The Standpoint

YOUTH: BLINDED BY SMOG

By

Karan Deep Singh

Tushar Garg, a class 10 student studying in a ‘public’ school in Delhi brags about having made around 200 friends through Facebook, a social networking website on which he spends not less than five hours per day. On being questioned about what hooks him up so long, he says: “I love to stay in touch with my friends; we can exchange messages about every single moment of our lives. I can see their latest pics and they can see mine; it’s like my whole world out there!”

Many of our so-called ‘Youth of India’ from the capital and other cities might have similar stories to share. While they are being exposed to almost an information explosion with such an enormous amount of content through the television, the internet, tabloids, dailies and other information sources at their hands, the young seem to have gone overboard in their efforts to acknowledge themselves as equal participants in their roles as citizens of the country. Unlike previous generations who did not dare to even think beyond their curriculums or a predominant family rule; the bright-eyed are better informed due to a plethora of information sources and believe in taking decisions themselves.

Enchanted by the Pied Piper of Consumerism, their pricey attention can only be drawn by intelligent marketing strategies employed by cola selling companies or a couple of others selling branded clothing. “Today, even if there’s a road accident and they happen to be on the spot, they will hardly notice”, says Neena Kumar, a career consultant. While school-goers constantly wish to give up their ‘not-so-in’ titles, the college-goers seem to be smitten by the “cool” attitude, chic clothing, branded footwear and global fashion trends. While making a style statement is pre-requisite in colleges, HT City reported young Delhi University students ready to hit the campus in their newly hired Audis, Mercs and Land Cruisers on the first day of college- just for those eyeballs they wish to capture! And of course, to experience the ‘good life’ they seem to be restless for.

The generational shift in attitudes of this Youth is somewhere definitely a product of Liberalisation. And it is not only to blame. It is important to understand the causes of this shift and more than ever before, today, as India's youth are already having an enormous impact: on the economy, on companies hoping to sell them products, the culture. And most importantly Mass Media- the impact of which in-turn is hugely responsible for this sudden upsurge in the youth’s urge of relating with and to the rich. The glittery fashion weeks, parties, extravagant lifestyle, pubs, brand culture, expensive gadgets, snazzy cars and the list goes on. While these might find extensive coverage on television, in mega-million movie productions, glossy print and on web, the national dailies and their ever popular supplements have not been left behind. What else, do we understand from the writings of Editors and media personalities of ‘national’ newspapers about Food, Hotels, Restaurants and Music! It only caters to the ‘beautiful’ people. And is a sheer disgrace to the word ‘national’ when those thousands of poor, malnourished and ‘unfortunate’ Indians are waiting to be heard by the so-called journalists.

The mass media and the concern over it’s content has become extremely important as one hardly notices the subtle but important role it plays in defining and changing our beliefs, attitudes and aspirations today. Journalism is not merely about reporting of events. It also provides valuable information from which we draw our cognitive maps of reality.

Whether the media is television, press or radio, media as collective has the power to set agendas for the public at large, to reproduce ideology, to create ‘moral panics’ or to influence what we think. Mass media’s portrayal of the rich and their lifestyle can ruin this country of the poor. And the ones who are likely to be affected the worse by this menace are the Youth as a whole, the 41.05% of the population of India- including the other Youth who have no food to eat, no access to schools, no books to study and absolutely no means to be able to gain access to the ‘beautiful’ world they see and hear about on television.

It is important to note that the author’s intention is not to discourage, depress or undermine the confidence of today’s youth and their ability but simply to stress on the fact that a blind approach towards glamourising the world for the young could end up leaving them dejected, disheartened and misinformed leading to a risky consequence- a massive brigade of ‘dreamers’.

It is time, not to sell them campaigns; it is time to show them the real world. Let them know the stories of the poorest. Tell them what the ‘Truth’ is, for the nation and its people should not be a hazy picture in their minds. But for now, the Youth must demand the ‘Truth’ otherwise it will continue to suffer from a distorted vision that can indeed lead us all to a dangerous moment of stillness.