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| Competition is the answer, not reservation | | |
- By Dr Gautam Pingle
The truth about competition is that it is universal. Human beings have to face it; animals too have to cope with it. Competition affects different species in different ways and this is where the catch is. Competition affects us humans in a way entirely different from the way it affects say, animals. But the goal for all of us is a common one — survival.
How does competition affect us humans?
Young children have different types of competition to deal with, often involving fighting with siblings, over food, clothes, parents’ attention.
Teenagers have to compete for admission to a university. Seventy-thousand candidates sitting for a competitive exam — knowing full well that only the top 1,000 will ultimately get into a medical college — can be the height of brutality. And sadly, this is the most common form of competition adolescents become aware of in life. It is, however, wrong to think this is the only form of competition we will face in life. Teenage boys fight amongst themselves over girls and, of course, girls over boys indicating competition in some sense. Then comes competition to get a job — and with the job itself, competition for promotions, raises, bonuses and the like.
Is any form of competition avoidable? No, not unless we give up the struggle for life, and forfeit the desire for being better than the rest. It is what drives us into putting our best efforts in what we do; and when we do so, we may build great character. The second reason we put in our best is because of sheer pleasure and interest in what we do, irrespective of what others are doing. This individual rat race enables organisations to grow and weed out its inefficient and reward its energetic and successful members.
It is almost certain that some of us fear competition. However, it must be taken with the right attitude without getting obsessed with it. One must simply know one’s limits and this is the best way to deal with competition. There are limits to one’s interest, capacity and ambition, and these limits are clearly defined and differ for each one of us, though we try to expand those limits. That’s what makes us so different from each other and so interesting to live and work with. Whether we actually make it to the top or we don’t, we should put in our best efforts. We must understand this fact of competition because only when we understand it, will we accept it.
These are excepts from a letter my 19-year-old son Mohan wrote to me. It made a lot of sense and, more importantly, reflects the fact that the young have realised that the battle for survival lies ahead. The current brouhaha about reservations seems to divide the young into two groups — those who fear competition and those who accept it as a way forward. Some are afraid and seek to hide behind antiquated notions of status — inherited and reserved by the state; others go forth boldly into the world hoping, if not to conquer it, to at least make their way safely in the jungle of modern life.
In Andhra Pradesh alone, the last rank (based on the medical entrance test) for getting a place in government medical colleges in 2005-2006 varied from 421 to 12,293 — depending on the quota applicable! Similarly, for private medical colleges it varied from 1,399 to 23,469. Neither government nor private colleges can cope with such divergence in standards in the same batch of students. Most students of poorer merit will languish in the first few years and if they do not improve over time, we may end up with quacks instead of doctors — whether they graduate from government or private schools.
It is not easy for many young persons who have not had a break in life — except the fact that they could go to (indifferent) schools and colleges — to compete on equal terms with those who were better endowed and educated. The response to this problem is for the state to fund better education for the many needing and wanting it. We need to compensate for historical disadvantages by providing financial and training support for at least a generation. This should enable its progeny to take on the competitive system on equal terms. The solution is not to propagate inequality and disadvantage on one hand and carry on for generations support systems that do nothing to build capacity but only recognise lack of merit as somehow deserving credit. Fostering and building merit is the only way to counter the effects of nature and source of the sperm that created life.
The world now recognises India because of its meritorious youth and its ability to work hard. Our breakthrough in IT is firmly anchored in the meritocracy. Those in the West and China, who fear our newfound competitive capacity and strength, will welcome the efforts of our politicians to constrain merit.
The old jagirdari was based on inherited power and wealth legitimised by the state; it seems ironic for the state to now propagate a new jagirdari based on inherited disadvantages and poverty. Modern capitalist society destroyed the first and will reject and despise the second. "Level up, not level down," must be the credo of the state. This will benefit all and unite the country and its youth. As a nation, we are too poor to afford to throw away talent — actual or potential.
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