Not our kinda scene, man!

“These days, an MBBS is not enough, you have to be equipped with an MD. This means you end up studying for a good eight-odd years before you can even begin with your career. Moreover, if you do not get a free seat, you pay through your nose. I do not want to get into it,” she concludes firmly.

Looks like the profession that was till recently the most sought-after now has few takers. Says 12-year-old Mandar Harshe, “Definitely not medicine. I find operations gooey!” and with that dismisses this option. Echoing him is 20-year-old Navin Mascarenhas, an engineering student, “Medicine. No way.” Why? “I’m just too scared of hospitals. I get psyched when I see blood, operations,” he says with a shudder.

While Goldie Mate, a pharmacy student, believes that one should take up the profession of one’s interest and which has maximum scope, it’s no-no as far as traditionally-accepted lines like medicine and engineering are concerned. “The scene today is saturated. There are so many medical professionals. Do they even have a decent place to run their practice? And the years you spend becoming a doctor…it’s just not my cup of tea!”

Looks like their mindset has really undergone a change, preferring to veer away from paths most treaded, as with Ankit Pogula (17 years), a science undergraduate. “Since I was in Std II, I knew I would not be an engineer. I do not wish to be associated with this technical field. Not that I will not be able to manage the subject, I just don’t want to. That goes for medicine too.”

Talking about management, is this the new favourite amongst youngsters, what with the moolah that flows freely? “Despite the good money, I cannot see myself studying management,” says 19-year-old Nadeem Inamdar, an Arts student. “Only those who can manage it should take it up, not anybody, which is what is happening these days. This has resulted in a gradual lowering of professional standards. As for myself, I know I do not possess the talents required to make it big here.”

While these are careers most talked about, Farzana Desai (21 years) has a totally different answer for the same question. “My father is a vet, and would have liked me to follow in his steps. But no way. I have realised that the racecourse, where he works, is hardly a place for girls. The crowd is not the kind I would like to be associated with,” she asserts. And reflecting his go-get-it attitude, Sunil Patil (21 years), a sales executive, says, “I don’t want a desk job. My parents wished me to take up a job in a bank, but I don’t want work that requires me to sit in the office whole day long.”

If these young ‘uns and their list of not-so-favourite professions are anything to go by, looks like mindsets these days are going through a major revamp. It’s a cycle, where what was on top is now on a downslide, and all that was nowhere in consideration is now a very viable choice.