Death of DU/JNU Dream
An End of a Dream or An Early Realization of the Truth of Life

Veda Y. Mangang *

A Students gathering at Shankar Lal Concert Hall, University of Delhi in September 2012

Every year, hundreds thronged Delhi from Manipur to get admission in DU or JNU. Having seen the lives in both the Universities, I still cannot figure out whether having degrees from both these places with a reasonable grade (if all grades matters) gives you an edge in life. This is a question, I am still pondering upon after working and travelling extensively in the country, and slogging my ass out for every little thing I wanted and have achieved since I left Manipur. Life ain't that smooth as I thought would be as a DU aspirant some years back.

I was closely following up with the admission procedure 2013-14 as a cousin wanted to join DU for a B.A programme. For some reason she has taken me as a role model as for her (which I quote here) 'I am supposedly the epitome of knowledge in the family as I happened to study in both DU and JNU, the dream universities for many students in India' (she really has no clue her innocent words have put me into a lot of pressure as I seriously don't have any clue where my life is taking me... besides getting the obnoxiously big DU degree and the badly design JNU degree).

The cut off marks in some of the sought after courses in few of the decent colleges in DU has left me in shock. 90% and above, and still many students cannot get a seat in the subject and college of their choice. Getting a seat in DU seems like a distant dream for many when I saw the faces of the young aspirants and the worried faces of the parents in the campus after the first cut off.

My cousin with a 82% could not make it to the college of her choice which could have been a piece of cake during my time as I remember very clearly with a 78% I got admission in the first cut off and that too in the college of my parents' choice (was too naïve and young to make any decision of my own those days) with hostel accommodation.

With these skyrocketing cut-offs, am I suppose to be thankful to god that I was not born in this generation or is it like every generation has evolved better if we are to believe in Darwin and if at all securing higher percentage are supposedly taken as a benchmark to one's intellectual capabilities.

On the one hand, getting into JNU is another totally different story to be told. Honestly you will find less dumb giggly girls here or as a matter of fact guys who seem to have some sort of goal in their lives and appear to be less stoned than the DU dudes, but then cracking the entrance and fairing well in the viva in JNU does not secure you a bright future, until and unless you one those types who are happy with the very thought of having an opinion about every damn thing that is happening around you or at least put up the face of having an opinion just for the hack of it.

Coming to the point, for many young faces which I interacted in DU/JNU campus in these past couple of weeks with the hope of studying in either of these two places, all I have to say is whether you get into DU or JNU, there will always be a sucker who had studied in one of those Ivy League or with a fancy foreign degree (don't worry many have their dads' paying their tuition fees or just lucky enough to market their SOPs to get a scholarship).

So the point I am trying to make here is at the end, everyone is pretty much screwed, whether you study in DM College or St Stephen's, or LSR or GP College, the sooner one accepts the fact the better...there is always someone with a better degree from a better university or as a matter of fact with more money bags.

Sad but true, the job market or the way how people's credibility are measured seem to be really biased towards the foreign returns...if one still have not felt or experienced it, probably one really needs a reality check.

Another way to look at this point of life to many DU/JNU aspirants could be to forget being in the race of getting into any college or university, safe up all that money one is going to invest in one's studies and spend it to pay those hooligans living in Babupara or Sanjenthong or the ones who have picked up the guns in the name of so-called Emaleibak...at least that way you are freeing yourself will all the stress and struggle to survive in this heartless city and having to live with the illusion that you are supposedly amongst those people with a fair academic record...but still have failed miserably in accepting the second best for yourself or impress the selection committee to choose you for a job (when I say job, I mean the one you think really fits your bill) as you are academically more qualified or more street smart (an equally important skill which I feel having lived and survived in this cruel city for years automatically comes to you) than the money bags and smarty pants with their fake accents .

As an end note, even if you think of starting something of your own, you really need those resources and definitely after all the efforts your parents had put in for you, you really think you could do something for yourself on your own...until the reality hits you hard. So buckle up kids, DU/JNU is not the end of the World...