Two Careers We Are Forced To Opt

By Hamid Rashid Gondal

Make you kid a doctor or engineer!

The first thought on the mind of a father whose wife has just given birth to a baby boy in the maternity hospital is: my boy will become a doctor or engineer. The little boy's fate is often sealed before the nurse cuts the umbilical cord.
I have spotted this big billboard in the bazaar. Apparently, there are only two professions- doctor or engineer - for the children in Pakistan. I have yet to see a family where the father happily allows a brilliant child to study social sciences instead of those hard core sciences.
My father, on the other hand, was very supportive when I broke the news that I am dropping out of my 4-year NUCES-FAST computer degree midway. I opted for law and never repented my dropping out decision.
One of my cousins miserably passed his eighth grade. His mother came to my house, asking me to arrange the 'brilliant' boy's admission in some good school. I asked her why she is insisting for a good school. She answered with the innocence of an Asian mother, "I and his dad want him to study science".
Our parents' wild daydreaming often make as career counselling blunders. I don't know why social sciences are not a priority for our parents when many of them miserably failed to do good in sciences.

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