The Generation Gap - It Still Exists

Let them Fly :)

“Back in our days”,(“ Humare Zamane main …”), I am sure we all have heard our parents reciting their stories about their hardships in life, be it moving out of villages to small cities, with just about Rs 10 in their pocket, to either carry on with high school or start a venture of their own. We are either bewildered, astonished or are in awe by their heart-touching tale & with each emotion we probably get to take something back.

Someone once said that each generation has its own set of struggles and one needs to find out and settle them up as soon as possible. Anyways, the generation gap that we experience is now new; it’s been faced for generations together. This phenomenon might not have been observed earlier, but from two to three generations, it’s become part of the research & academic work i.e since the 1960s.

Generation gap can simply be understood as the difference in the set of norms, thinking, and belief that persists in two generations. We ought to admit that at one point in time or the other, we all have faced the generation gap in some form of the other. On each of the occasions, the main reason is the difference in opinion that basically is ‘change’ or diversion from the ideal nature of the practice. The mentioned change is in lifestyle, food, clothing, education, technology, and healthcare, etc… whether or not the change is for good or bad, one needs to decide.

The smallest unit of society is family, whose agglomerate is generally seen as the wave of perception that is created and exists among society.  That very perception takes the form of opinion among parents which is bound to be forced upon us in some form or the other. They want us to do everything and anything that would make them proud & earn them a name in the society. Why? Maybe because when they’ll go to social gatherings, they would be asked one BIG question “Aapke bacche kya kar rahe hai” (What are your kids up to?) and they are bound to answer that compulsorily.

At an early age, when we are naïve about our choices we don’t generally develop a taste about our likes and dislikes, but gradually we do develop them. I’ll take you through some of them.

First – Clothing, with the growth of technology, devices, and penetration of the internet in India, we have almost everything at our disposal at a click away. This has also revolutionized & increased our choices of lifestyle. Large giants like Myntra, Jabong, Flipkart & Amazon now offers all top brands, fast shipping & a good return policy which develops faith in online shopping. Hence, we wear now what we like.

Second – Food, Youth today is on the move, either for work or education. We are today ready to try different Indian and international cuisines. We need not hunt, use the smartphone app like Zomato to see what is being offered by whom & when. Street food Right from Pani Puri, Momos in Guwahati, Kulche or Chole Bhature in Delhi, Dal-Baati-Churma  to  Japanese Sushi, Donburi to Bouillabaisse or Choucroute Garnie from France … we have the right place, time & taste to try them. And swear we will go out and try all of them. We eat what our taste glands demand.

Third the most debated – Education and career choices. I am reminded of the dialogue from Bollywood Movie 3 Idiots (2009) “bada hoke mera beta engineer bannega” (My son will grow to become an engineer). Most of the professionals – Doctors/Engineers/Academician/Lawyer/CA parents want their child to take up more or less the same profession. If it’s a boy – Engineering, a girl – Doctor, simple, that’s still followed in many households. The problem here starts right from early schooling, either when one is choosing electives or when it’s time to decide stream after 10^th, we are knowingly or not taking up what our parent wants us to. Such a practice kills a personal desire to study what one is really interested in. We don’t generally speak up because we assume our parents know what’s best for us, is it just because we lack the information & the rules of the ‘real’ world beyond our imagination & our immaturity is taken for granted. The repercussions are seen after they graduate when these young adults are mature and have the sense to judge & make decisions for them. On the good side, things are changing and a ray of hope is observed to be emerging in the dark. A large number of professional graduates actually break the barrier, take the risk & do something that interests them. They are into photography, writing, design, blogging, film making & entrepreneurship. They are ready to risk it; it’s just a matter of time that they’ll excel as passion never dies.

Sociologists define society as dynamic, living, and breathing like an organism does. There is a constant change in it, sooner we observe & act, better it will be for our generations to come. Parents need to accept that the ideas, aspirations & choices are different in different generations. They should pick parts & expose children to all ideas until they understand the right & wrong. There should NOT be ANY communication gap with children. They should be friends first along with maintaining the dignity needed in a parent-child relationship. Let them explore, let them fail, give them the freedom to make “Choices”; they may be wrong, but let them learn from failure and their decisions so that they improve on it. Don’t bind their creativity & desire inside a cage, they are meant to flow, let them fly & touch the sky.

I know it will not be easy, there will be hard times & let there be struggles.

What’s a life without struggles; it gets the best in you, doesn’t it?

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