My nation and my generation.

Blog posts written after a huge gap are like those awkward situations when you meet a friend after half a decade; you know you have a lot to discuss, but you just don't know where to begin. The last time I wrote something here: I was fresh out of college,my state had a different CM, Team Anna was still a team, Sushil Kumar Shinde was yet to figure out that he loved the taste of his foot more than anything else, and India was still in her 65th year of independence.

I am aware of the fact that few who were around in 1947 will read this.I know not if they would approve of the manner in which we "celebrate" our Independence Day, but who are "we?" The word "youth" has been misused in such a shabby manner that people my age are careful not to refer to themselves as "youth." 

The word is now used either as a synonym for hooligans or as an excuse for politicians to sneak their children into their rotten world.

It pains me to no end to see a word that denotes something so powerful and full of potential, put to shame.

We may not be the generation that got India her independence, we may not have taken over the reins of this great nation yet, but to those who are of the opinion that to "today's youth," the 15th of August is just another  

holiday, I beg of you to not write us off.

One quality India has retained over the years is the concept of a close-knit family. Most of today's "youth," grew up listening to either first-hand or second-hand accounts of what happened on that glorious day. Our text books had chapters on our freedom struggle. The greats aren't forgotten. Anyone who has ever formed a club or society has immense respect for the iron man of India.Every single time one struggles to draft a leave note, one can understand the effort that must have gone into drafting the constitution. I hear you scoffing; there lies the problem. Stereotypes exist, and this is one that has gone on for too long.

You say my generation doesn't care; I say it gives a fuck ! Our language, our style, and our methodologies may be different; but I assure you, you have taught us well. We may be a bunch of swearing, low-jeans-wearing punks whose headphones are always blaring. It may look like we are texting or tweeting while you discuss serious matters, but we're listening; we really are, and at the back of our heads, below the mohawks and afros,the wheels are in motion.

It may seem like I am talking to the generations before ours, but I am writing this for my generation too. A generation that seems to have accepted that it is exactly what it is labeled as. I urge you, nay, beg of you to rise to the occasion and do your bit for this epic nation.

P.S: Most of you make amends a.k.a resolutions on the 1st day of January, every year. Some of you do so on your birthdays. I choose my nation's birthday to do so and I wish to start by donating contributing a small portion of my already small first salary towards the future of my nation.

I chose to do so by supporting Ahambhumika . I have followed their wonderful work closely on twitter and am convinced that my money will be put to good use. They are an NGO striving to assist the Education of Children and Illiterate Adults and Self-Reliance and Gynecological Health and Hygiene of Rural Women.

In the words of Subrat Goswami : " We intend to start computer literacy

in a village namely MAHABADIA.distt.Bhopal for the underpriviledged
girl children.They are 30 in number.They attend our infomal literacy
centre namely MAHAK(Fragrance),where they are taught Hindi,English and
Mathematics.Out of 30 girl children 13 girl children attend school
regularly while others remain in their house taking care of their
siblings.The parents of these girl children work as daily wage
labourer in brick kilns,stone quarries and construction sites.They are
least interested to edcuate their children; specifically girl
children.After a lot of persuading we have been able to convince
them to leave their girl children to attend our literacy centre ( for
two hours daily except Monday ) to have at least basic edcuation.
We intend to start computer literacy for these girl children.And for
this we require around Rs.30K.The fund will be utilized to purchase  a
system and few basic books on computer literacy. The system purchased
with the fund raised will also be utilized to show the girl children
inspiring clippings  / documentaries/pictures.We will aslo share the
photographs
with the donors once the computer literacy is started in the said

village"

Subrat has also sent me pictures of the children benefiting from this initiative, and is willing to share them with anyone who is interested in helping out.(You can mail them on ahambhumika@gmail.com) No amount is small, and every rupee helps a child secure a better future. I urge you, especially my batchmates who've just started earning. We are in this position today because we had people willing to pay for the finest education available. Others aren't fortunate enough, but have a right to it. As responsible adults, who are citizens of this nation, it is our duty to try, at the very least, to give our kids a better India than the one we were born in.