THE cULt oF YouNgIsTaAn !

In the world of young Indians, there is nothing taboo. They are open to everything from late night rave parties, body piercings, going around with the opposite sex, sexual relationships with multiple partners, sitting idle on the marine drive, clubs, parks etc. These things define the cool culture today and this is what we call “hanging around” and being “chill-axed.” The drug addiction has also gripped the youth. Most drug addicts are male, but there are several girls hooked on to drugs too. Major reasons are brunt and peer pressure which drag youth into drugs today. Few get into it out of frustration. Avoid or face those friends who call you a ’sissy’ or ’chicken’ for not indulging in their ’pastimes’. You may say that it is an individual’s right to do whatever he/she wants to do and then the time comes when our elders might say “you are big enough to know what is right and what is wrong”. NIGHT OUTS, lounging in the pubs, tapping your feet to the rocking music in discs, showing off 8 GB I-Pods, android mobiles, Levis jeans and Woodland shoes are the common lifestyle of the urban youth today. We feel if we do not have all these ’cool stuffs’, then it will affect our image in college campus or our common hang-outs. This race to be ’cool’ is also taking its toll on children and youth as well.

There is an increase in the number of cases of depression, stress, insomnia, anorexia among the children in the last few years. The prime reason being pressure from parents, teachers and especially the friends who want them to be cool and look cool. For a child, who does not believes in such nonsense, life is tougher. He is neglected by the classmates, teased all the time with rude comments, humiliated and soon he finds himself under depression. He is made to believe that his thinking, values, traditions etc are very primitive and they find no place in today’s world. This, sometimes, leads them to take extreme step.
It is shocking to know that to help them commit suicide there are loads of websites, which promote the same. And, unfortunately, there is no control over these websites! There is a rat-race of being ’cool’ is in the country or rather is a hit by now. Thus, it is very essential for the youth to understand what is right and wrong and not to fall prey to the ’cool’ race. A strong religious base combined with strong family ties and high morals can help the youth if they find these things ’cool’.

TUNES OF HUNGER

Balloons, ice-creams and glittering toys bring joy to a child but, this man here brings joy to children through music. In fact he has what it takes to make everyone take time out and pay attention to what he does. Every day he walks down the boulevard and plays his wooden instrument, a small wooden piece which had a lot of resemblance to sitar and violin. With a few more of these in a basket on his head, he moves from place to place throwing in a glimpse of his skill here and there. Not much, but enough for people to ponder over. He gives just enough away to catch people’s attention and then stops creating a craving in others to want to hear more. Either ways he would have to stop because no sooner does he stop playing his music, than a dozen children could be seen dashing towards him shouting and cheering, all wanting to have a go at the instrument. So that does the trick for him. Just enough to create enough interest to drop a tiny bomb called excitement in the young minds which would soon create havoc in front of their parents to buy the instrument. Why go to twenty different households when you can get them all to come towards you? So that is his marketing strategy. It’s ironical how thousands of students spend hours at MBA colleges to learn how to sell their product while this man just whips it out of his head. He sure can give Al Ries a run for his money.

Obviously parents try a lot to convince them about the prospect that they won’t be able to play the instrument the way. They are aware of the dangers that ears have to go through when you don’t play music the way it is supposed to be played. So buying the instrument would mean a couple of weeks filled with noise till it gets discarded or a lucky parent might actually see their child succeeding in playing the instrument. But the odds aren’t definitely going their way at that moment but since the odds of actually succeeding in explaining all this to their children is worse than that of keeping an entrance exam for entering politics, they finally give in to the children. Thus our poor old but clever man here gets something to prevent starvation.
So, our man here ( since I don’t know his name, let’s call him Suresh ) wakes up every morning as the rooster calls and sets off on his usual beat around the city. His music is his passion and it’s this zeal in him for his music that earns him his bread for the day. Suresh’s history is as disturbing as every other man on the street. His wife’s death brought a definite demise to his companionship and soon he secluded himself from everything except his music. Being left alone to look after himself he soon accepted his new acquaintance with loneliness. His life expectancy pretty much lingers around the amount of music he can produce out of his instrument which is his sole bread-earner.
Nevertheless, it is interesting to see how music becomes the answer to survival or pure passion. In our busy lives, we fail to notice small things lying around us. If we just open our eyes and ears, we would definitely find that the man playing music in our street is not actually playing it from a flute but from something very different.
Sure, we can hear better soothing music from our I-pods but these people are doing it just to survive. The thought should raise many questions. They cannot play music with a guitar. If they could get their hands on one, they wouldn’t be on the streets in the first place. These are harsh realities of life that should raise questions in our impatient minds and if God help, some concern the next time we see someone playing something on the streets.
When I went back to see him, I did not find him anywhere in the market or in the streets. The enthralling tune, which made everyone turn, which caught my senses, despite all sort of noises was lost , and unfortunately might not be heard again.