The so-called modern Indian youth

Sometimes I wonder how much digital content  per day one needs . The way these mobile gadgets get marketed today , it seems that the corporates expect one to use them all the time. While walking, commuting , waiting at the bus stop, eating , drinking , at work and so on and so forth. This implies that during this time one has disassociated from the immediate environment and slipped into one’s own world, the superficial plasticy world which is driving and controlling one’s train of  thoughts . May be that is a way for many to work and communicate , but I feel it is a way to flaunt for many others. Showing off that one is fashionable and happening, one will blindly imbibe how and what others do. If donning a mobile tablet  is a fashion statement then there is no end to this never-ending maze. The branded sunglasses, the best bejeweled swiss watch, expensive french clothing and so on would join the list . It implies that our life is so much driven by consumerism and has become object oriented that we as an individual have been rendered as just the promoters of these product. It is quite surprising that today it is considered fashionable to have coke with burger for a meal or sending a whatsapp message instead of  having a meaningful conversation. The modern youth of today are totally unaware of the pleasure they can get by being with the silence of nature, the chirping of birds,  feeding or caring for animals, immersing in any form of art , reading books and so on .There is far more inner joy and tranquility one can achieve by respecting nature , its constituents and its ways . But sadly they are more concerned with the gigabyte space in their mobile phones or the wattage of  speakers and woofers installed in their homes, pubs or their awfully customized cars. Their disassociation with society and more proximity with the artificial world and material needs ultimately lead them to become arrogant, mean and entirely destitute of magnanimity .

Today for the youth , the idea of communicating without facebook or whatsapp is unthinkable , but they seem to ignore the independence movement led by Mahatma Gandhi , who mobilised the entire nation to boycott foreign products and sacrifice their riches , without posting a single tweet or sharing any content with his possible facebook 'friends' .The inspirational icons for the youth of today in general are supplied by the bollywood  or the cricket fraternity who are the perfect tools to be leveraged by these corporations to promote and sell their products. Under the pretext of greatness and hero-worship, they get conveniently satisfied by the consumption of overblown but trivial content and stupefied with their hard-earned monies.  They would never bother to look back at our history and make an attempt to learn the heroism of icons like  Shivaji, who began his military expeditions when he was just 17 and challenged the might of  Mughals by his intelligent warfare and valor. Or Guru Gobind Singh, a young sikh who built a fiery youth army , the Khalsa, when he was just 33, and defended the nation from the wrath of muslim invaders from the  North West. 

 
It is really saddening how an old and culturally rich civilisation like ours has been so easily run over by the superficiality of the material possessions  . I feel that the modern youth should introspect and find the real purpose of their lives rather than getting influenced by the marketing gimmicks propogated by these revenue driven companies and eventually enslaving themselves by their tireless and vicious cycle of consumption patterns.  There is a lot for them to learn if they anchor themselves in our culture ,  literature , history , traditional customs which are still relevant even today without being carried away by foreign influences. In the end we all should celebrate what we have been endowed with in the present context rather than yearn for something that is not meant for us and create uncalled for aspirations , desires and eventually an imbalance in our society.