How often do we think about the capacity of the youth? And also how this can contribute productivity in society? Let us take a moment and look at India. Those of us who update ourselves on the population growth in India will be familiar with ‘the Hump’. The demographic dividend between the north and south India. States like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh constitute about 40% of the population of India. While in the south a contrasting population wane draws attention to the evident demographic ‘Hump’ or dividend that India is facing. The median age of north India’s population would be 26 years in contrast to the median age of 34 years in the south. If this is not addressed appropriately or in time it could effect the economy. Both central and state governments should make the best of young population before it turns into Mathusian’s catastrophe. That is why it is important to address, whether its the 2 million English-speaking graduates India produces every year in order to achieve maximum effective result.
Anyway, small details aside, let us look at some characteristics of our own youth. I certainly see some defining attributes which has produced a different version from the youth of yesteryears.
Reasons:
i. We have not lived the past.
We have not lived the past. What we hear of is the past, narrated to us by grandparents, parents etc. And for some lucky few among us we may not even know although what a section of our society went through is considered an aggregate part of our history. The past is past, with all its pain, retributions and broken dreams. At least to some of us.
ii. We do not know our culture or heritage.
The youth of today have very little idea or knowledge about their own cultural heritage and this is almost pondered on passively. There may be some few exceptions but here I want to extract a general assessment. Whether the reasons may be adaptation, religion, modernity or influences from the west and popular music/lifestyle culture. The youth of today are gradually and steadily losing their culture replacing them with more contemporary versions seen through television, peer pressure, etc.
iii. The youth will eventually become restless.
Some of us already are and whether the trend follows up into something bigger this time or subsides, I believe it will consciously bid its time, also accumulating missed out and failed opportunities. With also the above mentioned reasons, it is imperative that restless as the youth may be this could turn into something explosive which is either negative or positive, very unlikely to be just something in between.
These are some features I persistently seem to come across in my observation of the youth of today. It may be considered negative when addressing loss of identity or changes of the new ways. But approaching this new development in an impartial way, I like to base my argument. Therefore I compiled some thoughts to even weigh how much positivity one could extract from these circumstances.
Understanding India
Perhaps it should our first step, our baby step into the world. The youth among us are facing a very different future. They are also unencumbered by the trials of the past and seen from a positive point, they embrace contemporary lifestyle more easily. So, why couldn’t they achieve something from there, I wonder. Understanding India is a tool and not a waste of time or energy. There are unfortunate cases, yes, but when I focus on the solution I would still profess upon understanding India. Where do we see ourselves without India at this moment (even if we were to be independent of her, we’d still be neighbors)? We are insatiably dependent on the government right now. Nagaland’s main source of income is through the public administration service, the private sector coming after that.
But more importantly, on the base of my argument I see that we are more ill-equipped without adjustments and understanding of the outside world. Considering the openness of the youth of today, I would expect a more realistic or pragmatic outlook. Understanding is a key point in relating to our further relationships with other nations, people. Taking discrimination as the main focus for our grievances could unbalance us. It is not to underestimate discrimination of minorities in India but working our heads around it or alleviating ourselves to gain from it could be more beneficial in order to survive in India. If you delve more into, be it, caste system, tribal communities in India (excluding North-east tribes), the many many diversities of India you can ascertain a pattern in which they seem to function. We could even consider ourselves a part of that labyrinth from most observations too.
Empowerment and People-power through the Youth
There is energy, young blood and recapturing of opportunities, or realizing them even. If harnessed appropriately, the youth can be enabled to bring positive, enterprising and a fresh input of rejuvenation in society. Perhaps even achieving in averting them from the path of frustration, stagnancy, strife and conflicts that the generations before have struggled in. People-power emerging from the youth is also a powerful statement, and like I said before, if harnessed appropriately it could inject a lot of positive outcomes in society.
The new blood in society is unaffected, you can say. Ignorant even, but somewhere some sort of re-addressing should be a focal point of attention because crucial moments account for crucial decisions. This is also something I’d like to ask of the youth: what is the next step this point? One can be rebellious, one can be resentful and indifferent but the ending result is where all of that leads to.
It is easy to blame and easy to grow discontent with all areas of stagnancy one comes across in life but somewhere we have to start because things don’t materialize in front of us from nothing. I see some sad outcomes from changes the youth endure, some even negative, yet it would be unbalanced if I couldn’t visualize what the other image could be. In believing so, I can envision a positive image of the changes, circumstances and milestones they go through.
