To go or not to go

Many months ago, I had written a post about reservations in India. Then, some quarters in Indian politics had demanded that reservations be implemented in private industry. That proposal, thankfully, somehow fizzled out. Now, the new attack on India being launched by the Indian government has taken the form of a 22.5% increase in reservations in institutions like the IITs and AIIMS. This will ofcourse reduce the number of seats available to people who deserve them...the solution? Increase total number of seats!!!!

So what has the title of this post got to do with all this you might ask. Well, I wanted to connect this with a couple of Parth's old posts, the n+5 theorem and Kya ab laut chalen. I for one have lost a lot of enthu about going back to India. As one who has seen the wrong end of the reservation stick, I think this is the limit. As it is, state governments go to ridiculous lengths with this reservation thing. In Maharashtra, the percentages are 50% Backward castes + 30% Women. This means that if you are a general category male, you should be as far away from Maharashtra as possible. I have already commented on how reservations are harming the country in the same way that oppression of backward castes had done. But if u have a family in India, imagine the horror of having to explain to your son why his schoolmate, who scored half the marks he did, has gotten admission to the best college in the city while he has to make do with the second best. I had reacted to this frustration by screaming, "Why aren't we SC/STs?". My dad had scolded me for saying such a thing and had explained to me that I should have studied harder. I am pretty sure it was quite hard on him to say all that. I don't wish to go through that experience. My inclination to return to India just took a 22.5% dip thanks to Arjun Singh.