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ESSAY : Trouble with the Indian youth.
Image credit : Hardik Monga from Unsplash
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Note : This is purely an opinionated essay which is meant to only project my perspective. I've not written it to create any form of hatred against anyone. Even then if it feels that way; I apologize duly.
—------------
Generally speaking, almost every youngster in today's India (including myself) either (desperately) wants to be the next big CEO of some multinational national corporation (MNC) or we want to be some top-notch Civil Servant.
So to say most of us want to be in every higher professional positions, whether government or private, which would keep us overwhelmed with all the comforts & luxuries in the world, give us sufficient name & fame, and a proudful societal status apart from our Multi-Lacs & Crores of Salary-Packages and other perks which we'd receive.
Almost none of us want to volunteer for any nonprofit organization. Almost none of us want to put an effort into working with an intention to simply serve our country, to serve humanity & Nature, without being involved in politics.
Very few of us want to pursue our creativity, without being pressured by society to merge with the herd-mentality. Very few of us are today scientifically-literate in a true-sense, or want to pursue the path of yoga & spirituality.
I know the most obvious, spontaneous response to my rant would be that - What's wrong if Indian youngsters are chasing their dreams, just like everyone else in the world? And who am I to criticize them for chasing their dreams?
The second most obvious response targeted against me would go something like - "Only losers complain…", "Winners never give-up…".
So to allay the doubts arising from such naturally obvious responses targeted at my essay beforehand; let me say that -
Yes, there's nothing wrong with someone chasing their dreams, wanting fame, wealth or luxuries, whether they be from India or from anywhere else in the world.
Problem arises when others intentionally cut-short someone else's climb upwards to success, owing to their envy, greed, and obsession with power, even when the latter would've desired their success solely out of their hard work, perseverance, and expertise in diverse sets of skills, without trying to interrupt
This hideous & hidden sub-culture of 'back-pulling' or to 'cut-short' the other individual's pathway to his success, has become a norm in the current Indian society, found in almost every of its strata. One only needs to look around.
No, I don't have any evidence to support my big claim. But I'm writing what I'm writing after more than a decade of work experience in swinging from one workplace to another, like a honey-bee would, from one flower to another.
Whether it be a petty Indian store in India, any government office or a corporate space; Everywhere you'd find a group of other Indians first being envious towards someone outside of their group who would try to become successful solely owing to his own merit, without reciprocating the envy.
First such an individual would be outcast from the other major-group, followed by him or her being harassed in a multitude of mischievous ways by the other colleagues (and seniors) until they willfully give-up and opt to resign from their jobs.
If by any exceptional level of endurance any strong employee persists through such serial-harassments and verbal abuses (by seniors), they are wrongfully fired from their companies, on any pretext imaginable.
In India such a 'Toxic-environment' harboring 'Workplace-Politics' and 'Unethical-Competition' is not even limited to the literate or the illiterate, high or low, elite or common.
It's because 'Politics of greed & power' has become ingrained in almost every sphere of Indian society.
Therefore it wouldn't be wrong to say that - what the Indian politicians from various political parties are doing in the Indian Parliament is only a highly-exaggerated, highly-intensified trait, the essence of which is already present in a small-scale, in Indian-society.
You'd find a rivalry for the possession of wealth & property, even among two closely-related siblings, for the inheritance of their parents' fortune.
In here, not even families, small or big, could be found to be completely-free from petty-politics.
I am by no means saying that each and every Indian is a greedy-hoarder. India is a land inhabited by its approximately 140 Crore citizens.
There must be millions of altruist-empaths as well in India. However, their voices are largely subdued and they are mercilessly left-behind in the hyper-competitive rat-race, which is getting worse with every passing day in India.
So why should Indian youth strive to become more empathetic, more cooperative, more environment-conscious, more scientific-tempered, more-spiritual, more helpful, more charitable, more broad-minded, less greedy, less envious, less narcissistic, less prone to comparison, less Machiavellian, if their society itself measures the success of the citizens of their country based on such peoples' material achievements and lauds them for those material possessions, as if they are badges of honor?
Of course India isn't the only country in the world in which its society is festered by unabated greed.
Greed & selfishness has always been an integral trait of a human since prehistoric times, from the survival point of view.
Though, now in 21st century, when climate-change is getting worse each day, when developed countries like Russia & Ukraine are in an open war with each other, despite humans having fought two deadliest wars in 20th century, despite humans having stockpiled tens of thousands of frightening nuclear weapons, few questions concerning human-greed are :
How much greed is too much?
How much of a competition is too much?
Is there anything called ethical competition at all in the World?
Can competition and cooperation exist hand-in-hand?
Can there ever be a cure for a human's megalomaniac obsession with political power?
Would humans be ever able to rise beyond the hoarding of wealth, money, and resources?
Would they ever stop exploiting the non-renewable resources?
I know it's very tricky (and even funny) to say this, but I'm honestly scared about the future of humanity. And the day I became scared about our future is when I learned about the vastness of our Universe.
Our Universe (or anything else in it) is too vast to care about the fate of humanity! It doesn't care whether any human civilization of the future would flourish in any of its tiny corners, or whether it would be wiped-out from its micro-miniscule existence, inside a blue, dot-like planet called Earth.
Afterall, who knows if in our Universe many other human-like civilizations must've already been self-destructed, before they could take the next big leap, and flourish in the Universe?
Therefore today it is utmost necessary for each & every human residing on Earth to become aware about their tininess, their insignificance in the infinite Universe.
All of us need to urgently know that we are living on a very fragile planet, whom we are harming due to our own negligence, our own greed. If we do not know this we may soon collectively cannibalize our own civilization into anonymity & oblivion.
The Indian youngsters shouldn't be an exception to any of the above.
In conclusion I'd only like to convey a message for the Indian youth (and the youth, Worldover) that - Rather then cultivating an 'entrepreneurial-spirit' in you; It's today critically important to foster a 'humanitarian-spirit' in you, before it's too late and our world would go haywire.
© Kishan Trivedi
------------
#essay #opinion #Perspective #youth #India #Politics #toxic #selfish
—------------
Note : This is purely an opinionated essay which is meant to only project my perspective. I've not written it to create any form of hatred against anyone. Even then if it feels that way; I apologize duly.
—------------
Generally speaking, almost every youngster in today's India (including myself) either (desperately) wants to be the next big CEO of some multinational national corporation (MNC) or we want to be some top-notch Civil Servant.
So to say most of us want to be in every higher professional positions, whether government or private, which would keep us overwhelmed with all the comforts & luxuries in the world, give us sufficient name & fame, and a proudful societal status apart from our Multi-Lacs & Crores of Salary-Packages and other perks which we'd receive.
Almost none of us want to volunteer for any nonprofit organization. Almost none of us want to put an effort into working with an intention to simply serve our country, to serve humanity & Nature, without being involved in politics.
Very few of us want to pursue our creativity, without being pressured by society to merge with the herd-mentality. Very few of us are today scientifically-literate in a true-sense, or want to pursue the path of yoga & spirituality.
I know the most obvious, spontaneous response to my rant would be that - What's wrong if Indian youngsters are chasing their dreams, just like everyone else in the world? And who am I to criticize them for chasing their dreams?
The second most obvious response targeted against me would go something like - "Only losers complain…", "Winners never give-up…".
So to allay the doubts arising from such naturally obvious responses targeted at my essay beforehand; let me say that -
Yes, there's nothing wrong with someone chasing their dreams, wanting fame, wealth or luxuries, whether they be from India or from anywhere else in the world.
Problem arises when others intentionally cut-short someone else's climb upwards to success, owing to their envy, greed, and obsession with power, even when the latter would've desired their success solely out of their hard work, perseverance, and expertise in diverse sets of skills, without trying to interrupt
This hideous & hidden sub-culture of 'back-pulling' or to 'cut-short' the other individual's pathway to his success, has become a norm in the current Indian society, found in almost every of its strata. One only needs to look around.
No, I don't have any evidence to support my big claim. But I'm writing what I'm writing after more than a decade of work experience in swinging from one workplace to another, like a honey-bee would, from one flower to another.
Whether it be a petty Indian store in India, any government office or a corporate space; Everywhere you'd find a group of other Indians first being envious towards someone outside of their group who would try to become successful solely owing to his own merit, without reciprocating the envy.
First such an individual would be outcast from the other major-group, followed by him or her being harassed in a multitude of mischievous ways by the other colleagues (and seniors) until they willfully give-up and opt to resign from their jobs.
If by any exceptional level of endurance any strong employee persists through such serial-harassments and verbal abuses (by seniors), they are wrongfully fired from their companies, on any pretext imaginable.
In India such a 'Toxic-environment' harboring 'Workplace-Politics' and 'Unethical-Competition' is not even limited to the literate or the illiterate, high or low, elite or common.
It's because 'Politics of greed & power' has become ingrained in almost every sphere of Indian society.
Therefore it wouldn't be wrong to say that - what the Indian politicians from various political parties are doing in the Indian Parliament is only a highly-exaggerated, highly-intensified trait, the essence of which is already present in a small-scale, in Indian-society.
You'd find a rivalry for the possession of wealth & property, even among two closely-related siblings, for the inheritance of their parents' fortune.
In here, not even families, small or big, could be found to be completely-free from petty-politics.
I am by no means saying that each and every Indian is a greedy-hoarder. India is a land inhabited by its approximately 140 Crore citizens.
There must be millions of altruist-empaths as well in India. However, their voices are largely subdued and they are mercilessly left-behind in the hyper-competitive rat-race, which is getting worse with every passing day in India.
So why should Indian youth strive to become more empathetic, more cooperative, more environment-conscious, more scientific-tempered, more-spiritual, more helpful, more charitable, more broad-minded, less greedy, less envious, less narcissistic, less prone to comparison, less Machiavellian, if their society itself measures the success of the citizens of their country based on such peoples' material achievements and lauds them for those material possessions, as if they are badges of honor?
Of course India isn't the only country in the world in which its society is festered by unabated greed.
Greed & selfishness has always been an integral trait of a human since prehistoric times, from the survival point of view.
Though, now in 21st century, when climate-change is getting worse each day, when developed countries like Russia & Ukraine are in an open war with each other, despite humans having fought two deadliest wars in 20th century, despite humans having stockpiled tens of thousands of frightening nuclear weapons, few questions concerning human-greed are :
How much greed is too much?
How much of a competition is too much?
Is there anything called ethical competition at all in the World?
Can competition and cooperation exist hand-in-hand?
Can there ever be a cure for a human's megalomaniac obsession with political power?
Would humans be ever able to rise beyond the hoarding of wealth, money, and resources?
Would they ever stop exploiting the non-renewable resources?
I know it's very tricky (and even funny) to say this, but I'm honestly scared about the future of humanity. And the day I became scared about our future is when I learned about the vastness of our Universe.
Our Universe (or anything else in it) is too vast to care about the fate of humanity! It doesn't care whether any human civilization of the future would flourish in any of its tiny corners, or whether it would be wiped-out from its micro-miniscule existence, inside a blue, dot-like planet called Earth.
Afterall, who knows if in our Universe many other human-like civilizations must've already been self-destructed, before they could take the next big leap, and flourish in the Universe?
Therefore today it is utmost necessary for each & every human residing on Earth to become aware about their tininess, their insignificance in the infinite Universe.
All of us need to urgently know that we are living on a very fragile planet, whom we are harming due to our own negligence, our own greed. If we do not know this we may soon collectively cannibalize our own civilization into anonymity & oblivion.
The Indian youngsters shouldn't be an exception to any of the above.
In conclusion I'd only like to convey a message for the Indian youth (and the youth, Worldover) that - Rather then cultivating an 'entrepreneurial-spirit' in you; It's today critically important to foster a 'humanitarian-spirit' in you, before it's too late and our world would go haywire.
© Kishan Trivedi
------------
#essay #opinion #Perspective #youth #India #Politics #toxic #selfish
