India has more than 50% of its population below the age of 25 and more than 65% below the age of 35. (*Source: Wikipedia)
Even if I do not go through any sources yet, we’re aware that our country has the highest youth population compared to the world. It’s a big concern as to what is this youth population up to.
I cannot generalize, but yes, from what I see around, I do not have any high hopes from the way I see they are living their lives, completely wasting their time and their parent’s money. Smoking, drinking, doing drugs, partying, binge-watching, gaming, constantly attached to their gadgets, living a frivolous, fast-paced, unplanned life!
Being a mother of a teenager myself, I get goosebumps when I constantly come across college-going girls and boys smoking and drinking to no end.
I wonder whether their parents know what these kids are up to. Poor parents are under the impression my child is at college to study. They spend enormous amounts of their hard-earned money/savings on their children’s school, college, tuition, and accommodation fees, thinking we couldn’t study at least my child should study well and be successful. This is especially true for parents from small towns and villages who spend all their life’s savings on their children’s education. While their children are blowing away, their parents dream into cigarette smoke. Instead, smoking and drinking is a pass, it’s weed that’s the in thing, they have to do drugs to be in the cool circle!
I very well remember when I turned 18, I took up a part-time teaching job to fund my expenses. I bought my clothes, shoes, and my first watch all from my earnings and moreover, I valued each penny. We used to walk back home with friends from college to save the bus money, we knew how difficult it was to earn every rupee. I stopped being dependent on my parents for my daily expenses, they used to pay for the college fees, and that’s it.
After watching today’s youth, I feel very proud of myself. Today rarely, youngsters who are studying work as well. They’re happily extracting money from their parents, they’re entirely financially dependent. It saddens me to see this kind of reckless behaviour.
Parents give up their everything for their children, they do not keep enough for their retirement, they keep working till old age to meet their basic expenses, and they never indulge in any kind of luxury, just so that they can save enough for their child’s education. And the child is carelessly blowing it away, with no thought to what all the parents are sacrificing for their child’s happiness. What an irony!
Recently, I placed an advertisement to rent out my flat in Mumbai. I had many students visiting my property for rent. When I asked them who would be paying for such high rent, they said: their parents. Hostel or private accommodations charge almost up to 50000 per month with lodging, boarding and mess charges, and parents pay for all of these. I wonder why parents agree to pay instead of asking the child to start some part-time job and provide at least partly for themselves.
Unfortunately, in India, there is no system or culture where children, once turn 18, should start earning and providing for themselves, and it’s high time this needs to change!