EARLY BIRDS:
….will catch only worms!

Gen next thrives on’ all things fast - food & SUVs, rave parties, bold relationships, multiple dating, and virtual connectivity. What drives these youngsters? Career, big money, snappy fame and well, loads of pleasure!  In this race for identity & yes, easy access to any information and any kind of connecting at a mouse click, innocence of the naive years is getting increasingly sacrificed. Ah well, the credit and debit of it - we get discussing.

Funds, fun, full-throttle!

A BA-II student is all set to shift to Mumbai after her graduation, for greener pastures: "I have to make big, quick bucks as soon as out of college. This city is too small for my dreams. I am planning to take admission in Subhash Ghai’s Whistling Woods Acting School & get started". Her take on ‘compromising’ on principals: "life is a series of compromises that we make to get further than others. To achieve something really big one needs to give in whatever life asks for & I am prepared for all eventualities provided I get my rewards"

Similarly, an LLB-I student quips, "our generation has easy access to almost everything right from cars, mobiles, TV, Internet to relationships & that sees many of us ‘exploring’ rather early. After experiencing it all, what is left to be achieved is money & comfort".

Analyzing the generation, Meenakshi Tanwar, a practising psychologist says, "Today, the youngsters experience almost everything right from sex, alcohol to parties early in life; earlier these were considered as adult pleasures. So that quenches their inquisitive nature and that is when they start focusing on their careers & money plays an important role in helping them make their decision. So strong is their will to be independent & fund their lifestyle themselves that they are ready to go to any length to achieve their goals and that comes easy to them because after one has experienced everything one is numbed to the experiences & that’s when the “so what” mentality crops up.

They seem to know themselves and are rather independent. Says a 1st year student: "Our generation is practical & knows where to compromise & where not to. Talk about the technicalities of making money or career choices & we are all game. Relationships matter to us but I guess the need to live a plush life, being independent & living life on our own terms makes us ruthless in our quest for a career which can earn us big bucks & fame". She admits that carving a distinct identity for themselves, separate from that of their parents or family also leads youngsters to go ahead in life without paying a thought to what they are actually losing in this race for materialistic pleasures.

Innocence Lost: Yes, that’s happening and fast! The quest for easy success & big bucks is making us selfish. But then even parents want their children to achieve success, money & fame in life and what is wrong if we want to fund our social life on our own & live a life of comfort? In search of greener pastures, we are slipping into the shoes of adults early in life & are doing everything that was done only by adults earlier. But that, in turn, is making us responsible & teaching us to grow up early. Experiencing things early in life lends us a very different perspective on its pleasures & pains".

Parents, a bit worried?
Many parents seem worried about a generation that makes its own rules. A mother of two college-going boys says: "This generation keeps its parents on toes because surprisingly it is curious about things right from childhood. I blame it on the increasing exposure to mass media". Agrees a retired lecturer, "I appreciate these smart youngsters because having seen & done everything that excites or interests them, they settle on certain rules in their life. The more the exposure the more the generation learns & gets clear on many decisions in life: But their perspective has to be clear & healthy; many times it happens that some youngsters lose track & get into the wrong things. Healthy perspectives are what is needed to guide the generation".

Brain Drain - when the trained, talented individuals go and work in countries that partake of their knowledge. Many young individuals mainly from sectors like information technology, biotechnology & bio-informatics move out of India with a view to earn a sound income.
Young brains migrate with a thought to pursue higher education. Do you think they will return to India after completing their courses? Not exactly… More than 90% will continue working there. The question arises - who finally pays for the loss to the country?
India is not behind any country as the youth here are conscious enough about their future. Youngsters are insanely career-oriented, willing to work hard for long hours and serve their country with their best. We have with us many successful and hard-working candidates in almost every field.

For over 30 years, some of our brightest youngsters have migrated to developed countries like the UK, Australia, Canada etc. Many foreign companies have also homed in on some developed cities in India, again a source of development only for these foreign countries.
The main cause of Brain Drain can be traced to personal aims - of youngsters to earn money and fame.

It’s quite obvious that a company offering us a handsome salary will be preferred. Another problem can be the ‘Problem of Governance’. This is an extremely a sad state of affairs that even at senior levels, low wages ate being paid. An economic advisor with the Finance Ministry is not getting more than Rs 20,000 pm, or so we are told. In addition to this, lack of opportunity, several conflicts on discrimination or corruption lead to the rise of brain drain in India. .

Some ambitious youngsters after pursuing higher education from abroad return to India and work for their country. With the cooperation of the government and people, one can establish an enterprise. This can be possible for the one with high skills and knowledge. Entrepreneurship is the best way to develop and achieve success. So, the government should give opportunities to the highly-skilled, extremely intelligent and experienced workers to progress in their own country.

Much higher skills are essential in order to build firms and markets that can complete the dream of global economy. The need of the hour is to set a goal to achieve 100% literacy rate as soon as possible. A fresh PhD has a global market and it is not possible to have sound investments in India without offering wages that are in the same order of magnitude as those available outside India.

We, the youngsters, let’s get together and work hard with complete cooperation for the betterment of our nation.

DHOLAK: A tradition in danger

Before we set out for the Dholki colony at Mauli Jagran in Chandigarh, my companion had warned me as to what to expect. As we approached the colony, narrow winding roads, littered with garbage and populated by malnourished, semi naked children, greeted us.

Still, as we took our seats in a small meeting room in the local madarsa and got surrounded by about 30 persons pouring their woes all at once, it came as quite an assault on the senses. More so, because we had never moved out of the municipal area of the City Beautiful.  The men folk here make dholaks of all sizes and shapes and ferry them around to sell them for peanuts.

Peanuts, because there are hardly any takers for this traditional folk instrument, which has been losing its appeal to the younger-generation musicians. So they take their products to far-off places like Kulu, Manali or wherever some fair is on. They consider themselves lucky if they are able to sell four or five pieces.

Take, for example, Ayaad Ali’s household. With six children and a wife to support, he devotes all his time to his profession. He has the dedication and the knowledge. But what he lacks is the marketing skill. "There are not many takers for dholaks these days. So I carry four or five on my shoulder and take them around. Sometimes, one or two stray offers come from the city based musical instrument shops. Mostly, I sell them in other colonies around the city where parents buy for their children," he says.

So, how much does he earn? "We manage to make both ends meet, but there is hardly any saving." Looking at his dingy two-room house and his youngest son prancing around naked, one does not have to probe more on his economic status.
The same story goes for more than 50 households in the colony. Theirs is an endless battle for survival. "The skill has been handed down from generation to generation and now this is the only profession we know. Even if we think of diversifying into other musical instruments, we neither have the skill nor the resources," says Mushir, who has been making dholaks for as long as he remembers.

Things may just change for the better for them as a voluntary organisation called the United Progressive Muslim Front has decided to take the matter into its hand. According to Arshad Khan, convener of the organisation, the first step towards uplifting their status is to get them registered as a body ”We are trying to get them soft loans under the Swarojgar Yojna of Punjab National Bank so that they can improve the quality of dholaks as well as make new instruments like Congo or drums which are more popular among the young music lovers," he says.

Besides getting them loans, what’s needed to be done on a priority basis is to get them registered as a business body, says S. M. Khan, who is the chairperson of the Muslim welfare committee.  Though things are moving in the right direction, Arshad is not very happy with the situation. "If the Department of Social Welfare takes some initiative and provides loans for these poor artisans, it will be a big relief for them. Because, that way they will have to pay only 3 per cent interest rate as against 11 per cent, which is the current bank rate," he says.

While the organisation has been helping them complete the bank formalities, another uphill task that lies ahead is improving their skills. The dholaks they are making at present are not of high quality. We need to conduct training programmes for improving their present skills and also to initiate them into the making of some new instruments.
Looking at the dholak they make in about half-an-hour, one can see that they are not up to the mark. They may not measure up to the exacting standards of the competitive market. However, the toughest part is merchandising the produce and the Front has been depending upon the administration to provide them with a platform.

"The Administration can do a lot to help them. For instance, it can sponsor their participation in melas like the one held at Surajkund so that their products reach the masses. Some of them are also good dholak players. They can be provided with an opportunity to playas accompanists of folk and classical singers at the annual Harballabh
festival in Jalandhar," he said. Santosh Kataria, who was crowned with the title of the ‘Rhythm King of Punjab’ for his initiatives to re-invent dholak and present it in the contemporary form, feels that to preserve this instrument from the onslaught of the western instruments, the administration has to put its act together. "Dholaks should be introduced at the school and college levels and special festivals on folk instruments need to ‘ be organised to make people aware of our rich heritage," he says.

Traditional though in their outlook, the Front’s endeavour has been bringing some changes in their mindset.