Usually, we come across a lot of quotes about youths, some praising them while others criticizing them. Just like every coin has two sides, this hypothetical coin depicting the youth has two sides too.  Many of us may have heard the famous quote by Bernard Shaw - “Youth is wasted on the young”. Let’s talk about this other side of the coin. Why do we hear people making statements which dispraise the youth? Because of the activities we do instead of the ones we should be doing in our youth? Or is it applicable only to youth or maybe age is never a factor while considering these quotes? It’s okay if you don’t build an empire of millions but you must have values because it defines your character.

 Rethink about the activities you do every day thinking that they make you look “cool”. First we need to stop doing the things which have no purpose and things which harm our body.

It appals me when some youngsters take their health for granted as if they can do anything with their body just because they are young. I know some people who post stories in which they smoke cigarettes, hookah etc. Pardon me if I left something out but please understand that it DOESN”T make you look attractive. Yesterday, I saw one of my female followers on Instagram posted a picture with a hookah pipe in her hand with the caption, ‘I can’t make round rotis but I can blow rings and that’s what matters’. The caption is rubbish and so is that girl’s thinking. I can’t even stand the smell. But even when you try to convince them that it’s harmful to their health, they will come up with a new reason every time till we stop (I am telling this only once though). Even looking at those pictures make me uncomfortable. Same goes with alcohol. 

Once my friend asked me to try it (I don’t even remember the name of that drink) and told me to swallow it but the tongue shouldn’t taste it. On asking the reason behind it, she said, “It will give you a nice sensation, you could feel it getting down through the throat to the stomach”. I don’t get it, why drink something you shouldn’t taste? Even after drinking water, I can feel it making its way to the stomach. Some say that they like the hangover they get after drinking alcohol and some say, it helps them to distract them from their problems. If you think liquor is the drink above all then your assumption is nothing but a folly. There are other drinks too which make you feel better and don’t harm your body. Take the example of sugarcane juice. Why don’t you drink sugarcane juice more often than alcohol? Alcohol is no anodyne to your thirst but sugarcane juice sure is!

Another thing I notice is that so many people find leverage in talking to others. You also would have noticed that people seem to talk less to dark skinned people. Don’t be enraged if you are not one of them.

It’s a good thing that you don’t decide to talk to others based on their skin colour. The person before you doesn’t need to have a fair skin to have conversation with. I have been bullied five times in school and twice at work place because of my skin colour. It’s just ridiculous that we decide someone’s ability or the way they should be treated, depending on their skin colour. But then I remember what my father says about these kinds of people, “they probably don’t have anything else other than their fair skins”. I reckon he is right because I hardly hear them praising others.

Just like discrimination based on skin colours, there is another thing I have experienced which I have always smirked on. I don’t know how many of you relate to this but I have an assumption that a boy's interest in talking to girls is inversely proportional to the clothes they are wearing. You can argue with me if you think I am wrong. I stand by my statement because I have observed this in my 11 month job experience. Men used to hover around girls who wore short clothes but it is hard to say who was more pleased. We need to stop this behaviour where we go looking for external qualities over internal qualities. They say never judge a book by its cover but we do exactly the same.

Sometimes we get ourselves perplexed in choosing between what is right and what most probably could be a hollow assumption. Last month, a movie named ‘Four more shots please’ was released which is quite famous for its so called ‘Feminism’ by featuring ladies having drinking at the bar most of the time, travelling the world whenever they were bored and having sex with everyone they meet.

So many women find the movie as an ‘Epitome of women empowerment’, some of my female acquaintances were among them. Not all the women but some are surely conceptualizing  this thought into a foundation of  pseudo feminism so listen you ladies, ‘Veere di wedding’ and ‘four more shots please’ is not women empowerment! Someone even wrote on twitter, ‘thodasa sex aur thodi daaru dikhado, hogayi Women empowerment’, till the date, in the particular subject, I haven’t heard anything accurate than this. 

This thought of ‘Feminism’ has been concocted by the media. Also, Bollywood movies and movie stars who are worshiped by Indian people, play a pivotal role in advancing this form of feminism. Bollywood celebrities who could educate their followers are only making it worse but are still getting praised in the process. Feminism has been defined by the modern era feminists as anti-men. The modern era feminists have made their minds to do exact things which males can do and call it feminism but meanwhile bat the equality factor away. Often the victim card is played when they are wrong but don’t want to take the blame which is exactly the opposite of ‘showing equality’.

If you want to show feminism in you, India is not the place for you because in our country, women have been given equal rights as men in the country and also we do have Freedom of speech. If you want to show support to the women, go to the nations where females cannot even go outside covering themselves without Hijab or burqa, where females are far away from the rights you have in India. That’s the place where your feminism is needed. 

                                                                             To be continued….

Thank you for reading till now,

Tejaswini Yadav: gryffinpuf11@gmail.com

Preeyonuj Boruah: axelblz1@gmail.com