Sunday, January 2, 2011

The New Generation



 “A 12 year-old boy hanged himself in the school toilet because he had failed some exams.”

 “An 11 year old girl, who was a promising dancer and had appeared in a couple of television reality shows, also took her own life.”

These headlines in the newspaper disturbed Mansi. Why teenagers are giving up so easily? She thought.

Yesterday night, her sleep got interrupted as she heard some clamor. She could not resist peeping outside her window. Varsha, daughter of her neighbor returned from New Year’s party with some friends, come to that in drunken condition. She was not able to stand properly. Some of her male friends were supporting her. Her mother Shailaja was saying something, holding her daughter, which Mansi could not comprehend. Mansi looked at the watch. It showed 2 am. Going to bars, drinking & smoking and late night outing. Is this the only way to enjoy life for them? Is this modernity? Is this the real meaning of freedom? Mansi felt strained immediately.

 She inexplicably, went to her teenage children’s room and felt extremely relieved to see them sleeping.

Mansi folded the newspaper. She felt blessed to have nice and disciplined children. But it was a big question. What is happening to the new generation? Thinking of teenagers and their parents is progressing to which direction? As teenagers are considered as the future of the nation and parents play a pivotal role in shaping the future of their children.



9 comments:

  1. An excellent piece on the concept of progress! I too bemoan the fate of many young adults I know. Their values seem so very far away from the ones I grew up with.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I don't know if it's the "new". Those things happened when I was young (50 years ago). No parent can raise a child and be immune to the tugs and pulls of the bad in society. We can only raise them with love and care and be there for them. To many parents in today's world are only concerned about their own fun and games.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very well said about the changes which are on the way of new generation.

    ReplyDelete
  4. @ gs batty: Maybe these things have happened 50 years back but it is growing rapidly these days. No doubt, parents always love and care about their children but many of them in the present scenario, are running after money, jobs and social status and could not spare much time for them. concern for children is not just fulfilling duties but expressing love & care, paying attention, sharing and understanding their feelings & dreams and making them disciplined and strong.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tarang what you said in response to gs batty is so true!! I am a single parent, who, like yourself always knew where my child was. Invested the time and energy into her life more than my own. I now reap the reward of an incredible relationship with my adult child!

    ReplyDelete
  6. If anything I think parents are far more conscientious nowdays than my own parents were and also than I was as a parent.It seems to me that a lot of middle class children are over scrutinised and over organised thus producing an unimaginative tribe of boring automatons.A lot of trust was placed in me as a child as I did with my own children and everything worked out fine. Maybe our clan is just lucky!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Many of them are indeed, and it’s good. Also it’s about the mindset and self-control of the teenagers.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Very thought provoking and it is sad how lots of lives are being lost like this. Its progress, but in a reverse direction I guess...

    My Survival, for Sunday Scribblings - Progress

    ReplyDelete