I was studying for my political science final and I thought, “Why on earth do people think that humanities is the easiest of all the three streams?”
“Oh you scored 90% in your board exam! Why did you opt for humanities?”
“You won’t understand what it feels like when the balance sheet is tallied. How would you know anyway? You are a humanities student.”
“What’s the point of studying history when all the people in it are dead?”
“Are you upset over your history paper? Haha! Have a look at our physics paper and then tell me what is tougher.”
These are the wise words of people who always have something to say. They say all these things without being familiar with the subjects of humanities. They have a lot to say about humanities without studying it.
People barely know their fundamental rights and the working of the Constitution and get the shock of their lives when it says November 26 instead of January 26 in the Preamble, but they always have an earful to say about how easy humanities is.
The Indian society believes that the “dumb” people and those who fail their exams are automatically given the Humanities streams because it will be easier for them. Yeah, because learning about the Crusades, the political workings of India, and the intricacies of a society is easy, right?
And, science and commerce are the best streams for the intelligentsia. Being an engineer or a doctor or a chartered accountant is way more difficult than becoming an IAS officer or a lawyer or an anthropologist, isn’t it?
The UPSC exam is considered the most difficult and an IAS posting is considered to be a very prestigious job. To give the UPSC exam, one must study history and political science taught in classes 11 and 12. So, what people mean by saying that humanities is easy is that giving an IAS exam is very difficult but studying the subjects is simple. What a topsy-turvy world.
Being an engineer or a doctor or a chartered accountant is as difficult as becoming a historian or a lawyer. All subjects have a different approach to it and there is no point in looking down at any of those. A humanities student is expected to study books and books of historical, political, social events. They have to study psychology and sociology and geography. They have to be good debaters and have an excellent general knowledge. None of these are easy, I assure you.
I did not write this to offend anyone from the science or commerce stream but just to voice the opinion of most humanities students who aren’t always given the chance to do so. If you’re a class 10 student about to give your boards, about to face the dilemma of choosing between the streams, please don’t rule out humanities just because its considered to be the stream for idiots. Don’t choose any path under peer or parental pressure. Maybe take the road less travelled by, as Robert Frost did. Hope you make the right decision!
If you’re a science or a commerce student reading this – HI! Don’t let your friends who are in humanities feel bad. It’s not a good feeling, let me tell you. Humanities is as beautiful a road as commerce or science and as difficult! Don’t look down on it.
And if you are a humanities student – Keep your head up high, ally! We’re all in this together.
If you found anything relatable, please leave a comment down below!
Thanks! 😉
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