The Circle of Pressure

I've been thinking..and I've made what I'd like to assume is a stunning discovery, prompted in part by a discussion I had with a good friend recently.

From the moment one shows some signs of comprehension as an infant, one starts being persuaded. The English language brilliantly separates this phenomenon as coaxing, cajoling, pushing, forcing etc..depending on the intensity of persuasion. I'd like to simply think of it classified as - barely there, ok I can feel it, that sort of hurts and OMG stop!

It all begins when you utter your first sound. The second that happens, people are coaxing you to learn words. And when you learn them they are cajoling you to show off in front of other people. Then comes the formal alphabet, followed by numbers, nursery rhymes, a new language, the whole host of subjects in the school syllabus, an art form (martial or otherwise), a sport if possible - should be easy right? And before you forget, nothing less than being the best at everything will suffice.

How many marks did you get? What rank are you in class? Did you win a prize? Were you selected to participate in the school day function? This is only until middle school, mind you. If you grew up in India, the pressure to be good enough to study Science in high school and other related "professional" subjects in your undergraduate degree begins once you hit 10th standard. God forbid if you can't do (23458 x 456.25) / 22.57 in your head or postulate a new Law of Motion. Are you really going to study Economics?..why that's almost as bad as Fine Arts! You can't be serious...you'll come to your senses eventually and B.E. something useful.

Of course, the average child tackles all this with the ease of a veteran, having had tons of practice with deflecting pressure by this point. Collapsed, panting in your college classroom, hoping that this will take you out of the rat race for a bit, you couldn't be more mistaken. We're still in India, and if you're female, the cloud of marriage looms dark on the horizon. This will only be postponed if you have the sense to pursue a post graduate degree, or like most kids, leave to go to school in another country where phone calls can easily be avoided if you so wish. If you're one of those good children that can't possibly ignore the parents, you can always cry student poverty and avoid returning for fear of being met at the airport with a suitable match.

Armed with a formidable list of accomplishments - academic and non, with a steady job in hand, and a partner in tow a few years later, you're heaving a sigh of relief, not accounting for competition at work and the need to outperform everyone else on your team in order to have somewhat of a steady career graph. Just to make things challenging - What about children? You mean you haven't thought about that? That's not acceptable..the only thing in question is the number, we think two is perfect.

Out come the offspring sooner or later, and when they display the first sign of comprehension, it begins again. I think Tim Rice sums it up perfectly - 

"From the day we arrive on the planet, And blinking, step into the sun 

There's more to see than can ever be seen, more to do than can ever be done.

There's far too much to take in here, more to find than can ever be found."

- The Circle of Life, Lion King