The following is an article written by Mr. Velu Shankar for the magazine ‘Outlook’. Mr. Shankar is former executive producer, Channel V and former programme director, Radio City. I found this article really thought provoking. I think that all the young Indians today(read 52% of the population), should read this article and consider revising their attitude towards their country and its polity.
Teflon-Coated Bubble Wrap Cocoons
In a recent interview, Chief Election Commissioner J. M. Lyngdoh, talking about corruption in politics, said that hope lay in the younger generation as his own had failed to get rid of it. The moot question is: does the younger generation even realize its onerous responsibility?
A recent market survey by a soft drink MNC among its largest segment (read youth) says that 60% of India’s young people are happy, positive, have a high sense of confidence and are raring to go. Is this something to celebrate as part of our all-pervasive India Shining campaign or is it something to ponder over? Where does this happiness originate? Does it come from a Teflon-coated bubble wrap that protects you from questioning or from not seeing oneself as a part of this thriving polity?
All around, I see smugness, a desire to be coopted, a conducted tour of insanity. “I’ll marry a girl of my choice but only with my parents’ approval”; “I’ll choose a career of my liking only if it’s well-paying”; “I won’t upset the status quo or choose a path which will encounter resistance from the entrenched”; “The rich cricketer who bucks the system by not paying duty for his expensive car will be my icon.” This disconnect is disturbing.
Where is the rebellion in them? When I say rebellion, I don’t mean burning buses or themselves, I don’t mean fighting in the streets or in the campuses. Rebelling is a questioning attitude, a healthy contempt of accepting things the way they are, a self-awareness generated within and not confined to what comes out of clever copy-writing of youth brands. Let alone issues of nation building, even issues affecting them fail to enthuse today’s young; a regressive minister and the IIM administration are debating on the future and funding of the IIMs, nothing from the students who are affected. In a freewheeling and chaotic democracy like ours, participation is necessary to keep it healthy. But the prevalent atmosphere is one of apathy and naivete (“All politicians are corrupt, ya?”).
Where did this process begin? When did this alienation start? Has the polity failed to create an atmosphere which gives one an opportunity to experience and participate? Have we as a country alienated ourselves from the benefits of an active young generation from its fresh perspectives, from its lack of post-Independence or socialistic baggage? Is this a symptom of a larger malaise of non-participation the whole nation suffers from? Where does this generation derive its identity? What does it mean to be an Indian? Is it the hazy, hoary past, a revivalist argument of inventing zero and Vedic mathematics that they derive their identity from? Don’t they have anything to relate to in contemporary India? The identity is ambiguous; individually, they are bright, confident lot, but they are defensive when it comes to having a national identity. They are not proud of contemporary India, in spite of the full page cover spreads. The craving for global acceptance and identification as a global citizen also seems to have made today’s youngsters embarrassed about the Indian realities seen negatively in the West.
The system has appropriated the spaces of youngsters. Take college elections, fought on partisan lines, funded and fuelled by mainstream parties. In the city I live in, considered an educational centre, we don’t see any space reflecting the students who populate it. I don’t see the kind of edginess in music, theatre or debate I see in any self-respecting campus town abroad. The highly competitive educational and career choices are definitely taking the most of the youngsters’ time and energy. The system run by geriatrics, where a 50-year old minister is considered young, is alienating them. Lack of fresh ideas and leaders to look up to is denying them the incentive to participate. The cooption of their spaces and thoughts has contributed to their apathy.
But then again isn’t this the time to be stupidly idealistic? Isn’t this the time to protest without expecting concrete results? Isn’t rebellion something that is an intrinsic part of growing up and not something you try to chalk in between gym classes and sessions of visa counseling?
Teflon-Coated Bubble Wrap Cocoons
In a recent interview, Chief Election Commissioner J. M. Lyngdoh, talking about corruption in politics, said that hope lay in the younger generation as his own had failed to get rid of it. The moot question is: does the younger generation even realize its onerous responsibility?
A recent market survey by a soft drink MNC among its largest segment (read youth) says that 60% of India’s young people are happy, positive, have a high sense of confidence and are raring to go. Is this something to celebrate as part of our all-pervasive India Shining campaign or is it something to ponder over? Where does this happiness originate? Does it come from a Teflon-coated bubble wrap that protects you from questioning or from not seeing oneself as a part of this thriving polity?
All around, I see smugness, a desire to be coopted, a conducted tour of insanity. “I’ll marry a girl of my choice but only with my parents’ approval”; “I’ll choose a career of my liking only if it’s well-paying”; “I won’t upset the status quo or choose a path which will encounter resistance from the entrenched”; “The rich cricketer who bucks the system by not paying duty for his expensive car will be my icon.” This disconnect is disturbing.
Where is the rebellion in them? When I say rebellion, I don’t mean burning buses or themselves, I don’t mean fighting in the streets or in the campuses. Rebelling is a questioning attitude, a healthy contempt of accepting things the way they are, a self-awareness generated within and not confined to what comes out of clever copy-writing of youth brands. Let alone issues of nation building, even issues affecting them fail to enthuse today’s young; a regressive minister and the IIM administration are debating on the future and funding of the IIMs, nothing from the students who are affected. In a freewheeling and chaotic democracy like ours, participation is necessary to keep it healthy. But the prevalent atmosphere is one of apathy and naivete (“All politicians are corrupt, ya?”).
Where did this process begin? When did this alienation start? Has the polity failed to create an atmosphere which gives one an opportunity to experience and participate? Have we as a country alienated ourselves from the benefits of an active young generation from its fresh perspectives, from its lack of post-Independence or socialistic baggage? Is this a symptom of a larger malaise of non-participation the whole nation suffers from? Where does this generation derive its identity? What does it mean to be an Indian? Is it the hazy, hoary past, a revivalist argument of inventing zero and Vedic mathematics that they derive their identity from? Don’t they have anything to relate to in contemporary India? The identity is ambiguous; individually, they are bright, confident lot, but they are defensive when it comes to having a national identity. They are not proud of contemporary India, in spite of the full page cover spreads. The craving for global acceptance and identification as a global citizen also seems to have made today’s youngsters embarrassed about the Indian realities seen negatively in the West.
The system has appropriated the spaces of youngsters. Take college elections, fought on partisan lines, funded and fuelled by mainstream parties. In the city I live in, considered an educational centre, we don’t see any space reflecting the students who populate it. I don’t see the kind of edginess in music, theatre or debate I see in any self-respecting campus town abroad. The highly competitive educational and career choices are definitely taking the most of the youngsters’ time and energy. The system run by geriatrics, where a 50-year old minister is considered young, is alienating them. Lack of fresh ideas and leaders to look up to is denying them the incentive to participate. The cooption of their spaces and thoughts has contributed to their apathy.
But then again isn’t this the time to be stupidly idealistic? Isn’t this the time to protest without expecting concrete results? Isn’t rebellion something that is an intrinsic part of growing up and not something you try to chalk in between gym classes and sessions of visa counseling?
posted by Akshay at 11:26 pm
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