The burden of being young

The Class of 2005 at JNU

In a country of many opportunities, where the demographic dividend is waiting to be reaped, it is easy to give in, the task of not giving in to the temptation of passing on the burden is like expecting a dog to chase a squirrel or a cat not licking a bowl of cream clean or a writer not writing on a blank piece of paper!;D

Everyday, I come across atleast one neta, policymaker, activist or corporate honcho talking about "the young people taking it up". In fact "young" permeates our consciousness so much that we have full segments on television devoted to it, Radio Stations claiming "yeh aaj ke zamane ka radio station hai" (aaj mein ho toh aaj ke hi radio station hoge na, duh!), in fact a whole new kind of cinema devoted to it (Yash Raj Films' Y-Films studio being a case in point). Even Brinda Karat, the CPI (M) firebrand gave in to the temptation and said the golden words at the recently concluded India Today Conclave.

Well, its heartening some would say. Its logical, others would argue. Ah, but if truth be told, it is merely burdensome!

To be hoisted as the only ones capable of bringing about change, or to be pushed into a corner - "Oh but you young people have to do something about it" is well really no different from being told "you will become an engineer when you grow up" for that too is about social expectations, isn't it?

Then again, what is young? who is the youth?

Anna Hazare recently came up with a very interesting take on this - "being young is not a function of age but of whats in your heart". So that's that. Don't thrust/hoist onto others your causes/concerns/whims/aspirations in the garb of them being young. You are not over the hill till you yourself choose to declare you are. Lets not pass on legacies please, not just yet - whether it is to someone like Siddhartha Mallaya (yup, I have been reading the newspaper too!) who himself admitted he isn't experienced enough to add value to a CEO role at the age of 24, or the burgeoning undefined mass of the next generation.

This isn't about not wanting to step up, mind you, it is simply asking for our place under the sun, to pick our own battles to fight. Step up I will but that doesn't mean the veterans should stop!

-Roar!

India Today Conclave: A View from the Side and on the India of Today

Witty, sharp, scathing comments, discussions and insights - best sum up the 2 days that were. The setup was out of this world and the hall packed.

Engaging? Yes.

Mesmerizing? Yes

Controversial? Hmm.

You see, we in India, we like to play it safe - safe can be pushed to its limit, Salman Rushdie's appearance being a case in point and well-worth the effort the team must have put in.

But somehow, we never go beyond. We try and try not to stretch the thinking of our being beyond the lowest common denominator.

Corruption - yes it comes up. Its safe and easy to discuss and lambast.

Sports, Bollywood - the heroes of our country, yes yes!

Freedom of speech - of course! Not talking about that at a Media conclave would be blasphemy!

Female safety - errr (women's reservation too is worth a mention if I may add but safety nah)

AFSPA - eh? what's that?

Binayak Sen came, he spoke for 10 maybe 15 minutes in over 900 minutes of talking (yes, I calculated it!). And the sad thing is, I am not sure if many heard him. In the heady cocktail of the who's who talking, an activist speaking about boring and obscure things in some remote state is a ready recipe for the yawns to make their grand entry and the "lets step out for a chat" networking to begin. But truth be told, there is a dark under-belly of India's existence, under the pallu of our secular democracy that is seething and writhing and unfortunately, teething.

We in India, we like to revel - in our bravery, self-congratulating ourselves on successfully playing to the gallery, but we never question ourselves. The conclave was clearly all for speaking out - against the government, the establishment, the Budget, but against accepted norms? No.

What is this India?

We love to scratch the surface, but fear to dig deep. We celebrate Modi, continue to do so. Who remembered 10 years of Godhra? LSR did but even Harsh Mander who came to speak to the students there sadly noted, "this is the only institution I think that even wants to remember Godhra"!

The big picture is lovely, bright and rosy. India is shining and I am sure India's creme-de-a-creme can only smile avuncularly when thinking about it. Its the small things that irk. #Missedopportunities #Hungry4more

A bit perturbed,

yours truly!