YOUTH POWER GOING WASTE!

Scenario around the country is alarming indeed. Everyday there are news of protests, demonstrations, agitations, sit in strikes on rail tracks and many more on one issue or the other. Surely the reason real or perceived is some sort of injustice meted out to the public by the law makers or institutions which are supposed to work for public good  but which have abdicated their duties and adopted a blinkered approach. Public anger mounts up, simmers and bursts out like a volcano if gagged without any outlet. So far okay. The method of peaceful protest is the legitimate right of the aggrieved.

It has been observed that most of such protests have been spearheaded by the youth of the country. Our young generation is aware and intelligent enough to understand the mess around them. They are a dissatisfied lot and expect the authorities to redress their grievances. They desperately hunt for jobs and want innovation and improvements in our age old system of education, demanding more emphasis on vocational training for preparing them to take up jobs or be entrepreneurs in their own right. Unfortunately this has not happened. They have waited long enough and want change to happen quickly. However, the pace of reforms in our country has been tardy because of inefficiency, lack of will, rampant corruption and zero accountability at all levels. Apart from this, political compulsions throw the priorities haywire.

Ironically our young friends overdo and upset the wave of support which they’ve garnered. They turn violent too easily. A couple of months back in Chandigarh, a few students living in a rented accommodation killed a resident when he objected to their parking the car in front of his gate. Road rage has claimed many lives. What has gone wrong with the younger lot? They are turning into brats, showing utter disrespect even to the elderly.

In their enthusiasm, they overreact by adopting a violent approach to attract the attention of the authorities. They resort to arson and destruction of public and private property. If we put our country first in our endeavors then this type of behavior is utterly misplaced because the frenzied burning of buses and breaking barricades harm their own interests. Taking the law in their hands is no sagacity. The authorities’ lose no time in branding such protests as illegal. The funds allocated to repair such damages are scooped out of taxpayers’ remittances. It is public money which is spent. It results in more taxes. Govt. revenue comes from our pockets and we end up becoming our own enemies. Repairing the willful damages is unproductive expenditure and overall economy suffers. It certainly is not acceptable.

Recently in Punjab, one of the educational institutes of repute was in the news for wrong reasons. The students there went berserk and vandalized the property of their own institution. Whatever the provocation, how on earth could they even imagine destroying their own college? Not an iota of loyalty for the seat of learning which was training them! What did they achieve?

Something which has a fuelling effect in such situations is the interference by vested interests. Tragic death of a student in Kolkata during a protest is a grim reminder of dangerous portents. I strongly feel that students have no business to be associated actively with politics. How come they allow themselves to become pawns in the hands of self serving political forces? Why on earth the do they let their discerning power to get derailed. What about their goals? The precious time and energies should be expended in achieving excellence in their chosen field of study and for equipping themselves for future challenges. Universities are temples of learning and research. Those who indulge in destroying the sacredness of academia deserve no sympathy. Have they forgotten their duties to themselves, their families, community and their nation? Undoubtedly lackadaisical bureaucracy and hopeless political canvas are like unredeemable festering wounds. But what about our pride in our vatan? It is there for all of us.
Parents have a great role to play in nurturing right values and should keep a vigilant eye in the growing up years of their progeny. The youth need to be guided diligently since they are susceptible and fall easy prey to wrong influences. Parents can’t absolve themselves of the blame when the children go astray.
The latest example of two misguided barbaric monsters dismembering an innocent off duty soldier in Woolwich (UK) has sent shock waves through out the world. There are no words to describe the extent of the insanity of the cold blooded murderers. What were their mothers doing all these years when their sons' minds were being poisoned by religious fanatics? To see one of the brutes with bloodied hands and carrying a meat cleaver chanting something fiendishly was too gruesome a scene ever to be forgotten.
TV news channels showing the footage of this gory incident repeatedly were doing a great disservice by giving undue recognition to the organizations hell bent on destroying the civilized world community. Moreover watching such sights regularly, rob the young and impressionable of the sensitivity and sense of outrageousness which such situations should evoke. The electronic media is a double edged sword needing permanent tightrope walk training. Its influence is far reaching and its self regulatory mechanism should always be sifting the content.
It is one thing to be trendy and another to splurge on maintaining a lavish lifestyle to show off and impress the girls. It is very much to be seen in metros and big cities and small town youth try to copy the fashion which is out of their reach and resort to robberies, abduction for ransom and burglaries to meet their inflated cravings. Ultimately are caught and ruin their lives.

Alcoholism and drug use is rampant among the youth. In fact it is becoming fashionable to conform to a fake bonhomie.

The evil trends are  the warning signs of the erosion of ethics and morality from our midst. Albert Camus says that our every act should be weighed in relation to its larger impact on society.

The seriousness of the situation calls for an avant-garde approach from the likes of intellectuals and administrators from the corridors of power. Nothing short of it'll work!

Your comments are awaited.