Every year, when the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announces the Class 12 results, a familiar national ritual plays out. Newspapers and social media are flooded with headlines about students scoring 99% and even 100%. A perfect score no longer seems unattainable. Interviews with toppers, beaming parents, and congratulatory messages dominate our screens. This ubiquitous phenomenon highlights a deeper, troubling truth about our obsession with marks and their rigid definition of success. Truth be told, success, when viewed in utilitarian clarity, becomes a performative mechanism—a dopamine-fuelled display of superiority that underpins social mobility, pride, and self-worth.

Students today are poised on a razor’s edge—balancing intense academic pressure, societal expectations, and personal dreams. They are constantly chasing the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. For today’s kids, summer is no longer about chasing dragonflies but about being glued to smartphone screens. In this age of over-optimisation, the US has introduced the idea of ‘summer kid rotting’—a celebration of unhurried childhood, urging parents to step back and breathe. Is such a scenario imaginable in our country?

For generations, Indian parents, schools, and society at large have equated........

© Free Press Journal