Strive for Excellence

Strive for excellence and success will follow

3 idiots has been in my disk for a month now and though a lot of people have told me what an amazing film it is, I waited 'till now to watch it. I guess it was my loss.

Rancho is the kind of person that I'm striving to be one day: someone that is motivated by his thirst of knowledge alone and not by external pressure, not by fear, not by a lack of any other dream, not even by money. He goes to school because he genuinely wants to learn and because he has so much passion and he wants to know how he can turn that passion into something that can benefit other people. This, I believe, is the true meaning of education.

I realize now that we shouldn't go to school with success on our minds. Success should only be the by-product of the process. What the process of education needs is just hunger and drive. The whole educational system comprising of schools, teachers, books, they are all just catalysts. For one to be truly educated, he only needs to acknowledge his ignorance and to want to fill that idiocy with wisdom.

Parents nowadays force their children to take up a certain degree because this will "buy you a nice house" or a "nice car". There is absolutely nothing wrong with parents wanting their children to have a good life. After all, isn't this what all parents want ultimately? However, it is often the case that when parents are frustrated dreamers, they want their children to put the dream back in motion, forgetting that their children might want to become a writer instead of a businessman. Then, it becomes about the house, the car, the furniture, the things that will be the envy of the neighborhood. It becomes about "success" and "wealth" but seldom or never about "happiness".

It's good to watch films about kids standing up for what they love and pursuing the dreams that are theirs. What is sad is that kids like these are very few in real life. Kids today, especially in 3rd world country like ours, can't afford to have dreams let alone chase after them. They are immediately bombarded by reality and this reality has poverty written all over it. There is no such thing as "going to school to learn". That's bullshit. Our children go to school to get a job.

We live in a dystopic society where knowledge doesn't hold a candle to practicality, where passion is futile unless it can get you somewhere, and where it doesn't matter if you've really learned something as long as you make it pass the cut-off grade. I see so many students potential and they are not given the right opportunities to explore what they can do.

3 idiots features the most brilliant ending I have ever seen. I can only hope that everybody gets to watch it and finds courage to overcome their fears, face whatever pressure is on them with honesty and pride, and tell themselves when they've realized their dreams,

All is well.