What’s in AGE !!
Nothing has lost its identity,more in the recent years,as has age !( Cover Story,OUTLOOK,Aug 3,2009)
Age,which once was a very significant aspect of any person’s,personal particulars,seems have no existence today.
Just two decades back,age decided everything,schooling,job,marriage,kids,clothes,food,lingo and life style.We had rigid ,water tight compartments ,arbitrarily of 25 years each,to divide the community into youngsters,middle age and oldies,and the latter starting,at the surprising young age of 50.This compartmentalization ,probably based on the Ashram system of Vedas,was handed down generation after generation,with a pre conceived generation gap ! Majority of the people,spent most of their lives,just to earn a livelihood,and lived most of the time either taking care of the previous generation or the next generation !
But times have changed,and age has no significance today.People are living for a Life and for Self,today.It is not that today’s individual has forgotten his or her responsibility towards the parents ,family or children,but its just that one has started caring for self too.The major factors that brought this change was,that each and everyone was getting suffocated in the traditional lifestyle and the never ending list of responsibilities.And the change has been made possible by many factors,Education,Financial stability,lack of insecurity for the future ,willingness to take risk and above all,getting out of the fear of what will the society say !
The biggest impact of this,has been,that the generation gap has suddenly disappeared and the difference between two generations,that was so evident earlier has become absolutely blurred.Parents and kids,use same brands of clothes,gadgets,accessories,enjoy same type of outings,pubs,and partying,use the same lingo and share the same jokes and SMSs ! And they even do this together.The mother and daughter not only share the same cosmetics and sandals,but even clothes,In fact in my family,three generations of ladies use the same parlor.A man having beer with his dad and son,on a Sunday afternoon is not a surprising situation.This has brought the generations closer and has made them more friendly ,which is essential for a truthful and healthy relationship.
People do what they want to,persue a career of choose,work for satisfaction,break norms of society for happiness,and even marry ,at times,after settling kids.and having grand children.!
Nothing is without drawbacks,and even though a few people,may go overboard,but overall,this ageless society of today,is giving each one the right to live till the last breath as per his or her choice,and the trend is here to stay for good
Dr Sanjay Kapoor Lucknow