INSTEAD of setting and imposing unrealistic career targets, parents of today must give importance to the interests of their children. Ignoring their choices is like playing with their future. They must allow the children to choose their careers independently.

More often than not, parents put pressure on their children to opt for professions that are contrary to their likings and inclinations. This is wrong.

Every individual has been programmed in a special way. Parents must take children on board before deciding any field for them. Many children try to pursue a profession of their parents’ choice only to later find themselves in a blind alley.

Gradually, the popularity of medicine and engineering fields has diminished and students are getting more informed about career options. Now, both the parents and the students are fully sensitised that merely getting degrees is not enough; they need to learn different skills to lead a successful life.

Indubitably, skilled individuals are welcomed everywhere, but those who solely rely on their academic achievements, fail to make a niche in the temple of fame.

Another dangerous trend picking up among youngsters these days is to join the bureaucracy.

Every second graduate is striving hard to jump onto the bandwagon. And, if they fall short of attaining this herculean task, they tend to think that everything has ended.

No doubt, this lot is a talented one and has the potential to serve the nation in any other field, but owing to misplaced priorities, brilliant brains waste themselves. It is high time all the stakeholders joined hands, put the youth on the right track and let them tailor their fate with their own hands and to their own liking.

Muhammad Fayyaz Nawrha
Mianwali

HINDUTVA MINDSET: The world is finally waking up to a Hindutva-driven extremist India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who once himself was a persona non-grata and was refused a visit visa by the United States for his role in the infamous Gujarat massacre as its chief minister at the time. Hindutva is the most dangerous extremist phenomenon and doctrine based on deep hatred and sinister motives. The movement is likely to gain momentum, and there is no point hoping that it will go away. It won’t.

Mohammad S. Hasan
Karachi

A TEST OF NERVES: The Central Superior Services (CSS) exam is a tough one. It is an exam of nerves just as much as it is an exam of one’s academic skills. Candidates need to believe in themsleves, be consistent and be determined in order to excel. Exam anxiety is a common phenomenon experienced by almost every student. One must remember that regardless of what happens, life will still be fine.

Balach Baloch
Islamabad

FORT GATE COLLAPSE: This refers to the editorial ‘Fort gate collapse’ (Sept 9). A visit to any historical place is enough to tell us how careless we are towards the preservation of historical sites. Most countries take great care of heritage sites, museums, monuments, necropolis and historical places. They value their history and educate their generations about it. But statues and monuments of historical importance are ignored and vandalised in Pakistan. The department concerned must wake up.

Saqlain Soomro
Hyderabad

A RECIPE FOR DISASTER: Two senior offices in the country recently talked about the prospect of granting amnesty to the banned Tehreeik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). This, to say the least, is worrisome. Any such talk will surely embolden the outfit. The government should never allow the culprits to get away with whatever they have done. They must be held accountable for their brutalities.

Naveed Baiyan
Buleda, Kech

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2021