Admissions cost a lot!

Last weekend, i completed my so called "training", which eventually got extended for no strong reason i see. We had the weekend off and i immediately rushed to the get the feel home treatment of Coimbatore. One of my roaming buddies (the razor guy) couldn't make it there at the same time. So i had so much time to idle around the city. As a part of the re-planning process (am a trained software professional right?), i decided to visit one of my uncles (dad's brother).

My uncle's son is doing his 12th standard right now. So my uncle and aunt were like talking all about M.B.B.S & B.Tech admissions to me (Yeah Right!). They listed all the colleges and universities they have applied (for a moment i thought they were also going to join M.B.B.S or whatever). The sum they have spent for all the applications almost equals 3.5 grand. I was speechless already. When i finished my 12th, i was looking out for which movies to see rather than which universities to apply (maybe that accounts to my current state now, so, lets not pull at that string). Still 3.5K was too much just for applications. He is not Hermione (Harry Potter) to use a time turner and attend many many colleges and courses at the same time.

When we were talking on these grounds, my uncle's neighbour gave an entry. The conversation went like this. Lets call the uncle as U and the neighbour as N.

U: Hey N! How did it go? Got the application?

N: Yes! There was a big queue. I stood by morning by 9 AM and was able to get it only half an hour back (time is 6:45 PM now).

Myself (thinking): Ridiculous! Freak!

U: Oh! That must have been pretty bad. So, what brings you here?

N: I get "The Hindu" daily. Heard there was an ad about an admission/application (no difference) in "The Indian Express". So, i just wanted to take a look at it.

U: Oh Sure! (Handed the newspaper to him) Good Luck!

N: (Opened the paper and went through the ad) (speaking more to himself) Oh No! That is another 1000 bucks, which totals up to 8 grand.

(I could not take it anymore. However, i just kept quiet, waiting for him to leave)

After noting down the details, the neighbour left. All the emotion in my mind burst out within fraction of a second. "Is this man mad? 8 grand? Waste of money! Forget about that! He looks so young! I can't even believe that he has got a kid who is going to join college next year!"

Actually i was quite right. The neighbour was indeed too young to have a kid that old. The admissions and applications were for a kid who is going to join Kinder Garden (KG).

I was all like !!!!!

Shocking (but true) facts i learnt:

• There is a play school my cousin attended when he was small. That play school is booked for admissions till 2011. When do the parents book the playschool? As soon as they are engaged?

• My aunt teaches maths in a "famous & costly" school. She had recently evaluated the new admission test papers (for 8th standard). The guy who got a centum was overthrown by a guy who got a big fat "0" because of the 40 grand paid by the parent.

• The yearly fees for a 8th/9th standard student in the same school (mentioned above) amounts to 38 grand (My sister spent less than a lakh to complete her engineering).

There was a saying that "Education is costly". The government claims to have brought down the costs of education. Little did they know that these days "Admissions cost even more!"