The 3 Idiots and I

Introduction

Below is my college essay which I wrote about one of my favorite movies, the Bollywood classic, “The 3 Idiots”. I was re-watching the film this last weekend with a loved one, someone who hadn’t seen the film, and it inspired a wave of emotions for the both of us. For me it was the reminder of all the valuable lessons I learned in this film. For her I imagine, it was being captured by the amazing story told within the film. I hope you enjoy this essay, and if you have not already, watch the film.

My College Essay

The famous Bollywood movie, 3 Idiots, directed by Rajkumar Hirani may be the one work of art that has had the biggest impact on my life. This slapstick comedy is about three boys who enter a prestigious engineering school with different views on what real success means. The movie was meant to simply make us laugh, but it actually opened my eyes to the beauty of pure knowledge. The three “idiots” showed me that school isn’t about grades, but about learning. The film taught me not to chase success, expecting knowledge to follow; instead, chase knowledge and see how fast success chases after you.

In the film, the three freshmen roommates, “Rancho”, Raju, and Farhan, enter the university with different intentions. Rancho’s main purpose in college is to take in and learn as much as he can, he is passionate about learning. Raju, on the other hand, likes engineering, but he’s in it for the money. He wants to get good grades so he can get a good job to support his poor family. Farhan doesn’t care about engineering at all; he wants to be a photographer, but like Raju, is forced to make sacrifices to support his family. Rancho wants to change his friends’ mentality about school He wants them to fall in love with learning instead of memorizing a piece of paper to get a good grade. At first everyone thinks he’s crazy and they try to avoid him. Of course, eventually they all realize he’s right. Not only does he change his friends, he even changes the mind of the stereotypically uptight headmaster

I come from a family much like Raju’s. My parents have always told me, “go to school so you can get good grades so you can get a good job so you can have a good life”. Nowhere in that process did anyone tell me to follow my passions, to go to school and learn. My parents rewarded me for getting good grades and got angry with me when I didn’t. I can’t blame them for wanting what they thought was best for me, but “the idiots” made me realize that getting good grades isn’t the most important part of an education.

After I watched that movie at the impressionable age of twelve, my perspective shifted. It was like putting on new glasses, I now saw what was so clearly right in front of me. School was no longer a competition or a measuring stick; it was a haven for my newfound curiosity. This was the beginning of my awakening, a new state of mind where knowledge trumps all else. Furthermore, I didn’t want others to do poorly in order for me to do well. School should be a place of learning with one another, working together with common goals.

When my focus shifted from grades to real learning, my grades went up significantly. My attitude about school changed and my grades reflected this shift. By the end of my awakening I went from being Raju to Rancho, not caring about my average as much as I cared about learning for its own sake. The light-hearted and mostly silly 3 Idiots made a serious and lasting impression on how I view education.