Why we should study politics ?

It is a trend to emphasise the study of subjects like Maths, Biology, Physics and Chemistry. Humanities are considered a poor cousin of these subjects. In fact, it is with great reluctance, hesitation and embarrassment that parents express their child’s intention to study any subject of the Humanities. The embarrassment does not stop at that. Great pain is taken to explain or justify that Humanities,too, have a bright future. For a long time, choosing a career in Humanities was considered as a sign of being a loser in the race of life. The children of today are lucky because the parents have realised that choosing a career should also mean letting children choose to be happy. Probably, parents of this generation have learnt lessons from their own upbringing where they were forced to be doctors engineers or bureaucrats. Besides these three professions choosing any other career like cooking, instructor yoga, choreographer were considered to be an adjustment in life, never mind the fact that the children enjoyed making their hobby as their profession. The parents head as well as their esteem had to be held high. The success of being a parent depended upon the success of the children.
But gradually there has been a change. With the effort of the schools and the education system on providing a wholesome education parents have realised that Humanities play a major role in chiselling the personality of the students. Successive interviews and feedback from grownups who did well but who also highlighted the role of music as a great stress buster offered proof that subjects like music, painting, dancing reading writing were essential to keep sanity. With increasing awareness about one surroundings because that is where one has to live as well as work people have realised that government is not there only to govern but also needs a feedback from the people to perform well. Every profession, be it the services or any business is directly or indirectly affected by the decisions of the government. The country’s future for the next five years depends upon the kind of government it is gifted by the people of the country. And the decisions which any government takes for 5 years affects the country for the next few decades. With the world becoming a global village and the movement of people across the world it becomes all the more pertinent that every individual should know what is happening around the world. The decision of a country on one end of the globe affects the economies of many countries. Turmoil and conflict in one country affects many countries.
To make my point clear, I would like to quote the example of Ukraine- Russia war. How did it affect us? Well, dear children, you saw how many of our children were studying in the medical colleges in Ukraine and had to be evacuated under extremely dangerous situation. The debate that started after the children had been evacuated safely was why can’t a huge country like India have medical colleges to cater to this very important career. Why are we putting the safety of our children in jeopardy and also sending precious currency to other countries in the form of hefty fee. India is running short of doctors and engineers but the brain drain can be seen when such professionals leave India to serve other countries. In the case of Israel- Palestinian war, again the number of Indians serving in those countries made the country sit up. What a huge number of Indians serving away from the country!
India is a country with rich human resources but unfortunately, it is not being used fruitfully. We have rich flora fauna and the perfect climate (ignoring the concept of global warming because it is man made) besides a great topography yet we are lagging behind. Indians are known to be hardworking and there are innumerable examples of Indians who do extremely well in other countries. Why is it that such hardworking Indians have to leave the country, their families and move abroad in search of better pastures? What have the successive governments done to curb or halt this emigration? It is here that the study of Civics or Political Science comes in. We all have to be responsible as citizens. We have been given the right to vote under Universal Adult Franchise. We have to remember that we are equal stakeholders and shareholders in the future of the Country. But sadly, most of us do not take this role seriously. We do not go and cast our vote seriously. Even if do, we vote according to caste, religion, region or other petty factors. We do not vote according to issues like climate change, corruption or other serious issues that adversely affect us.
The study of Humanities, especially Political Science, is very important because we all are fortunate to be born in a democracy which gives us a choice to ask questions, criticise and protest. We, citizens of India, have the liberty of freedom, speech and expression. Only when we keep the government on its toes by keeping a watch on its activities would it perform responsibly and efficiently. Studying Civics teaches us to be alert and aware citizens. The subject Inspires us to lead our life as responsible citizens to which the government is accountable and answerable. Only when we carve a bright future today by electing a responsible government can we dream of a better future. And studying civics has become fun with all the cartoons and factual information provided in the N.C.E.R.T books. We have to remember that it is the Political System that frames laws for the economic and social system. If the Political System is not efficient, can we expect it to pass laws that augur well for the society? Thus, it becomes imperative for us to know about our elected representatives and their performance. And if you are bored and in need of some entertainment, please tune in to the proceedings of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on the television. You will find your representatives in a slogan shouting contest and if you are lucky, you might see a walk out by some representatives. If you feel that becoming the monitor of your class is very prestigious then glance at the Speaker of the House and his/her helplessness in maintaining order in the house. You will get food for thought. And your interests in Civics as well as your Political System will only grow.