THE FAMOUS FIVE

Arts: St Xavier’s College (Mumbai) Commerce: Shri Ram College of Commerce (Delhi) Science: Loyola College (Chennai) Engineering: Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi), though Kanpur and Kharagpur come equally close Law: National Law School of India University (NLS) Medicine: All India Institute of Medical Sciences (Delhi)

It seems, the coolest thing for students to do once the results are out is to pack their bags and leave. Not on a summer holiday, but to finally live the dream most Gen-X people practically grow up on.

Happily lining up to wave them good luck are their parents, who say their children do not really have an option but to leave the state in pursuit of excellence that?s missing in the colleges here. Though college authorities, like S.S. Razi, principal of Jamshedpur Workers? College, says it?s herd mentality that drives these students.

?It?s some kind of social status symbol for parents to send their children to big cities to pursue higher education,? he says. An argument not many parents or students are willing to buy.

Ask students if they are in search of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai kind of campuses filled with love and laughter, and they will say of course not! What attracts them, they say, are better facilities and faculty, modern courses, and simply the need to be on one?s own to grow out of identities so often thrust upon them at home.

And to find all these, every year students put on their rose tinted glasses and head for cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, and even Calcutta, which is the nearest option.

Rahul Kamboj, a third year student at HR College, Mumbai, is glad he followed his dreams. ?I am doing much more than just pursuing a course there,? he says. And that much more is indeed much more. Along with his course, he is writing for a magazine, working with an event management company, and is also part of the student?s council in college. At home he would just be studying some traditional course which would have taken him nowhere, he points out.

?The really new and upcoming courses like Bachelors in Finance and Accounting, Bachelor in Business Administration (BBA), Bachelor in Management Studies (BMS) are so starkly absent here,? he rues.

And he?s not the only one. Even Salil Roy, pro vice-chancellor of Ranchi University, doesn?t disagree. ?For people who can afford, moving out is any day the best option,? he admits. And what he goes on to say makes sense. ?In bigger cities there are multi-national companies and call centres which churn out jobs. Can cities like Jamshedpur and Ranchi ever provide these facilities to the youth?? he asks.

No, seems to be the overall verdict. Sumana Biswas, a second year student of Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Delhi, feels the brain drain is inevitable, considering the faculty here can hardly match the best other cities offer.

Salil Roy says it?s a question of funds. With students paying only Rs 18 per month, and the government not paying enough, there?s little they can do. Increase in fee will only draw student protests, he points out. Students, however, do not seem to mind dishing out a lot extra in Delhi, Mumbai or Calcutta. Give us quality and we will pay, seems to be the message.

More than status, what attracts are the other interests they are able to pursue. Priyabrata Satpati, second year student of Fergusson College, Pune, says: ?I am able to pursue add-on courses like French. I can also take up coaching for MBA or IAS.? Manju Topno, a parent, laughs away Razi?s social status theory. ?It?s impractical to say parents would spend a fortune to have their children educated in big cities just to show off!? he says.

Infrastructure apart, it?s the lack of opportunities to grow that most students complain about.

Ravi Ranjan Verma, Ranchi, feels, ?If we make a documentary film, we can only think of screening it in Bihar and Jharkhand, while our contemporary in Delhi would have the privilege of an all-India screening.?

Science topper of DAV Public School, Hehal, Gaurav Kejriwal who scored 89.8 in the CBSE Plus-II, admitted that schools here were good, but not the colleges. Madhuri Chowdhary, who shared the top slot with Ankita Sinha, in commerce from Delhi Public School, Ranchi, with 93.6 per cent, too, dreams of going out.

?I want to take admission at Sri Ram College of Commerce in Delhi,? she said. Science topper from Surendranath Centenary School, Nishant Krishna, who scored 90.4 per cent, said, ?If I get into an engineering college, I would move out.?

But very few want to leave for the Plus-II level, as almost all students agreed that they can?t possibly have a better option than studying in Ranchi or Jamshedpur. Wish one could say the same for the colleges too, so that one could hold on to all the talent busy packing bags, ready to say goodbye.