NATIONAL 6 -(Spotlight Weekly)]

Freedom To Choose

Break free of the chains of conformity and act on your convictions, is the motto of many of today’s youth

By AKSHAY SHARMA

"Do you still expect me to believe in slogans that belonged to Roman times and fight for them?" asks 25-year-old Pravigya Sherchan. "We have been born in a different period and raised on different realities and conditions. Yes, we read comics like Asterisk which taught us the names of Roman generals, but that’s it."

The older generation sees today’s youth as a misguided and misused force. The youth point to a widening generation gap for their plight. The blame game continues, without an answer in sight.

Youth : Looking for identity

"The world is changing so rapidly — it revolves at a speed of 36,000 miles per second in its axis in the vast universe — and we need to keep up with that," says 26-year-old Anil Chettri. "A youngster could perhaps fly a fighter plane better than trained pilots of the previous generation because they have played high-tech war games on the computers," he says.

Power has shifted and society needs to move accordingly, many youth say. "Earlier, power came from the barrel of the gun. Today, he who controls information is the most powerful," argues 23-year-old Paras Pandey.

"It is supposed that the truth is knowledge, knowledge is considered wisdom but wisdom cannot be the truth, says an expert. "To contain power is a difficult task as the changing technologies will in time overtake the people who are trying to control it," he adds.

"But we are bound to follow the path of believing in political boundaries. As Nepal is 100 years behind developed countries and the bigger neighbors are eyeing the country as if to swallow it in one gulp," says Subash Lohani of the Institute of Foreign Affairs. "And because of reasons like these, the youth need to be more focused and alert."

Alexander the Great was barely out of his teens when he set out on something he believed in and he died in his 30’s. He was fighting for something he believed in and immortalized himself.

"An 8th grade student, Temba Chhiri Sherpa, proved something more meaningful when he climbed Mount Everest: ‘Don’t think we should be diverted by the ideologies that dominated the older generation’. The youth should follow the command of their inner voice," says Anil. "It is all the better if generations can walk side by side. US President George W. Bush represents a younger generation who people like Vice-President Dick Cheney and other members of the older generation by his side," Anil says.

"Time is limited and the youth, keeping this in mind, should follow their own convictions. This would probably prevent them from being exploited," he says. "I don’t believe in the idea of expansion, conquests and political boundaries. Looking at the history of Nepal, Prithvi Narayan Shah started the campaign of creating a bigger Nepal at a young age. That was the dominant quest of his era."

"The young are generally seen to be neutral, but it is easy to direct them on any path — good or bad, Subash says.

"The youth shouldn’t look to others for their betterment. They should do what their instincts tell them to. You create your own identity," Anil argues. "My father shaves with a ustara (razor) and I have the liberty to use electronic razors."

"The ideology of people hasn’t changed from the days of Alexander the Great. Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, Machiavelli, Kautuliya and others gave new theories on the human predicament," Anil argues. "They only tried to get a better understanding of the things people believed in and aspired for. But let’s also not forget that history has its share of leaders like Saddam Hussein, Adolf Hitler and Ivan the Terrible."

"Your parents and guardians can nurse you and teach you how to walk. After a certain age, you will have learn to adjust to things you weren’t taught by your parents or books," says Pravigya.

"We live in a world of limitations. In 300 years, only two people from Nepal were heralded as the most influential people of their times. One was Prithvi Narayan Shah and the other B.P. Koirala," says Paras. "History has hailed people who have foreseen the future, fought for it and succeeded."

"Every generation has the determination to beat the previous one at the ball game," argues Anil. "Dependency is wrong. The world won’t give anything to you unless you take from it. But if the youth today make the same mistake by shouting slogans their exploiters want them to, they would be committing suicide."

"Why are our political leaders older than our pilots?" Anil asks. Why, indeed? Perhaps this is the kind of question that goads the young and restless to set out to fight for a good cause.