The most important stage of one’s life is youth. It lies between the childhood and the old age. While the childhood period is not to be reminded of, the old age means experience but no agility. So, it is the youth period that is to take care of. India boasts of its youth potential. It is called the “ Demographic Dividend”. In simple terms, it means that India has a store house of youths who can change the destiny of the country, if opportunities are provided to them. Same is the case with the youths of Jammu and Kashmir. Our youths are capable of achieving the greatest feats. They have proved it in the near past. When the conditions are normal, everything tries to reach its perfection. Deliberate and unnecessarily dramas create myriad obstacles in the nurturing of the vast resources of the youth. They are like a simmering volcano that needs a vent. If we talk of the youth in the present, their talents are being wasted with each passing day. Instead of joining the stream of the development of country, they are lost in wilderness . They have become drug addicts and are indulged in immoral practices.Many causes are responsible for this sorry state of affairs. Some are discussed in the following lines. The first is unemployment. No unemployment means no peace and no means that the youths are good for nothing. An intellectual also needs some kind of livelihood to survive for, though from hand to mouth. A long line of unemployed youths are going from one door to another in search of a job. However , jobs are unavailable. For unemployment, social, political, economic, et cetera causes are responsible. The overall result is the hub of agility is lying defunct and the approaching future looks more bleak. The second is corruption. It has acted as the last nail in the coffin of the dreams of youth . Merit is thrown to winds. Deserving candidates have nowhere to go. They are cursing themselves for wasting their precious years in a useless pursuit. In our orthodox and judgemental society, education means vocation. No vocation means useless education. Yes, vocation is a one dimension of education. However, education means something more. In our society, after studying for decades, if a youth is unable to get a government job, he is called useless and this very mindset is quite harmful for youths. They cannot bear this insult. The third is orthodox thinking. If a youth starts his own business, he has to go through an endless grind. This grind is all about words, behaviours and some other kind of gestures.
Although we have been able to reduce the distance between the places in the universe, the distance between the youths and the society is widening with each passing day. We have constructed grand mansions but we have been unable to make the youths the realized personalities. We talk endlessly. But we have been unable to talk to the youths. Their lives are lost. We can’t be too stone-hearted to understand their pain.
In this way, youths are reluctant to start their own businesses and be a source of peace for themselves and the society. The government employee is a special thing in our traditional society. Anything below it is useless. Greed is also responsible for this. Everyone wants his son or daughter is settled. No one cares for the welfare of others. If a father has five sons. Four of them are employed. He wants the fifth one to get settled. However, in his neighbourhood, a poor father’s five sons are unemployed. This mindset is quite harmful and has serious repercussions. When we are not in a position to help each other at the local level, it is beyond imagination that others will come for our rescue. Moreover, show off is another cause. A settled youth hurts others by his luxurious lifestyle. It sets a chain of events into motion and ends on hurting the cause of other youths. To help the youth to come out of this mess, everyone as to some kind of responsibility. The government, as well as the intellectuals, have to think out of the box solutions. Sustainable life is the need of the hour. Orthodox society must gradually go through a transformational phase. It will help in healing many unexpressed emotions. We kill the roots while water the twigs. In order to clean the mess, the very source of mess is to be ascertained. Mere slogans and wishes cannot do miracles. Last but not least, corruption has do away with. It is we who promote immoral practices and it is we who can do a lot in eradicating it. The need of the hour is to apply a healing balm on the green wounds of the youth. Their dreams are shattered in front of them. Although we have been able to reduce the distance between the places in the universe, the distance between the youths and the society is widening with each passing day. We have constructed grand mansions but we have been unable to make the youths the realized personalities. We talk endlessly. But we have been unable to talk to the youths. Their lives are lost. We can’t be too stone-hearted to understand their pain.
(The author is a resident of Hajibag Soibug –Budgam has mailed this article to “Kashmir Horizon” for publication in this newspaper. The views, opinions, facts, assumptions, presumptions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”.)
