Exams in India are more of a menace than any assessment exercise. Archaic syllabus, Incomprehensible books, Unimaginative teaching, enormous peer pressure, high expectations of parents and jibes from the neighborhood are some of the few evils that students face on a regular basis in India. This causes a lot of stress and anxiety in their tender minds, depression and unfortunately, sometimes, though becoming more frequent recently their loss of life. The loss of every youth is the loss of a future asset to the nation and it’s about time, that exam related stress be a raging topic of the contemporary Indian discourse.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s (who by the way, has the most stressful job in the nation) self-help book “Exam Warriors” is a step in this direction. After all, who better a person to emphasize with the student than the person who has always been unappreciated, unsung and compared to the proverbial “Sharma ji ka Ladka” in everything by the Great Indian Intellectuals and all-ways truthful Indian Media. It took over four decades for a Narendra Modi to become The Narendra Modi and his situation in this the duration was quite similar to a student appearing for his exams. Hopefully, PM Modi’s book “Exam Warriors” will inspire and instill a sense of confidence in the students and motivate them to achieve greater goals in life.
However, one key facet that might escape our notice is that the Book “Exam Warriors” is an attempt by the Prime Minister Modi to reach out to the gargantuan chunk of first time voters. The fact that India is a young country cannot be stressed enough.
Those born in the year 2000 will turn 18 this year and will vote in their first general election. By various estimates, the first-time voters in 2019 will range from 1.3 crore to 2 crore. Assuming the figure to around 2 crores, that would be a little under thirty seven thousand voters, a major voting bloc open to newer ideas and receptive for good policies. There is no denying the fact that the principal opposition parties in India are doing negative politics by dividing the nation on the basis of caste, religion and class. While such gimmicks may earn them column inches, television scene time and unfortunately, some seats too. However, such things are wrong and must be condemned. It is time to initiate a change and what better way than to make grow it from bottom to the top.
The recent initiatives of the PM like organizing Mock Parliaments to provide a platform for the young to voice their views, asking them to contribute their ideas for a new India, his various outreach attempts using the All India Radio and his truly genial nature have instilled a sense of hope in India’s youth.
The Prime Minister has always been innovative in his approach. To mobilize the first time voters, BJP plans to launch a ‘Millenium Vote Campaign’ with an app that would help first time voters register to vote. The PM has always given call outs for voters to come out and exercise their biggest right in every election, not matter how big or small. The Tech-savvy Indian Youth is aspirational and progressive, not indifferent and regressive. It is time that their positive energies be channelized for the progress of the nation, not its destruction. With PM Modi’s book “Exam Warriors”, the youth wouldn’t just learn how to take exams stress free but will also develop a keener interest in the nation. In short, who better a person to inspire the youth in India to push harder and farther than the man who rose from a humble chaiwala to the Country’s strongest Politician?
