Opinion: Clarion call for Indian youth

Similarly, there are instances of successful civil servants resigning from government service and pursuing independent careers like consultancy, entrepreneurship and so on. We also hear of IT professionals getting back to their roots and pursuing organic farming after earning enough abroad!

This indeed is a good trend that present-day youngsters want to choose different career paths instead of being tied to so-called lucrative pursuits as perceived by the society. Socrates, the legendary Greek philosopher said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” In the vast expanse of the everyday routine we tend to lose focus and get immersed in repetitive tasks, while time just flits by. We are busy analysing what we are busy about! As the saying goes, “Life is full of cares and we have no time to stop and stare.”

It is a welcome sign that youngsters look inwards, doing a reality check in an effort to reinvent themselves. It is essential that the right kind of motivation is given to youth at educational institutions instead of just filling every study hour with loads of information.

The United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the commencement address at his son’s ninth-grade graduation in June, earlier this year, giving them hard advice to face challenges life has to offer. “Now, the commencement speakers will typically also wish you good luck and extend good wishes to you,” Roberts said. “I will not do that, and I’ll tell you why. From time to time in the years to come, I hope you will be treated unfairly, so that you will come to know the value of Justice. 

I hope that you will suffer betrayal because that will teach you the importance of loyalty.” He went on to remind the students that they have to face failure but the collective strength of people around will give them strength to rise up and get on with life. Loneliness will teach us the importance of friends and luck will visit to remind us the role of chance in life. Various life events will tell us that success is not completely deserved and that failure of others is not completely deserved either. To win gracefully and lose sportingly is true sportsmanship.

However, in the real world, people are so touchy that they hastily build controversy even over a seemingly simple issue. There is no dearth of self-styled opinion makers. Also, there is a sense of entitlement among many to demand things even though there is no way they deserve what they demand. This growing trend is mostly due to the patronising way people in public life mislead the poor that they are entitled to get everything without working for it. Such empty promises with no concern for financial implication or damage it could cause to the psyche of the society is most unfortunate.

Promising gift of consumer goods as a welfare package is mired with controversy. Of course, certain welfare measures like ration to people below the poverty line through the public distribution system to ensure food security, and supply of educational material to students in government schools including cycles and laptops are most welcome and essential. Government is mainly a facilitator to provide the required basic infrastructure for people to bring out their potential.

Too much hand-holding is detrimental to growth of the individual’s own initiative and this is what we are experiencing which is seen in the prevailing poor work culture. On the one hand, good trained manpower is not available and on the other, there is reluctance to get the requisite skills and progress in one’s career. The general attitude is to somehow get a government job failing which, people get some low level odd job to while away time.

This sense of entitlement also results in road rage–the speeding motor vehicles, blatant violation of traffic rules and scant regard for any kind of orderly conduct. Buses hardly get space in front of bus stands as autos and share autos are unauthorised parked in the areas designated for buses while passengers stand on the road ahead of the bus stand blocking the traffic. 

Wide platforms were made for pedestrians who are most vulnerable but platforms have been taken over by small shops. In some places, even semi-permanent structures have been built and many homeless people have settled down on the wide platform, making the area quite unhygienic. Garbage is thrown on the road with impunity and people do not think twice before spitting or urinating in public.

Again, the strict enforcement is beset with operational problems. Plastic has become a weapon of destruction of the environment. Ban of plastic is to be implemented from January 2019, but this cannot be achieved without the cooperation of public at large. Environment protection, ensuring proper distribution of welfare schemes to those who are entitled, improving quality of education particularly at primary level, providing health care to the poor, and availing housing for them are all huge challenges. Recently there was a report that in Uttar Pradesh, old-age pension was being allotted to even dead people–up to 42,000 of them!

The general education level has improved in the country, but functional literacy of understanding and obtaining what is rightfully due is poor. This is where new entrants–youth who want to pursue public life as a passion can meaningfully contribute. Service to society is service to God said Swami Vivekananda. He also said “Give me 100 self-driven youngsters and I shall change the face of India.” Unfortunately, public life is seen as a business opportunity–power, profit and privilege must give place to service, sacrifice, honesty and integrity.