11Where is
22:11heart?
22:17We are
22:18up for
22:18sale.
22:22Come.
22:24Come.
22:24I am
22:24available.
22:27This is the
22:28price tag.
22:29book.
22:39I
22:43love
22:44for
22:44Oh
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