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Generational echoes

Call it age gap or diverse interpretations, each generation has a different take on life

PHOTO: PARTH SANYAL

Age matters Generation gap need not always be a barrier for healthy relationship

Sastri is an 80-year-old ‘youth’ who walks down to the nearby park everyday exactly at 4 in the evening to experience the fun of watching ‘youngsters’. He nods his baldhead approvingly as a few wrinkles crease his forehead and down his cheeks. But his eyes twinkle and sparkle, conveying the mirth of a child.

Outside the park, on the pavement is a crowd of youngsters clad in tight jeans and tee shirts and savouring the spicy chaat; happily prattling, gesturing and munching on the junk stuff.

The banter fizzes with jokes and bubbles with choicest invectives. “We should not mind if they occasionally let down their hair”, murmurs Sastri.

Having observed them for long, he doesn’t mind being judgemental: “What I like about these children is their hopefulness, the possibility of being young and hearty in this age. It may look like it’s all about sporting trendy jeans and chilling out. But they paddle like hell beneath, like a duck paddles beneath the surface of water to stay afloat.”

Aging through the years, Sastri has gleefully accepted the changes in dress, habits, attitudes and the lifestyle of the younger generation. “I realise that it is an unstoppable movement,” he remarks sagely. Appreciating the sheer brilliance and creativity of the youth, he says:

“The youngsters know how to seize the opportunities and create new ones and this is bound to lead to overall development of the nation.” Raja Rao is yet another ‘youthful’ octogenarian who has an issue with these youngsters.

“These fellows have no idealism. We were part of an epic struggle - the freedom movement. We were inspired by great leaders. We took part in the struggle to build institutions.”

Disdaining the ‘grab culture’ of the youngsters, he says: “it’s a me-mine-myself generation. Everything they desire, they want it, want it fast, want it in one shot.” The man, however, has no issue with their dress sense. “After all, they’ve got to wear something,” he says with a blank expression.

The predicament of 51-year-old Ramana is weird. He finds himself ‘sandwiched’ between the ‘old kids off the world’ and the ‘new kids off the block’. Having been brought up on the stories of freedom struggle and sacrifice, and parenting children who are farremoved from that, he feels completely out of place.

“You go old ways and kids call you retro; you dress like the brat pack to be one of them, yourelders treat you almost like a juvenile delinquent.”

When his daughter Satya, aka, Sat, pursuing electronics engineering and a topper in her class, came home last week with a tattoo in a funky design on the back of her hand and a shiny metal pierced at the far end of her left eyebrow, it shocked the hell out of him. Shocked out of his wits, he had seethed: “For the life of me, how do you make sense of that?” Realising that every fashion and fad gets spread either through Internet or through movies, he has found out a way to keep his sanity intact. Not wanting tolook like a Neanderthal to his kids, Ramana has begun the exercise of going online to figure out what this pack is up to next week. Talk of reverse engineering!

Twenty-year-old Siddhartha explains that the whole thing boils down to philosophy and perspective. “These views are on the button in as much as they reveal the mindset of the youth,” he admits adding pleadingly:

“Accept us with the kinks and quirks, well-rounded core and jagged edges. After all, we bring shine and sheen to life.”

G.B.S.N.P. VARMA

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