Que Sera Sera..

If I am playing the percentages, I think neither of my kids would be an engineer or a doctor. This is not a reflection on their aptitude in school. Just a reflection of the percentages.

Neither is in school right now, so all I have is statistics, and there are more people who are neither engineers nor doctors, than there are. So, probabilistically speaking, my kids would not be in these professions.

But there's a series of ads floating the rounds on TV these days that says that my kids could become peons (who save employees in office through timely use of the Heimlich maneuver) or master crooks (who can crack digital locks on those gigantic bank safes) who wanted to be (respectively) doctors or engineers but couldn't because their father didn't have the money to invest in their education fund (IDBI or something).

I wonder why they didn't pick lawyers, architects or chartered accountants. On watching this series, if a father feels guilty enough to invest in this fund, I can guarantee that this father is neither an engineer nor a doctor.

I can also guarantee that not a single soul involved with this ad series, has ever got an engineering or a medical degree.

But that's not the point of the rant here.

I would like to boldly predict on this post here that over the next few years, the engineering degree will be redundant.

Engineering knowledge is no longer centered in a school, college or university.

It is now out there. In real time with streaming live video. With the click of a button. Or a search engine.

If my daughter wants to be an engineer, she can just look it up on the internet, while Fourier turns in his grave.

The funny thing is, this democratization of engineering knowledge was made possible by engineers themselves.

As for medicine, it'll probably become more specialized so the probability of getting in, are even more remote. But the payoffs won't be as great.

Because there are options outside of medicine which can give you a comfortable living anyway.  Without the 24/7 on call lifestyle or the gory details.

In other words, keep your money somewhere other than this IDBI Future Save or whatever.

Your kids will thank you for it, when you buy their entire school class that ice cream sundae.