When Qualification Isn't Enough

Every morning, Arjun placed his degree certificates beside newspapers. The certificates proved his qualification; the newspapers decided whether hope would arrive that day again there. He had studied for years, believing education would eventually bring a stable job. Now his biggest daily task was waiting for the next vacancy notice. His room had become a strange workplace without employment: books on the bed, notes on the wall, examination dates circled repeatedly, and silence everywhere around. He was not lazy, and he was not unwilling to work. He simply belonged to a generation where finding an opportunity had become incredibly difficult. Outside his window, Bengal continued moving. Buses carried workers, shops opened, trains departed, while young people like Arjun watched their futures remain uncertain every day. Then the news became harder to ignore. Some people who had already entered government service were facing cancelled appointments, court battles, and painful uncertainty everywhere. Arjun began asking himself a question he had never expected after studying so hard: If I finally get a job, will my job actually remain? That question followed him into every examination. While others calculated marks, he sometimes calculated something else—the distance between an appointment letter and a secure future. His mother noticed the change first. She left tea beside his books, then walked away without asking how many vacancies had been announced that week. His father, once confident about his son's future, stopped making promises. Instead, he simply said, “Keep trying.” Those words still carried hope, fear, and helplessness. Around him, friends were choosing different paths. One moved to another state. Another accepted a private job. Someone else quietly stopped preparing after repeated disappointments. Arjun stayed. Not because he was certain Bengal would give him everything he wanted, but because leaving his parents and home was an easy choice. Some evenings, he closed his books and sat on the balcony. The city lights appeared bright, yet he wondered why his future looked so dark. Still, the next morning arrived. He sharpened his pencil, opened another practice paper, and started again. Hope had become quieter, but it had not disappeared.