Vedanta had approached us 2 yrs back when she cleared her BA and was thinking on joining an MBA program. We advised her to take the CAP test so that I can get a clarity on her profile and also an insight into the various Careers she was suitable for. The test threw up many pointers which disclosed that Vendanta had strong  people, social and negotiating skills as a result the Career of a Defence Lawyer suited her. She decided to focus on this Career and has currently completed  her LLB Degree.

Since she benefited so much from the  CAP process, she wanted her younger brother Ved to also take the benefit of the CAP test.  Ved was a 90% student in Xth std. , but in XIIth he got just 55 %. The boy came for the first counselling and understood the benefits of CAP His sister registered him for the test, but he kept on delaying and avoiding the event.

After much coaxing we were able to understand his fear about taking the CAP, his reason was , if the test brings out the truth that I am not good for engineering, then my dreams of becoming an Engineer will remain unfulfilled. I asked him why he wanted to be an Engineer, to which his answer was because I want to be called an Engineer. This was a very peculiar case where the Career was not important but taking a degree was the ultimate goal.

We asked him what he will do after becoming an Engineer, and which Engineer did he want to become, to which his response was I will decide as I go along and take whatever comes my way.

He did not get admission to any Engineering Colleges in Mumbai, because of his low marks, so he went ahead and joined a Diploma Program in an Engineering college in New Bombay (  thus wasting his 2 yrs of education ).I questioned him why he did not try any colleges outside Mumbai, to which he said  I wanted to be an engineer only from Mumbai , otherwise the degree has no value  ( which actually  is totally false ...both the CEO's of Microsoft and Google are graduates from small towns)

Today Ved is struggling to pass his Engineering  ( and I doubt whether he will clear the degree or leave it half way)  ,having lost his father the entire load is being borne by his sister and mother yet instead of taking a practical approach Ved continues to pursue his ego fantasy at any cost.

This has given me an insight into how we in India approach the choice of our Careers. We are driven more by social status and acceptance , money and recognition rather than being driven by passion and liking. We create such high ideals for our children to achieve, always reminding them how they have to be great and make their parents and family proud , thus pushing them into being impractical and material minded.No wonder then that those who cannot keep up in the race choose to take an easy way out by destroying their lives.

How do you guide a person who does not want to be guided and knowingly makes choices which are detrimental to his Career, Life and family.

I can only pray and wish that good sense prevails and VED returns to the path of finding his true calling in life.We wish him all the Best !

Vedanta had approached us 2 yrs back when she cleared her BA and was thinking on joining an MBA program. We advised her to take the CAP test so that I can get a clarity on her profile and also an insight into the various Careers she was suitable for. The test threw up many pointers which disclosed that Vendanta had strong  people, social and negotiating skills as a result the Career of a Defence Lawyer suited her. She decided to focus on this Career and has currently completed  her LLB Degree,

Since she benefited so much from the  CAP process, she wanted her younger brother Ved to also take the benefit of the CAP test.  Ved was a 90% student in Xth std. , but in XIIth he got just 55 %. The boy came for the first counselling and understood the benefits of CAP. His sister registered him for the test, but he kept on delaying and avoiding the event.

After much coaxing we were able to understand his fear about taking the CAP, his reason was , if the test brings out the truth that I am not good for engineering, then my dreams of becoming an Engineer will remain unfulfilled. I asked him why he wanted to be an Engineer, to which his answer was because I want to be called an Engineer. This was a very peculiar case where the Career was not important but taking a degree was the ultimate goal.

We asked him what he will do after becoming an Engineer, and which Engineer did he want to become, to which his response was I will decide as I go along and take whatever comes my way.

He did not get admission to any Engineering Colleges in Mumbai, because of his low marks, so he went ahead and joined a Diploma Program in an Engineering college in New Bombay (  thus wasting his 2 yrs of education ).I questioned him why he did not try any colleges outside Mumbai, to which he said  I wanted to be an engineer only from Mumbai , otherwise the degree has no value  ( which actually  is totally false ...both the CEO's of Microsoft and Google are graduates from small towns)

Today Ved is struggling to pass his Engineering  ( and I doubt whether he will clear the degree or leave it half way)  ,having lost his father the entire load is being borne by his sister and mother yet instead of taking a practical approach Ved continues to pursue his ego fantasy at any cost.

This has given me an insight into how we in India approach the choice of our Careers. We are driven more by social status and acceptance , money and recognition rather than being driven by passion and liking. We create such high ideals for our children to achieve, always reminding them how they have to be great and make their parents and family proud , thus pushing them into being impractical and material minded.No wonder then that those who cannot keep up in the race choose to take an easy way out by destroying their lives.

How do you guide a person who does not want to be guided and knowingly makes choices which are detrimental to his Career, Life and family.

I can only pray and wish that good sense prevails and VED returns to the path of finding his true calling in life.We wish him all the Best !