Early this month on March 8, 2011 Sayani Pandit, a student of Standard XI of SS Samiti’s Higher Secondary School in Ponda, Maharastra, hanged herself to death following a ‘tough’ chemistry paper on the previous day.

    In our country the month of March is a stressful period for youngsters with weeks of board examinations ahead, before the long summer vacation. The problem by and large seems home-brewed. According to clinical psychologist Dr. K R Binu at V K C Hospital, Mallapuram “Parents put this belief into their kids’ minds that success in exams is key to success in life and that education is not enough, coming first is important.” 

     The successful garage owner who earns multiple times more than his white collar peers, the lucrative food joint that fetches the young nongraduate entrepreneur greater money-power than most of us, or the stitching centre that transformed into a....