Generation gap

Published in Student First Newspaper, dated: 19.07.2010.

The modern age will always be remembered as the age of revolt and reaction of the warm-blooded succeeding generation against the cold-blooded generation. The existence of the wide gulf between the expectations, values, standards, dreams and the ideas of the old and the young is the main cause of it.

The old are wedded with older traditional values and convictions which the young abhor. The younger people find it difficult to hare patience with old values which are meaningless according to them in the present context.
The generation gap is an expression that connotes a wild gulf between the aspiration, expectation, values, ideologies and dream of the young and old. There is no intrinsic virtue in being young as there is no innate excellence in being old.

The young are generally impulsive and rash, their idealism is not punctuated by a thousand calculations. Age can claim to the advantage of experience but the young have openly refused to acknowledge the superiority of the old and the old are not willing to give young a free hand in shaping their future. This has created a generation gap. The aspiring young generation of today is impatient, full of energy and believes in action. The young have rejected all the old prejudice. They want to create a society free from outdated customs and irrational beliefs. They would eradicate the social evils of dowry, child marriage, the ‘Parda’ system and the low status of women. They are ambitious and full of enthusiasm. There is a total lack of understandings between the old and the young. The young people feel that the older generation has failed to solve the grave problem that humans face today. Hence they should not be allowed a chance to prove their work. The fast increasing gap in attitude has made it difficult for parents to control and discipline their children. The question is why the elders want their children to be just a carbon copy of what they were at that age?

The solution to this problem doesn’t lie in decrying the young. Did the older people not have a chance to share things and affairs according to their choice and aspirations? why should now they grudge such an opportunity to the young generation? The future belongs to the youth and nobody has the right to force them to share things and affairs according to the whims of old fogeys.