Be The Change..!!

Imagine this.

Scene 1: An Indian goes to France on a tour. On returning he mentions how clean the cities of France are while peeing on the roadside and littering it with trash.

Scene 2: In conversation with a guy in a restaurant, a girl proclaims how she is a feminist who believes in equality. She asserts how she doesn’t want to be treated any differently than a male counterpart and slowly slides the cheque toward the guy.

Scene 3: In the recent elections not only did the country see a 30% increase in the youth population participating, but also did my Facebook wall. It saw a stupendous rise in the number of people who voted and posted their selfies as proof.

Has the youth really become responsible or was this entire fiasco just a trend upsurge?

The youth of India are high on adrenaline. They are looking for change and ever exhilarated to bring about a revolution. They want to be heard. They want to be treated with respect and thought of as individuals with wisdom. I’m neither a critic nor a judge, but do you remember when everyone was discussing Mr. Arvind Kejriwal and how AAP is going to bring about political modernization? And when the moment of truth came, the same people mocked him for his incompetence. This is how quick a turnaround he fickle minded youth of our nation provides. While there may have been several reasons, I believe that Rome wasn’t built in a day and we’ll be fools ignore the bigger picture here.

When for half the nation’s population it is difficult to decide which career path to take, how do you expect them to decide the fate of the country? Do you think that just because our generation has voted righteously, we’re responsible people now? Let me provide an example. In Jamshedpur two politicians had to be voted for. One was an ex IPS officer with a doctorate degree who had worked for many industrial giants. The other was a nobody whose name people had heard for the first time ever. The latter won the elections. Why you ask? It was because his party was representing a Prime Ministerial candidate in the Central. Food for thought, right?

Did you know that not all Punjabis enjoy a patiala peg? Or not every girl who wears red lipstick easy going? Or an individual working as an art/dance professional uneducated or dumb? It is the Gen Y who has created such stereotypes and when confronted act like hypocrites. The social attitude needs to change, the norms and paradigms need to change and we, ‘The Youth’ need to be the one to do it.

If we want our women to be safe anywhere she goes, we need to stand up for that girl being molested in public in broad daylight and not stand by as a mere spectator.

If we want equal opportunities for all, we need to reject any kind of favors we receive because of reservation.

If we want to help the society in some way, it shouldn’t be through donations to elite clubs that organize those fancy charity parties. Become a member of Greenpeace instead, join an NGO and donate to the ones who really need it.

The youth of today wears branded clothes and follows the motto of ‘Just do it’, only later. We participate, contribute and get involved but have no idea why. We have our values and principles, but until the situation demands otherwise.

It is high time that we removed the mask of these contrived pretenses and saw ourselves for who we really are. We have the tools to collaborate, brainstorm and reflect at our disposal. All we need to do is to take charge and speak for ourselves – with clarity in our thoughts and the right motive in our actions. Only then will our actions be more powerful and inspired. Something will definitely happen when we pull ourselves together – individually and collectively.

Friends, Indians, Countrymen;

Let us raise our words, not our voices, for it is the rain that grows flowers, not the thunder.