It's Just an Exam, Right?

 The other day I asked one of my friends who the President of India is. He responded, "Some woman. She has a long name." 

Maybe the problem isn't really the democracy or any one political party; maybe it's the fact that we know the names of some actors' 10 girlfriends, some dude's new favourite colour, but not the people who run our country.

I'm not here to tell you who to vote for or which party is right. I'm going to write about being aware. Aware of our surroundings, responsibilities, and rights.

There is one thing I'm going to clear up- protesting for a basic human right in 21st-century India doesn't make us unpatriotic or traitors. Protesting doesn't mean we love or respect India any less. Many young people are out on the streets fighting and protesting because we love our country and want it to get better for ourselves and the generations that follow. Protesting doesn't make us haters. We purely just want to make sure the efforts of students aren't wasted every year.

Is the execution as easy as me writing it? No. 

Corruption is deeply, deeply rooted in every one of us; it's kind of like our country's bad AQI, we're used to it. Bribes have become as common as evening tea. Maybe it's time we stopped normalising it. Actually, it's about damn time.

One of the most beautiful things I noticed during these protests was how different our generation can be from the previous ones. For once, there were no separate fights as Hindus, Muslims, Christians, or anything else. We're fighting together as the future of India. And for a country as diverse as ours, that's an achievement. India has long been caught up in the endless debate over whose religion is superior, but for a brief moment, our biggest divide took a backseat. 

Maybe it's just an exam to them, but to the teenagers who gave up so much for a future, a dream, for a better tomorrow, it's everything. To the parents whose children crumbled under the pressure, to the siblings who saw their brother or sister struggle, to the friends who barely ever saw each other all for an exam, it's everything.

Now there are many theories about what might be the real intention behind the protests; all I know is what many students say they are fighting for. An equal right to education. 

Maybe the innocent students are being exploited for a political scheme they don't see yet, but in the end, through whatever means, I hope the students achieve what they are fighting for. A right we should've always had. 

Regardless of any hidden agenda, the lives of many innocent students who lost their lives mattered, the grief of students who had to write the exam a second time mattered, and the voices of students protesting matter.

But one question remains: are we fighting because we know what's going on, or because everyone else is?