Essay Topic: 1000 words

Today’s progress may look modern, but its roots are as ancient as the first spark struck by stone

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Global leadership demands strength, not subservience

Agree?

In the last six years, 98 students have died by suicide in India’s top educational institutions like IITs, NITs, and central universities. IIT Delhi alone reported five student suicides in just 2023 and 2024. A committee formed after these deaths found deep problems: toxic competition, caste-based discrimination, mental health stigma, and a lack of trust between students and the system. Even though the panel gave its report in August 2024, no action has been taken yet. As C. Wright Mills said, "Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both." How many more reports will gather dust while young lives slip through the cracks- how much longer can we ignore this silent crisis?

The individual story and the social context are deeply connected.

Fight the Oligarchy!

Appeasement runs deep in the Indian psyche- be it personal, political, or economic; we bend, adjust, and pacify, often at the cost of principle and progress.

Ironically, the country that led globalisation is now leading its reversal.

India Must Recognize the Moment

China knows it. The West knows it.

In India, people are often praised for managing everything (work, family, etc.), but the cost of functioning in a numb and burned-out state is overlooked.

A recent survey of first-year students at IIT Delhi revealed significant insights into student life. About 20% of students felt disillusioned with campus life compared to their pre-admission expectations. A majority (70-80%) struggled to balance academics and extracurricular activities, and personal well-being was a concern, with many students missing meals and getting insufficient sleep. Despite the pressures, 58% of students reported strong social bonding, particularly in their hostels. Many students also expressed competitive dynamics within their friendship circles, with 70% finding this competition healthy. The survey, conducted by the Board for Student Publications (BSP), covered a range of aspects including academic interests, personal well-being, and peer relationships. It revealed that students often take certain aspects of their environment for granted, like subpar education quality or higher suicide rates, which remain normalized within the academic setting but are not widely discussed.

Language is not religion, urging that all languages should be viewed as cultural meeting grounds, not as tools for division.

In Delhi's Chittaranjan Park (CR Park), a neighborhood with a large Bengali population, fish vendors were asked to shut down during Navratri, a Hindu fasting period. The problem arose because the fish vendors, who cater to the Bengali community's food culture, were told their business was too close to a temple. This situation reflects how majority religious practices sometimes overpower the traditions of minority groups, making them feel left out or pressured to change. It shows how the dominant culture can sometimes suppress the cultural identity of smaller communities, especially when it comes to things like food choices.

This clash reflects a broader sociological issue of cultural hegemony, as proposed by Antonio Gramsci, where the dominant cultural norms and values of the majority are subtly imposed on minority groups.

Cultural hegemony

Hatred is being mistaken for nationalism, and the idea of India as a tolerant, diverse civilization is under threat. - T Singh

In earlier times, people like Ramesh, a small-town farmer, relied on joint families and caste networks for support during crises, but today, as these traditional structures erode, he turns to risky stock market investments through mobile apps, reflecting what Ulrich Beck called a “Risk Society,” where dangers are no longer natural but produced by human-made systems like finance and technology. This shift shows the process of individualization-where people must manage life’s uncertainties alone-and Giddens’ concept of disembedding, as individuals become detached from traditional social ties and embedded in complex global systems. Without strong welfare or community support, when risks backfire, people like Ramesh are left exposed and often turn to religious figures or godmen for comfort, illustrating Marx’s idea of false consciousness, where the real causes of suffering-like an unequal economic system-are masked by personal or spiritual explanations. Thus, India’s modern risk culture promotes freedom and ambition but leaves people more vulnerable, with fewer protections and growing dependence on authority figures rather than democratic solutions

- Sanjay, Professor at SOASUniversity of London

Risk Society means a modern world where we create our own dangers through development- and yet, individuals bear the burden, not the system that caused them.

Marx’s “False Consciousness” – people turn to godmen or charismatic leaders, misinterpreting the root of their insecurity

Recent demographic shifts in Catholicism indicate a significant migration of its population from Europe to the Global South, with over 72% of Catholics now residing in regions like Latin America, Africa, and Asia. This shift contrasts with the early 20th century, when 65% of Catholics lived in Europe. The Catholic population is growing most rapidly in Africa (3.3%) and slowly declining in Europe (0.2%).

Due to Reasons like Declining religiosity in the West due to secularisation, Enlightenment rationalism, state-religion separation, and rising ‘unaffiliated’ populations.
Scandals (like clergy sexual abuse) have caused disillusionment in Europe and the US.
In contrast, the Catholic Church in Africa has integrated local traditions and offers vital services like education and healthcare.

Jingoism is nationalism in the form of aggressive and proactive foreign policy, such as a country's advocacy for the use of threats or actual force, as opposed to peaceful relations, in efforts to safeguard what it perceives as its national interests

The education system needs reform not only in quality but also in how it treats children- especially the poor- as human beings with rights, not statistics or potential threats.