Impatient India – Is it a boon for the Future?

I might be the nth person writing a blog on the gruesome incident that shook the country a few weeks back. There have been numerous articles, blogs, debates that have come up since the day of the incident, with each one of them giving their own view point on the incident, the punishment that needs to be given, safety of women and many such topics surrounding the incident. 

I do not want to be another one commenting on all of this. I want to take the incident and the reaction of the youth after that to talk about the psyche of the youth today and the rationale behind such a reaction. 

To understand this we need to go back in time, at least two to three decades back. We had been independent for about 30 years or so and were taking small steps in coming on our own after being ruled for centuries. Modernization was happening at a very slow pace and aspiration was taking wings for the middle class slowly but surely. 

Everything that one desired had a certain waiting period. If you wanted a scooter, you would have to book it and wait for six months; waiting for a car was much longer. Getting a telephone line at home was an occasion of celebration as one got that after months of waiting with their name in the booking list. One had to save for years before thinking of buying a property and saving for the future/for the rainy days was the philosophy that was prevailing in the country. 

People were so used to waiting that things as simple as speaking to a relative in a different city would mean booking a trunk call a few hours in advance and then being able to connect to them if you were lucky. There was only one channel Doordarshan in the country and one had to wait for a Sunday morning for an episode of Mahabharat or a Wednesday evening for Chitrahaar. News had a certain sanctity and the elders of the house would gather around the TV at 8 pm to watch the news, which would come only twice in a day. 

With all of this, people were patient and willing to wait for the smallest of things. 

Then came the 1991 Liberalisation phase, which was brought in by our current Prime Minister – Manmohan Singh. This changed the face of the Indian economy and put the country on a fast paced pedestal. Cable TV invaded our homes with a plethora of options. You could watch something or the other at any given point of time, day or night. Credit cards and easy EMIs made life easier with the philosophy changing to ‘Why wait when you can do/buy something now. We can pay it off over the years.’ Cars and homes were available without waiting. The buyers for these item started getting younger. 

Mobile telephony and Internet penetrated Indian homes at thrice the speed of TV penetration. You wanted to speak to someone, just pick the phone and dial and voila, the other person is there on the other side. Then came the phenomenon of Social Networking, making the entire world a global village. You did not have to wait any longer to share your feelings with the world. The moment you feel it is the moment you share it. You could talk to anyone anywhere in the world Live without having to bother about time zones. 

What all of this meant was that the generation that was born in the '90s and thereafter had never understood the meaning of waiting. They got what they wanted immediately. Impatience was a personality trait for this generation and it was this impatience that led to the occurrence of the entire country coming together, demanding for quick action. Unfortunately, our politicians belong to the era of waiting and they did not realize that statements like “We are looking into the matter”, “We will take action”, “This shall be taken care of”, “Dekthe hain. Kucch karenge” would not cut ice with a generation that wants results now. 

It is this impatience of today’s youth, which could possibly be the game changer for our nation and if this impatience is recognized by our politicians quickly, it will help in forming a better nation. 

Disclaimer: I see this impatience amongst the youth as a virtue rather than vice and I believe that it is this which will help us to dream big, achieve big and make the nation a better place in times to come.