Trip starts with point to ponder

Last week, or more precisely in the tertiary era as it seems now that I am back, I visited India. It was a long thought out trip. I was very desperate to go back home for a week at the least. The work pressure in my firm was tremendous. That may be the case for everyone in Kuwait since the economy has buoyed since last year or so, witnessing soaring entrepreneurship and business opportunities. But is does take a toll on my mental health, particularly when I am away from my wife who has been the life support system ever since I met her. Unlike in India, where we could talk on phone anytime, we cannot have such luxury in Kuwait since the costs are exorbitant to say the least.

Back to my trip and these photographs. I eagerly waited for my flight to be announced. At the airport, I entertained myself by taking snaps from my newly acquired Fuji F440 camera. The first snap depicts start of my voyage with the foot forward and the other shows the typical Indian crowd. I took a walk round all the terminals of the Kuwait International Airport. No other gate had as big chunk of humanity as Gate 1 where Indian Airlines flight was to be boarded from. I began to ponder if the huge population that India has is anyway a threat to Indians? To some extent, it is evident. The quality of life and levels of salary that Indians have back home is an evidence of excessive supply. Contrary to all demand and supply projections made by institutions in India, I believe, there is oversupply of qualified people. How else can you explain Chartered Accountants drawing salaries of Rs. 10,000 a month and sometimes, even less? Engineers are a dime to dozen. The south Indian states have been producing engineers on their assembling lines in such huge numbers that anyone with a degree in Arts or Commerce or even Science feels deprived. Some of these engineers have been observed to be working for paltry sums of Rs. 2,000 a month. And talk of short-supply? Yes, quality is a question. If we talk of short supply of quality engineers and management graduates, it can be a valid argument. But then, why have such institutions award degrees without ensuring quality? Are we not playing with the lives of people who pay horrendous sums to get in to colleges that provide sub-standard education and leave people high and dry even after qualifying in professional degrees?

Hey, here comes my flight announcement! See you on board.