If you are an Indian, the chances that you have grown up listening to, “mera beta bada hokar doctor ya engineer banega,” are very high. Be it a wedding, a birthday party or a visit to a relative’s place, the announcement that their child will grow up to become a doctor or an engineer is made by parents everywhere.
Indians have an obsession with science. For most people, studying science means climbing the first step of the ladder of success. As a result, people look down on humanities and commerce. While commerce is the second preferred option when students don’t get science, the mention of choosing humanities boils the blood of most of the parents and they resort to every method possible to prevent their child from walking the ‘wrong path.’
Thus, it is not surprising that my decision of pursuing graduation in mass communication was not welcomed by most people I know. As soon as they got to know about my decision, advise started pouring in from all sides and the voices which told me that a degree in arts does not guarantee a secure future also amplified. Surprisingly, most of these people didn’t have much knowledge of the course, yet this did not prevent them from imparting their gyaan which was completely uncalled for.
Honestly speaking, I myself did not have much idea about what mass communication was all about. I opted for this course only because it appeared to be different from other boring courses. And the course certainly proved to be unique and interesting. The projects, assignments and classes of our course are planned out in such a manner that it helps students in shaping their personalities, in becoming more confident and at the same time also increases their awareness of the surroundings.
As a student of mass communication, I must mention here that our college life is not limited to boring lectures. On some days, you will find us out on the streets of Delhi with our cameras and mics shooting for projects and on other days you will find us in the editing bay of our college. In fact, we have a large number of subjects from Hindi cinema to integrated marketing communication and the lectures of these subjects are nothing like the typical lectures of other courses. During our lecture hours, we mostly watch movies and then a discussion about the characters, plot and the message of the movie takes place in the class.
While this course equips us with a variety of skills from video editing, shooting, writing to radio jockeying, anchoring and reporting, it also plays a major role in giving us a perspective about a lot of things. We don’t look at cinema just as a means of entertainment, but we try to analyse the films and decode the elements of patriarchy, misogyny and the hidden messages and themes around which a movie revolves. We also analyse various advertisements to understand the psyche and ideologies of people living in different parts of the country.
Now when I look back, I feel happy that I did not conform to the societal pressures and was able to make my own decision. Had I listened to other people’s advice, it would have become a reason of regret. I would have been disappointed with myself for not choosing a course based on my passions and interests.
Hence, it is important that we understand our passion and talents and explore our areas of interest while making a choice of the course. As Rancho says in the movie 3 Idiots, “success ka peechha mat karo, excellence ka peechha karo. Success jhak maarke tumhare peechhe aayegi!”