"Failure in Grade 12" poster. Picture source network
Author Pei Sitong
In 2009, an Indian movie "Three Idiots", which satirized the traditional education system, became popular throughout Asia and became many Chinese people's first impression of Bollywood movies. Fifteen years later, the screenwriter of the film returned to the issue of education and produced the dark horse of the year in the Indian film market in 2023 - "Failure in Grade 12".
If "Three Idiots Make Trouble in Bollywood" tells the story of how three talented students from elite colleges pursue their personal freedom and dreams, "Failure in Grade 12" extends its perspective to the broader grassroots soil of India and points to A more serious and realistic theme - Indian public examinations.
"Testing Public Affairs" is an issue that we are not unfamiliar with. In 2024, the number of applicants for my country's national examination exceeded 3 million for the first time. The ratio of the number of people taking the examination to the number of recruitment plans is about 57:1. In India, this ratio is about more than one thousand to one.
The Indian Civil Service Examination (CSE) organized by the Union Civil Service Commission (UPSC) of India is considered to be one of the most competitive examinations in the world. According to India's New Delhi Television (ndtv), nearly 1.152 million candidates in India took the national examination in 2022, and in the end only 933 people successfully passed the examination.
Candidates who pass the exam need to go through three rounds of pre-examination, main examination, and interview. The examination period lasts for one year. The examination content involves English, literature, mathematics, politics, law, economics and other subjects, and the total answering time is up to 32 hours. . For most candidates, there are only four exam opportunities, and according to statistics from Clearias, an Indian CSE online tutoring website, most people can only succeed in the third or fourth exam. In other words, for an ordinary Indian examinee, 3 years or more is the time it generally takes for them to pass the national examination.
Manoj, the protagonist of "Failure in Grade 12", finally passed the exam in his fourth attempt. Manoj is a typical "small town problem solver". He was born in Chambal, an extremely poor and bandit-ridden city. He once failed the 12th grade examination due to "attempted cheating", but he was determined to pass it. National Civil Service Examination to become an Indian Police Service officer.
Without money or family support, Manoj worked while preparing for exams. He swept toilets and worked as a librarian. He worked 15 hours a day in a narrow factory building in a flour mill. Under such harsh conditions, Manoj It took Ji 4 years to realize his dream.
This is not a fictional story artistically processed by the screenwriter to reflect the theme. It is adapted from the real experience of Manoj, Additional Commissioner of Mumbai Police. In fact, the effort required by an Indian Kaogong is no less than that of Manoj.
Some media once reported how an ordinary Indian girl, Gamini Singla, passed the "world's most difficult exam." For nearly three years, Singla stayed away from friends, entertainment and social media. She got up at dawn every day, strictly planned her diet and daily life, and studied for up to 10 hours a day. Her family also participated in helping her prepare for the exam. , the report described her life as "monk-like sacrifice" and "almost complete withdrawal from the real world."
And this "sacrifice" is even a "privilege" for a small number of middle-class people in India. For the majority of poor candidates, full-time preparation for exams is a "luxury". They must find ways to solve their own financial problems while preparing for high-pressure exams, just like Manoj in the movie who only has three hours of rest a day. Even with such efforts, the chance of "going ashore" is still slim. Every year, many candidates still end up with failure after spending many years of stagnant life and career, and some finally choose to commit suicide.
Behind India’s persistent “public examination craze” is India’s severe unemployment rate, the huge gap between rich and poor, and the narrow upward path for people at the bottom. Compared with the concerns in many developed countries about labor shortages in an aging society, in India, people are more worried about not having enough employment opportunities to support the growing number of workers.
According to reports, data from the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), an independent think tank in India, shows that although people under the age of 25 account for more than 40% of India’s population, nearly half of young people (45.8%) are unemployed as of December 2022 state.According to a 2020 McKinsey Global Institute report, to meet the employment needs of young people, India needs to create at least 90 million new non-agricultural jobs by 2030, which requires annual GDP growth of 8% to 8.5% .
The severe domestic employment situation has pushed some Indians with good education and family backgrounds to seek opportunities in overseas markets, making Indians one of the most important immigrant groups in the world. For the vast number of people at the bottom with limited conditions, the "public examination" has become the rare "straw" that can truly change their destiny.
Becoming a national civil servant not only means getting a stable job almost for life, but also means a good social status and generous salary. Taking the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) as an example, the starting salary of a junior civil servant is 56,000 rupees (approximately 4,800 yuan), and can reach a maximum of 250,000 rupees (approximately 21,500 yuan). The monthly income of an ordinary Indian is The median is only 27,200 rupees (approximately 2,354 yuan). In addition, civil servants also enjoy a number of benefits including free medical care, transportation subsidies, housing subsidies, and food subsidies.
Therefore, in the movie, Manoj's grandmother is willing to spend all her life savings to support him in taking the exam, because for such a low-class family, becoming a national civil servant is a true meaning of "Being a farmer in the morning and ascending to the emperor's palace in the evening." , enough to change the fate of the entire family.
But for Manoj, his reasons for insisting on taking the public exam are more than that, and the "reasons for taking the public exam" that this movie wants to convey are also more than that.
The most widely circulated clip in "Failure of Grade 12" is that Manoj finally reached the interview stage in his fourth exam. The interviewer asked him: "This is your last attempt. What will you do if you are not selected?" Do it?"
Manoj's answer was: "I will accept this, but I will not accept failure... My goal is not to become an Indian Police Service officer, the goal is to reform my country."
insists on taking the public examination What Manoj wants to change is not just the destiny of an individual, but the destiny of a country. There is a scene in the movie where Manoj’s friend Gauri chose to continue to provide guidance to other candidates after failing the last public examination. In the end, he solved Manoj’s livelihood problem and supported Manoj’s full preparation for the exam. He said to Manoj: "This is not your battle, this is our battle. Even if one of us wins, the whole group wins."
In India, where the caste system exists in name only, the "public examination" carries the It is not only the fate of individuals and families, but also that of a class. Religion, caste, and social systems are a tight network. The seemingly cruel competition in public examinations has become a bright possibility to break through this network. Although more "Manojis" can only "reset to zero" after failure again and again, we still hope that some of them can succeed and speak on their behalf in a world that they cannot reach.
Just like in the final interview, Manoj was questioned by the examiner as to why he, who had failed to pass the 12th grade exam, should be chosen among elite graduates from prestigious schools. Manoj said: "They may be top people, but they have never seen what I have experienced."
They have never seen the principal and teacher who will openly lead the whole school to cheat, and they have never seen how the people at the bottom are oppressed by those in power. , I have never seen any government officials or police officers openly taking bribes. Therefore, when Pandey, a friend from a well-off family, took the civil service examination with the goal of "taking bribes" at the request of his father, Manoj's goal was to "become an honest official." He believed that "if an honest person has Power, everything will be different”.
This is the idealistic and moving part of the film. There is no doubt that Manoj's experience is a story of survivor bias and a realistic fairy tale of "a small town problem maker". In real life, we cannot expect every candidate to have a goal like Manoj. Manoj who becomes an Indian police officer may not necessarily be able to "reform the entire country."
But the appearance of this movie is still full of contemporary value.The director portrays a perseverant candidate who takes the public examination, and also uses him to ask the audience "the reason for choosing to take the public examination" and "what kind of talents should a system select?" This is what this film has for the current Indian society. A certain question of the times.
At a lower level, what this movie expresses is a simpler theme. Under the guise of "taking the public exam", what it wants to talk about is actually how a person constantly sticks to the goals and justice in his heart, telling the story What matters is how courage and honesty lead us forward.
Manoj said: "If I had not been selected, I would have become a school teacher and taught the children in the village not to cheat... If I cannot be the sun that shines on the earth, I can still be a light that shines on my Street." Rather than discussing "how to succeed," the director is more like telling us how to "view failure."
Just like at the end of the movie, Manoj's friend Pandey still failed after the fourth public examination, but he became a TV host. This was something he had never had the courage to tell his father before. A true dream.
Source: China Youth Daily client
(Source: China Youth Daily client)
