Did you ever think
That we could be so close, like brothers
The future's in the air
I can feel it everywhere
Blowing with the wind of change...
- Scorpions
When I was a teenager, I always admired my seniors. The so-called "youth" of that era always left me in awe - they wore loose-fitting denims; they listened to Bryan Adams; they chewed gums in front of their folks; they studied only after midnight and they ordered Pizzas. They were my icons - my pin-ups. I wondered if ever I could be like them.
Then, I do not know what happened and the "youth" in India changed. Changed forever. It was like moving from a good, ol' Amby to a Phantom, Yes, the fissure was so deep and so wide.
Today, India makes an appearance in nearly every debate across the globe. Suddenly, India is an economic competitor to the first world countries; is talked about for reasons other than Kashmir, its dismal poverty levels and corruption status and a mystical religion.
And I hold the transformation of youth culture in our country responsible for this stark change in attitude towards our nation across the world.
Today, we are the youth of the nation - we carry the shoulders that lug the present and the future of the country. We have a lot more of choice; a lot to look out for. A lot of things that we are forced to miss out on; a lot which we cant even dream of overlooking. Like I said, our lives have changed from those who were at our age, a decade back. And how!
Ours is NOT a confused generation. Ours is a generation of too-many choices. Generation Question Mark, as I would put it.
Look at the choices we have - from Big Boss to OC; from Roadies to Apprentice; from Sin City to Planet Earth; from cargoes to slim belts; from IBN7 to CNN; from WWF to F1; from Sachin Pilot to Nicolas Sarkozy; from Anil Ambani to Lakshmi Mittal; from farmer suicides to Noida homicides; from Ipods to LimeWire; from viral marketing to Facebook- the choices that we are exposed to are far too many than we can retain. I do not want to get into the physiological and biological details - but am sure the facts are in place. The information feed is a lot more than the preserving capacity. A classic case of Supply Economics - surplus supply!
In this era of too many choices, I saw something the other day which propelled me to write this article. A premier music channel in the country recently launched their Youth Icon campaign this year with some unusual nominees. Like, Orkut, Multimedia phone, Rang De Basanti, Abhishek Bachchan and YOU!
Gosh! So true and so precise. Like I said, our times have changed and so have our icons.
Orkut has become more than a social networking platform for youth. 70% of the Orkut members are youth - a staggering 15% of Orkut users are Indians. Orkut has become a podium to connect - a table where you can meet, greet, flirt, talk, discuss, ideate and interact. A whole new virtual world has opened up - a world where every element of you is transparent; a world where you are being yourself.
Similarly multimedia phones have become an integral part of our lives. We need music; we need videos; we need cameras; we need to access or mails; we need updates on Cricket scores or for that matter, we want to watch the match live while on the move - the mobile phone gives us everything today.
Rang De Basanti is definitely a clutter-breaking movie - it is a film of our generation waking up to the causes and the flaws which lie somewhere in the dark alleys of our society. The film is not about beer guzzling boys turning patriotic - the film is about how we all can make a difference. Like, instead of writing this article, the film inspires me to go and boot those policemen who kicked and lathi-charged some senior citizens and women a week back.
Abhishek Bachchan - I do not know. I pardon the channel for that. They should understand that it is my choice; my voice;my icon and hence my opinion.
And the final nominee has me quite intrigued. YOU! In this era of so-much-in-so-little-time, we do not have just one Bryan Adams to select - we have a 50 Cent, a Shakira, an Atif Aslam, a Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, a Himesh Reshammiyaa; we do not have just one loose fitting denim - we have cargoes, low-waists, twisted jeans, pent-pocks. And thus we all suffer from the who-is-my-icon-disorder. Who is that one person who would throw the light on the path that I wish to tread? My father? Amartya Sen? Rahul Dravid? John Abraham? Sania Mirza? Henin-Hardenne?
We do not know. We have an answer - but we do not know what it is. The answer to this query gets lost in the echelons of mystification. And it is there that I would like to congratulate the people behind this idea - Bang on folks - in our generation, there is no better icon than ourselves. We ARE our own icon. We love to see the mirror ( no paralles to be drawn to any newspapers, living or dead!) and like the mirror telling us our merits and our flaws. We look up to ourselves like we never have.
The youth in India today has definitely changed. The reasons are too many - the influx of "foreign" influence is a primary one. I deliberately do not want to delve on the reasons - it will take one more page and i refuse to do it.
But I would like to sign off by saying that I would not want my son to iconize me or John Abraham's son or some flamboyant cricketer of his generation - I would like him to be himself and iconize and idolize himself. That way, he would be HIM. And that way, he would be a true flag-bearer for the future of our nation. And then, we would not require a RDB to startle and awaken us.
You got a problem You don't know it
Don't Know how long you can suffer it
and it burns you can feel it till the bitter end
It didn't have to be this way you could have carried on
Another chance for you to test your freedomAbout the AuthorAbhijit Bhattacharya The author is a Marketing professional in the field of broadcast media for more than 9 years now.
He was born in Kolkata, where he finished his hig...Read Morefirst published:May 30, 2007, 15:46 ISTlast updated:May 30, 2007, 15:46 IST
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The world is closing in
Did you ever think
That we could be so close, like brothers
The future's in the air
I can feel it everywhere
Blowing with the wind of change...
- Scorpions
When I was a teenager, I always admired my seniors. The so-called "youth" of that era always left me in awe - they wore loose-fitting denims; they listened to Bryan Adams; they chewed gums in front of their folks; they studied only after midnight and they ordered Pizzas. They were my icons - my pin-ups. I wondered if ever I could be like them.
Then, I do not know what happened and the "youth" in India changed. Changed forever. It was like moving from a good, ol' Amby to a Phantom, Yes, the fissure was so deep and so wide.
Today, India makes an appearance in nearly every debate across the globe. Suddenly, India is an economic competitor to the first world countries; is talked about for reasons other than Kashmir, its dismal poverty levels and corruption status and a mystical religion.
And I hold the transformation of youth culture in our country responsible for this stark change in attitude towards our nation across the world.
Today, we are the youth of the nation - we carry the shoulders that lug the present and the future of the country. We have a lot more of choice; a lot to look out for. A lot of things that we are forced to miss out on; a lot which we cant even dream of overlooking. Like I said, our lives have changed from those who were at our age, a decade back. And how!
Ours is NOT a confused generation. Ours is a generation of too-many choices. Generation Question Mark, as I would put it.
Look at the choices we have - from Big Boss to OC; from Roadies to Apprentice; from Sin City to Planet Earth; from cargoes to slim belts; from IBN7 to CNN; from WWF to F1; from Sachin Pilot to Nicolas Sarkozy; from Anil Ambani to Lakshmi Mittal; from farmer suicides to Noida homicides; from Ipods to LimeWire; from viral marketing to Facebook- the choices that we are exposed to are far too many than we can retain. I do not want to get into the physiological and biological details - but am sure the facts are in place. The information feed is a lot more than the preserving capacity. A classic case of Supply Economics - surplus supply!
In this era of too many choices, I saw something the other day which propelled me to write this article. A premier music channel in the country recently launched their Youth Icon campaign this year with some unusual nominees. Like, Orkut, Multimedia phone, Rang De Basanti, Abhishek Bachchan and YOU!
Gosh! So true and so precise. Like I said, our times have changed and so have our icons.
Orkut has become more than a social networking platform for youth. 70% of the Orkut members are youth - a staggering 15% of Orkut users are Indians. Orkut has become a podium to connect - a table where you can meet, greet, flirt, talk, discuss, ideate and interact. A whole new virtual world has opened up - a world where every element of you is transparent; a world where you are being yourself.
Similarly multimedia phones have become an integral part of our lives. We need music; we need videos; we need cameras; we need to access or mails; we need updates on Cricket scores or for that matter, we want to watch the match live while on the move - the mobile phone gives us everything today.
Rang De Basanti is definitely a clutter-breaking movie - it is a film of our generation waking up to the causes and the flaws which lie somewhere in the dark alleys of our society. The film is not about beer guzzling boys turning patriotic - the film is about how we all can make a difference. Like, instead of writing this article, the film inspires me to go and boot those policemen who kicked and lathi-charged some senior citizens and women a week back.
Abhishek Bachchan - I do not know. I pardon the channel for that. They should understand that it is my choice; my voice;my icon and hence my opinion.
And the final nominee has me quite intrigued. YOU! In this era of so-much-in-so-little-time, we do not have just one Bryan Adams to select - we have a 50 Cent, a Shakira, an Atif Aslam, a Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, a Himesh Reshammiyaa; we do not have just one loose fitting denim - we have cargoes, low-waists, twisted jeans, pent-pocks. And thus we all suffer from the who-is-my-icon-disorder. Who is that one person who would throw the light on the path that I wish to tread? My father? Amartya Sen? Rahul Dravid? John Abraham? Sania Mirza? Henin-Hardenne?
We do not know. We have an answer - but we do not know what it is. The answer to this query gets lost in the echelons of mystification. And it is there that I would like to congratulate the people behind this idea - Bang on folks - in our generation, there is no better icon than ourselves. We ARE our own icon. We love to see the mirror ( no paralles to be drawn to any newspapers, living or dead!) and like the mirror telling us our merits and our flaws. We look up to ourselves like we never have.
The youth in India today has definitely changed. The reasons are too many - the influx of "foreign" influence is a primary one. I deliberately do not want to delve on the reasons - it will take one more page and i refuse to do it.
But I would like to sign off by saying that I would not want my son to iconize me or John Abraham's son or some flamboyant cricketer of his generation - I would like him to be himself and iconize and idolize himself. That way, he would be HIM. And that way, he would be a true flag-bearer for the future of our nation. And then, we would not require a RDB to startle and awaken us.
You got a problem You don't know it
Don't Know how long you can suffer it
and it burns you can feel it till the bitter end
It didn't have to be this way you could have carried on
Another chance for you to test your freedom
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