This attitude is not even only in India, but also seeps into the Indian culture in America. I dropped out of engineering and pursued History. I really love computers and programming, but I sort of lost interest in studying it at the university as it was just a rat race.<p>After a semester of exploring random classes I decided that I wanted to do History. It wasn't an easy choice by any means. Previous to this exploration I was really trying to focus on doing well in engineering, but I was constantly fighting myself. I would say that was one of the worst periods of my life. I was doing something which I felt I was obliged to not because I truly enjoyed it.<p>I talked to my parents and they were open with me changing my majors. I think that was my biggest fear, what my parents would think. When they accepted my change of major that was big relief for me. However, when I told my relatives (here in the states) they had quite a shock.<p>I must say changing to history was one of the best things I have done. I love studying it as opposed to drudging it. The wonderful thing is that I supplement history with classes from the linguistics, psychology, and economics departments.
Further, since I am concentrating on Indian history whenever I talk with Indians (from India) more often than not I know much more about India than them.<p>This rote learning is why India has not produced an Apple or Google! That's not to say there aren't brilliant engineers in India, there definitely are! But family and friends in India see outside the box thinking as unusual. When I visited India over the summer and told people I studied History they did not comprehend what that meant. The choices were: business, doctor, or engineer.