O youth whose hope is high,[/b]
Who dost to truth aspire,
Whether thou live or die,
O look not back nor tire.
So true are the lines of Robert Bridges, where he describes youth as an age of hope, aspiration, dreams and ambition. Youth- the state of youthfulness, juvenility and tireless striving; the seething urge to achieve the impossible- is the fundamental essence to realising the aspirations of a nation. The anecdotes of past are a testament to the fact that no nation could traverse the growth trajectory without the active involvement of its youth. Be it the ‘Youth Rights Movement’ in the United States kick started by the National Student League or the Zionist Youth Movement formed for Jewish children in the state of Israel, the youth has played a pivotal role in shaping the culture of a nation.
However, the recent exploitation of youth by terrorist organisations and the gory stories of youth carrying out suicide bombings can send shivers down anybody’s spine. Does it mean that today’s youth is so vulnerable and gullible that any terrorist organisation can radicalize them? Does it mean that when it comes to youth, the emotions play a more dominant role that the wit? No, certainly not. Today, there are umpteen examples which testify that youth, when nurtured and educated properly, can reform, revolutionize and help thrive a nation like nothing else. For instance, youth played a central role in sparking protest movements across the Middle East. The young men and women with little access to jobs and whose grievances were not addressed by the good governance became the thrust behind the ‘Arab Spring’. Instead of being a part of the violent movements, the outpour of young activists in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere used non-violence as their strategy for change.
In our neck of woods, it was the youth which gathered in thousands, organised the candle march rally, used every form of social media and went on a hunger strike to give the necessary impetus to Anna Hazare’s movement and made ‘Lokpal’ a reality. Chhavi Rajawat, the girl who studied at Mayo College Girls’ School in Rajasthan, Lady Sri Ram College, Delhi, did her MBA from Pune, worked with companies like the Times Of India, Carlson Group of Hotels, Airtel, etc. left her plush corporate job to be the ‘Sarpanch’ in Soda village, Rajasthan. She is the first woman Sarpanch in India with an MBA degree. Her determination to improve the conditions for her villagers, to provide them access to drinking water, reforestation, improved health, services, education and construction of proper roads in Soda make her the epitome of zeal and fortitude of today’s youth.
So what is it that makes the youth the way they are? Is it mere hormonal change that happens in the age between childhood and adulthood? I ask you, is Sachin Tendulkar- the one who strived tirelessly to win the world cup for the country, the one who practises on the nets every day like he did on the very first day of his career, the one who doesn’t allow any complacency to set in- any less than the youth? Or, Imraan Khan- Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician whose Tehrik-i-Insaf party is increasingly gaining traction for unleashing the suppressed need of all Pakistanis to have democracy in the nation- any less than the youth? Or, APJ Abdul Kalam, the Missile Man of India, the one who fought against all odds and rose from being a newspaper delivery boy to become a scientist and later on the President of our country, the one who recently launched his mission for the youth of the nation called the ‘What Can I Give Movement’, any less than the youth?
So, youth is not a mere phase in life. It is the whole gamut of qualities of having an indomitable spirit, the fire under the belly, the maverick and never-say-die attitude that makes a person ‘Yuva’. Yuva is the factor that gives a person both the impetus and the vision to lead the cause for change. Yuva is all about the insurmountable passion to live life one’s own way. But will the Yuva be allowed to have ‘his way’? If not, what will become of his life? It’s an age old tradition to curb the Yuva, to put fetters on his free spirit. The Church persecuted Galileo for abandoning the geocentric view for the heliocentric view. Prior to him, Kepler and Copernicus bore the brunt of the Church for unshackling the stranglehold of orthodoxy. Indian government's move to censure Arundhati Roy’s remarks about Kashmir and that of Bangladesh to force Tasleema Nasreen to flee the country and live in exile since 1994, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Liu Xiaobo’s incarceration as a political prisoner for his non-violent struggle for fundamental rights, curbs on social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter are some of the incidents that put up a big question mark on us having experienced a renaissance, on us being enlightened and on us cherishing the freedom of thought and expression.
Now let’s view the other side of the coin. What if the free spirit of Yuva is allowed to prevail? What if the powers remain unchecked? What if the ‘freedom of expression’ is merely a shield for the rabble-rousers to incite the passion of the people? The answer can be viewed in the light of Nandigram mayhem and the recent spate of corruption scams- 2G, CWG, Aadarsh, IPL fiasco and the like. All these unfortunate events are the result of unchecked freedom of allowing people to have ‘their way’! We always blame the venal politicians for the sorry state of affairs in an economy. But we forget that these politicians are not aliens. They are one among us and we voted them to power!
There are examples galore from our mundane lives that show how the Yuva falls a prey to avarice while having ‘his way’. When we want a licence, we pay a ‘service fee’ for registering our documents in time. Railways and bus tickets are bought from travel agents for a ‘fee’. We bribe our ‘Pandu’ to avoid getting a challan on our vehicle. This is also prevalent in temples for a quick darshan. Yuva acknowledges these practices as normal practices. Why? Because we want them in the system!
So, what will nurture and tame the free spirit of Yuva so that it doesn’t go astray? What will enable him to maintain the right balance between ‘authority’ and ‘responsibility’? What will enable him understand that with every fundamental right comes a fundamental duty? The answer is- ‘Yuvaluation’. The father of our nation, Gandhiji, once said, “Be the change you wish to see”. The Yuva today has to be the change by being mindful of his P’s and Q’s. We have to lead by example so as to root out all the evils than just crib about the system not being conducive to our growth. Thus, Yuvaluation can bring about the much needed change and make this world a better place to live in for you and for me and for the entire human race!
Who dost to truth aspire,
Whether thou live or die,
O look not back nor tire.
So true are the lines of Robert Bridges, where he describes youth as an age of hope, aspiration, dreams and ambition. Youth- the state of youthfulness, juvenility and tireless striving; the seething urge to achieve the impossible- is the fundamental essence to realising the aspirations of a nation. The anecdotes of past are a testament to the fact that no nation could traverse the growth trajectory without the active involvement of its youth. Be it the ‘Youth Rights Movement’ in the United States kick started by the National Student League or the Zionist Youth Movement formed for Jewish children in the state of Israel, the youth has played a pivotal role in shaping the culture of a nation.
However, the recent exploitation of youth by terrorist organisations and the gory stories of youth carrying out suicide bombings can send shivers down anybody’s spine. Does it mean that today’s youth is so vulnerable and gullible that any terrorist organisation can radicalize them? Does it mean that when it comes to youth, the emotions play a more dominant role that the wit? No, certainly not. Today, there are umpteen examples which testify that youth, when nurtured and educated properly, can reform, revolutionize and help thrive a nation like nothing else. For instance, youth played a central role in sparking protest movements across the Middle East. The young men and women with little access to jobs and whose grievances were not addressed by the good governance became the thrust behind the ‘Arab Spring’. Instead of being a part of the violent movements, the outpour of young activists in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere used non-violence as their strategy for change.
In our neck of woods, it was the youth which gathered in thousands, organised the candle march rally, used every form of social media and went on a hunger strike to give the necessary impetus to Anna Hazare’s movement and made ‘Lokpal’ a reality. Chhavi Rajawat, the girl who studied at Mayo College Girls’ School in Rajasthan, Lady Sri Ram College, Delhi, did her MBA from Pune, worked with companies like the Times Of India, Carlson Group of Hotels, Airtel, etc. left her plush corporate job to be the ‘Sarpanch’ in Soda village, Rajasthan. She is the first woman Sarpanch in India with an MBA degree. Her determination to improve the conditions for her villagers, to provide them access to drinking water, reforestation, improved health, services, education and construction of proper roads in Soda make her the epitome of zeal and fortitude of today’s youth.
So what is it that makes the youth the way they are? Is it mere hormonal change that happens in the age between childhood and adulthood? I ask you, is Sachin Tendulkar- the one who strived tirelessly to win the world cup for the country, the one who practises on the nets every day like he did on the very first day of his career, the one who doesn’t allow any complacency to set in- any less than the youth? Or, Imraan Khan- Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician whose Tehrik-i-Insaf party is increasingly gaining traction for unleashing the suppressed need of all Pakistanis to have democracy in the nation- any less than the youth? Or, APJ Abdul Kalam, the Missile Man of India, the one who fought against all odds and rose from being a newspaper delivery boy to become a scientist and later on the President of our country, the one who recently launched his mission for the youth of the nation called the ‘What Can I Give Movement’, any less than the youth?
So, youth is not a mere phase in life. It is the whole gamut of qualities of having an indomitable spirit, the fire under the belly, the maverick and never-say-die attitude that makes a person ‘Yuva’. Yuva is the factor that gives a person both the impetus and the vision to lead the cause for change. Yuva is all about the insurmountable passion to live life one’s own way. But will the Yuva be allowed to have ‘his way’? If not, what will become of his life? It’s an age old tradition to curb the Yuva, to put fetters on his free spirit. The Church persecuted Galileo for abandoning the geocentric view for the heliocentric view. Prior to him, Kepler and Copernicus bore the brunt of the Church for unshackling the stranglehold of orthodoxy. Indian government's move to censure Arundhati Roy’s remarks about Kashmir and that of Bangladesh to force Tasleema Nasreen to flee the country and live in exile since 1994, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Liu Xiaobo’s incarceration as a political prisoner for his non-violent struggle for fundamental rights, curbs on social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter are some of the incidents that put up a big question mark on us having experienced a renaissance, on us being enlightened and on us cherishing the freedom of thought and expression.
Now let’s view the other side of the coin. What if the free spirit of Yuva is allowed to prevail? What if the powers remain unchecked? What if the ‘freedom of expression’ is merely a shield for the rabble-rousers to incite the passion of the people? The answer can be viewed in the light of Nandigram mayhem and the recent spate of corruption scams- 2G, CWG, Aadarsh, IPL fiasco and the like. All these unfortunate events are the result of unchecked freedom of allowing people to have ‘their way’! We always blame the venal politicians for the sorry state of affairs in an economy. But we forget that these politicians are not aliens. They are one among us and we voted them to power!
There are examples galore from our mundane lives that show how the Yuva falls a prey to avarice while having ‘his way’. When we want a licence, we pay a ‘service fee’ for registering our documents in time. Railways and bus tickets are bought from travel agents for a ‘fee’. We bribe our ‘Pandu’ to avoid getting a challan on our vehicle. This is also prevalent in temples for a quick darshan. Yuva acknowledges these practices as normal practices. Why? Because we want them in the system!
So, what will nurture and tame the free spirit of Yuva so that it doesn’t go astray? What will enable him to maintain the right balance between ‘authority’ and ‘responsibility’? What will enable him understand that with every fundamental right comes a fundamental duty? The answer is- ‘Yuvaluation’. The father of our nation, Gandhiji, once said, “Be the change you wish to see”. The Yuva today has to be the change by being mindful of his P’s and Q’s. We have to lead by example so as to root out all the evils than just crib about the system not being conducive to our growth. Thus, Yuvaluation can bring about the much needed change and make this world a better place to live in for you and for me and for the entire human race!