Kota Factory: Jeetu bhaiya is also a product of this ‘factory’ and he’s finally accepted it isn’t producing winners

The definition of success in our society is, unfortunately, just limited to one’s job and the money they make. But as one grows up, it becomes evident that your peace of mind has nothing to do with the college you attended or the rank you scored in your teen years. Jeetu did everything he was asked to and ended up getting what he was promised, however, he eventually realised that becoming another product in the factory wasn’t all that it was hyped up to be.

Jitendra Kumar in a still from Kota Factory.

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TVF has a bunch of shows set in different fields of education where characters talk in ‘dialogues’ and their struggles are romanticised. Most of those shows do not address the flaws of the education system but they constantly hype up the promises made to millions of students fighting for a few spots. This season, however, Kota Factory made an attempt to talk about the problems of the system where teens in their formative years are made to feel like failures if they don’t get a certain rank.

It is heartbreaking to watch Vaibhav fall to pieces in the last episode, but watching him get ready to go through the grind again is even more disheartening. We are told that he is a smart kid who will probably end up in a good place in life, IIT or not. As he exchanges glances with Jeetu in those last few minutes of the season, it almost feels like Vaibhav is looking at his future self. He is yet to walk into the light and realise that the promise isn’t all that it is cracked up to be. Because watching him get into IIT isn’t the ‘happy ending’ that this show needs. All it needs is for kids to know that there is a life beyond Kota and IIT and it’s just as great.