You are going to be a doctor!

A few days earlier, I saw a kid around six years old. She was enthusiastically telling her father about her passion for becoming a teacher, and her father scolded her, telling her you will become a doctor.

A question came to my mind: what was wrong with her wanting to become a teacher rather than a doctor? After that, I started to see a pattern in Kashmiri parents, teachers, and almost all people.

Parents wanting their children to become doctors, and teachers wanting their students to become doctors. The sad part is that most of the students bury their passion for other professions in order to please society.

A couple of days earlier, our teacher asked in our class, What is your aim? Almost 90% of students wanted to become, guess what? DOCTORS. And the most shocking part was that a friend of mine who had great interest in humanities also raised her hand, and then I realised that this culture of embedding the dream of becoming a doctor in a child's mind is messed up.

There is this consumption among Kashmiris and overall Indians that only doctors can live a prosperous and respectful life, whereas almost all professions offer the same merits. If a person works hard and honestly, they can enjoy the same benefits as a doctor does, and people need to realize that different children have different interests; we can't force a child to like any subject or profession.

And a society full of doctors can't operate; all professions from a laborer to an officer are equally important for any society to excel. Often, some parents want their children to become doctors just that their social status can heighten.

It is a narrow-minded thinking of those parents, because forcing your children into something they don't like so that you can brag about it is stupid.

Often this leads to the child becoming depressed because even after one drop year everyone starts to pressure those aspirants more and more and this leading to the child ending his own life.

If we really want our Kashmir to progress, we need to leave this doctor-obsessed mindset behind and support our children in what they find interesting. Every child is unique and capable of achieving heights in this world with your proper guidance and support.

By Sadaf Shabir