While the nation is concerned about the brouhaha Mr. Kapil Sibal has created about the IITs, allow me to shift your focus to a stream of academia that has been relegated to the pits, for a very long time in India
Wikipedia describes humanities as a branch of study that includes ‘ancient and modern languages, literature, history, philosophy, religion, visual arts, performing arts, music, theatre and social sciences’. If you, my dear reader, had evinced interest in pursuing any of these above subjects after school, I’m sure the reactions from family and others around you was anything but humane.
The invective reserved for you could range from a subtle, ‘why do you want to do this to yourself?’ to a more loathsome, ‘you must be out of your mind!’. The naysayer at times could be futuristic, ‘what will you do afterwards?’ or apocalyptic, ‘you have no hope in hell’. And finally, when you stick to your stand, the classic response would be a family-feud inducing, ‘where have your parents’ brains gone?’
If you think about it, you’ll agree that these responses reflect the socio-cultural zeitgeist that has prevailed in our country for a few decades now. The mad rush for medicine and engineering in the 70s, 80s and 90s was not just about the money one would imagine to make after he / she finished the courses. The ROI also worked well in the marriage market. Then IT came in and changed the academic landscape altogether. The odd MBA from a half-decent B-school always commanded respect in the societal scheme of things. In this melee, where would a Fine Arts or a Philosophy student stand? Like I said earlier, in the pits.
This millennium, a glimmer of hope seems to have set in, finally. The proliferation of media and the exponential growth of industries such as Indian animation, publishing and music have ensured that students from the humanities stream have a plethora of interesting options to choose from. Not to mention, the good moolah that comes with it.
But then again, historically, the idea of pursuing any subject under humanities did not come with the promise of good salaries (unlike the more rational IT courses or B-school courses that lure students with the assurance of attractive packages). The ones who genuinely took up courses in humanities did it for the love of it. Period. A great career with good money was always a bonus.
Beyond all this, there is an important question that begs an answer: What do students of humanities take back from their courses? In my opinion, it is a sense of aesthetics. This is something that’s unique to humanities. Because, frankly, no other stream of academia can teach aesthetics in its purest form like humanities. And unfortunately, aesthetics is something our country sorely lacks.
People from developed nations have aesthetics ingrained in their psyche. An appreciation for beauty, respect for history, evolved sense of design and reverence for art are some of the areas where they spend their energies largely in. These aspects may seem unimportant to the callous Indian eye, but they are key indicators to a country’s level of maturity. Students of humanities can contribute to these areas in abundance, only if their aptitudes and careers are taken seriously.
Else, we run the risk of becoming a dystopian nation, fooled by the garb of development, trying to find its soul that has been lost forever.
