| NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE |
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| 8th August 2001 - Page 3 |
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There is no easier option |
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"Oh Arts" people say in tones of commiseration whenever I'm asked what my subject combination is. It is a fixed conviction amongst a shockingly large number of people that taking Humanities is equivalent to, if not entirely dropping out of school, then certainly taking the easier and the softer option. So, the Science stream is what intelligent and hard-working students are supposed to choose. Commerce is the next best option and is also looked on with an understanding and sympathetic eye. However, if you have (god forbid) taken that completely unacceptable combination of Humanities, then you are basically looked on as someone who is shirking work, and lives a life of ease and comfort. In times that are supposed to be open and broad-minded, one could say that it is somewhat surprising that such narrow and confined boundaries are prevailing. The inflexible and unyielding expectations that people have are definitely not met with by a student of humanities, no matter how well he/she might do at his/her subjects or how they might enjoy the subjects. In short, it is better to take the acceptable choice of subjects, regardless of how tedious one finds them, rather than to take Humanities. |
May I, from my humble standing as an ‘Arts student’ point out that journalism, law, design, teaching, publishing and innumerable other very coveted professions all require a knowledge of Social Science's. An Art's student is, as likely to succeed in the future as any Science student is. Even if the manner of studying is different in each stream, this does not mean that one gets to cut more slack than the other. There is the same amount of worrying about the Board Examination, same amount of lectures on "technique" and "practice" and the same amount of irritation over monthly tests. I'm certainly not saying that the Science students do not work - rather that those of Humanities do so equally hard in a different manner. It is time to realize that the Social Sciences and the Physical Sciences are two parts of the whole. One is incomplete without the other. Society cannot develop without the substantial progress of both. They have to go hand in hand for the world to go forward. It is not only because of various discoveries in Physics, Chemistry or Biology, that we are not still in the ancient times. |
It is not only because of developments in technology that we are in a civilized world, able to think logically, and appreciate the world around us. It is now high time we realize that. In conclusion, I would like to say, as someone who has nearly finished 12 years of school, I deserve the same amount of respect and dignity for my work that anyone else gets. This should not be determined by other people who do not even know what sort of work is involved, in being a student of any subject in the 12th. Pallavi Raghavan XII-A
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