Modern youth is confused and doesn’t know what it wants in life. There are many fancy names floating around for this phenomenon, mid/quarter life crisis, existential crisis, existentialism, fatalism, nihilism.
On a practical level, it is also a function of the gender roles we are slotted in. The females are breaking free of their traditional roles with slogans like “women don’t belong in the kitchen” but unfortunately men are neither aware nor willing to break free from theirs, nor will the modern society allow them to do so. The traditional male gender role is still that of a provider who works in an office and a man’s worth in society is still benchmarked on the money he earns.
On an abstract level, the turmoil that upwardly mobile youth is facing is that we are climbing the Maslow’s pyramid too early and hence stumbling across the question of “what next?” which is the trigger for all forms of existential crisis. A person who has climbed the first three steps of the pyramid and ensured that he has enough resources so that he will never starve to death will start looking for sublime sources of validation like the definition of a meaningful, eventful or fulfilling life.
The need is to get into a variety of things like national security, martial arts, video games, religious geometry, dharma, paragliding, rifle shooting, solo long distance bike trips and recently even aquarium designing. Just consume a variety of content, get involved in various activities and communities and keep the brain stimulated.
We have to stop the jinx of letting society define us as a good provider and start redefining the meaning of life with us at the focal point. Do things for ourselves instead of finding actualization in being a better provider and acquiring the paraphernalia to advertise to the world that we are indeed doing well.
Wah beta wah, IITian ban gaye? Wah beta, MNC mein job lag gaya? Wah, 17 hours kaam karte ho, extra time bhi karte ho? Piles hain? Wah wah, fir toh bahut workload hoga? Excellent! Wah, wah beta nayi car le li? Naya ghar? Badhiya hai, you are such a ‘good boy’. Now marry my daughter and be a good provider for her.
A good girl does whatever she wants and a good boy does whatever enables him to pay for the good girl’s wants. That is the current Indian dream we are chasing.
We need to stop grooming young males in our society to conflate their self worth with their earning potential, otherwise we are only presenting ourselves as a magnet for the wrong kind of crowd who will file fake 498A cases and empty out bank accounts within no time. What young males in India need the most, is a spine. Unfortunately, it’s not available on Flipkart, so we will have to grow one ourselves.
Disclaimer from YP
The growth of such opinion among men in India will destroy us just like it destroyed the west. And the men are not to be blamed for thinking this way, the society has been too harsh to them and will only get worse with further changes in marital laws. They are already feeling estranged by the nonchalant attitude which the political establishment has towards them.
Image Source:
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