Forty years ago, when I was growing up in Calcutta in the late sixties, the youth in India, particularly in West Bengal, rose to challenge the social and political forces of the country. Frustrated with economic and political totalitarianism, capitalist exploitation and social inequality, they became restless and anti-establishment, and resisted institutional governance. Students, workers and farmers united to revolt against government strictures and corruption.
In India, it was a time of ideology and youthful optimism. It was a time of re-living the fight for freedom that gave us Independence twenty years before that.
The Indian movement was an echo of what was happening around the world – the birth of a counterculture represented by student and civil rights uprisings, music, literature, film and fashion. That was the time when the terms ‘hippy’ and ‘hippies’ resonated on everyone’s lips around the world, although not so in India. But, the highlight of the period was the student-worker strike in France in May 1968 against General de Gaulle’s government.
Today, as we approach our sixty years of Independence, I look around and see Indian youths embracing capitalism with as much single-mindedness as my generation had resisted it. I see Indian youths chasing money and material possessions with as much vigour as my generation had denounced it. I see Indian youths forfeiting ideology for fame and fortune. I see Indian youths re-defining freedom as the power of money to buy oneself pleasure in a self-centred hedonistic manner, contrary to my generation’s fight for equality and peace.
02 July 2007
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2 comments:
It's not just about having freedom with money.Earlier people used to think that you need money to lead a happy and fulfilling life. Today there is a greater insecurity that is related to money; "if I am not earning as much as my friends or people of my age I would be left out".They believe in generation of wealth by earning more rather than just by saving.I feel it's not a individual feeling but a group or community driven feeling.Consumption and reasons for consumption has incresed with time.One more thing, today youngsters say they are independent and can take the important decisions of life by themselves.Somewhere (possibly) there is a feeling of arrogence in this. Parental guidence is decresing day-by-day.Media and external environment plays an important role in this.
Thanks, Sujit, for visiting my blog and for your comments. Yes, you’re right, media certainly plays a much greater role in our lives today. So does peer group pressure, as you’ve mentioned. Since the Indian economy has been doing well recently, and more and more people have more and more money in their hands, consumption has increased substantially. And, along with it, new products and services for consumption, as well as attitudes (ref. the ‘arrogance’ you mentioned) to consumption. It’s a growing Indian economy with a growing population of consumers.
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