Yesterday, I called two of my staff to explain them the difference between a normal newspaper article and an opinion. Both were MBA Finance and from decent families. During my conversations, it accidentally happened that I asked them about Dr. M S Swaminathan, Dr. Varghese Kurien and Missionaries of Charity, though none of these references had any resemblance to each other. I went on a step further asking if they have heard of Kangaroo, Kiwi, Penguin and India’s national animal.
These two people – very good at their desk work – had not heard of these three in their recent memory. I prodded them further by giving clues such as Punjab, Green Revolution, Milk, Anand and Nobel price etc. But they could not get anywhere near to the right answer.
Hundreds of such young people pass through my office day in and day out for interviews. None of them below MBA and everyone with swanky mobile and when I later make discreet web enquiries, I land on their Facebook page. Most of them have shared or liked a Narendra Modi quote but not a single one from his opponent Rahul Gandhi. In most of these quotes Swami Vivekanand reigns supreme. A commendable work done by APCO worldwide, very professionally and clinically done job.
Why I am prompted to write this on a humid Sunday afternoon leaving my weekly siesta is a sermon I heard this morning in the church where the priest praised Modi for safety of Malayalis in Gujarat. Now, wait a minute, I told myself. I am here since my birth and I never felt like a Malayali on a foreign soil. Likewise, hundreds of young people attending the church this morning must have thought the same way. They all speak and live the way locals do.
But such sermons do leave a footprint of doubt over the listeners to think if it is really so?
Modi is no doubt taking all credits for things he has never heard of – as his detractors allege but now people have begun crediting him for imaginary things as well.
Modi, Rahul and Nitish have reached inside schools, institutes and religious places. Now do I have any problem with Modi? Oh No! Absolutely not. After all he is from my state and perhaps could be the next prime minister which is actually a matter of pride.
The problem I have is the priorities and misconceptions that we nurture. We have been fed so much of Nehru, Indira, Rajiv and Gandhi that 98% of India’s bridges, roads or buildings are named after them. In the last half a century because Congress ruled India, there were only one family that made headlines. Now the chance has come for the other party to take a sweet revenge. So a new set of names Mukherjee, Vivekanand, Upadhyay have come into the picture.
Because of television, reading habits have vanished. And television news is nothing but worse than a third degree torture. Institutions are operating out of makeshift flats and have no basic facilities like libraries. Very few youths born after 1985 read newspapers. Even if they do, it is limited to entertainment.
And then came social media, another strong tool to get well informed real time. But these youths are more or less using it for anything but information. Even if they use it, it is for skewed information. These are the people whom Modi is targeting and he has identified his target audience very well. Every third Indian is a youth. In about seven years, the median individual in India will be 29 years, very likely a city-boy or a girl.
A study by IRIS Knowledge Foundation in collaboration with UN-HABITAT says India’s population in the age-group of 15-34 increased from 353 million in 2001 to 430 million in 2011. Current predictions suggest a steady increase in the youth population to 464 million by 2021 and finally a decline to 458 million by 2026.
Now imagine reaping dividends by tapping this category. It further states that the aspiration of these youths is to get greater political participation, get involved in policy level improving their quality of life. But if India is to remain as one nation, these youths have to deviate from their skewed approach and blind faith and start asking questions.
This is what Modi quotes Vivekananda in his blog - “My Faith is in the Younger Generation, the Modern Generation, out of them will come my workers. They will work out the whole problem, like Lions.” I have never understood how lions can solve any problem and the definition of workers in today's context.
But what I have understood is that I am failing to get intelligent people whom I can put my faith on. The quality of education across the country has been more or less limited to facebook sharing of political party bashing or ideological fights. It is never becoming intellectual. We are seriously turning into a banana republic and we are not realizing it a bit. Not a bit, I bet.
These two people – very good at their desk work – had not heard of these three in their recent memory. I prodded them further by giving clues such as Punjab, Green Revolution, Milk, Anand and Nobel price etc. But they could not get anywhere near to the right answer.
Hundreds of such young people pass through my office day in and day out for interviews. None of them below MBA and everyone with swanky mobile and when I later make discreet web enquiries, I land on their Facebook page. Most of them have shared or liked a Narendra Modi quote but not a single one from his opponent Rahul Gandhi. In most of these quotes Swami Vivekanand reigns supreme. A commendable work done by APCO worldwide, very professionally and clinically done job.
Why I am prompted to write this on a humid Sunday afternoon leaving my weekly siesta is a sermon I heard this morning in the church where the priest praised Modi for safety of Malayalis in Gujarat. Now, wait a minute, I told myself. I am here since my birth and I never felt like a Malayali on a foreign soil. Likewise, hundreds of young people attending the church this morning must have thought the same way. They all speak and live the way locals do.
But such sermons do leave a footprint of doubt over the listeners to think if it is really so?
Modi is no doubt taking all credits for things he has never heard of – as his detractors allege but now people have begun crediting him for imaginary things as well.
Modi, Rahul and Nitish have reached inside schools, institutes and religious places. Now do I have any problem with Modi? Oh No! Absolutely not. After all he is from my state and perhaps could be the next prime minister which is actually a matter of pride.
The problem I have is the priorities and misconceptions that we nurture. We have been fed so much of Nehru, Indira, Rajiv and Gandhi that 98% of India’s bridges, roads or buildings are named after them. In the last half a century because Congress ruled India, there were only one family that made headlines. Now the chance has come for the other party to take a sweet revenge. So a new set of names Mukherjee, Vivekanand, Upadhyay have come into the picture.
Because of television, reading habits have vanished. And television news is nothing but worse than a third degree torture. Institutions are operating out of makeshift flats and have no basic facilities like libraries. Very few youths born after 1985 read newspapers. Even if they do, it is limited to entertainment.
And then came social media, another strong tool to get well informed real time. But these youths are more or less using it for anything but information. Even if they use it, it is for skewed information. These are the people whom Modi is targeting and he has identified his target audience very well. Every third Indian is a youth. In about seven years, the median individual in India will be 29 years, very likely a city-boy or a girl.
A study by IRIS Knowledge Foundation in collaboration with UN-HABITAT says India’s population in the age-group of 15-34 increased from 353 million in 2001 to 430 million in 2011. Current predictions suggest a steady increase in the youth population to 464 million by 2021 and finally a decline to 458 million by 2026.
Now imagine reaping dividends by tapping this category. It further states that the aspiration of these youths is to get greater political participation, get involved in policy level improving their quality of life. But if India is to remain as one nation, these youths have to deviate from their skewed approach and blind faith and start asking questions.
This is what Modi quotes Vivekananda in his blog - “My Faith is in the Younger Generation, the Modern Generation, out of them will come my workers. They will work out the whole problem, like Lions.” I have never understood how lions can solve any problem and the definition of workers in today's context.
But what I have understood is that I am failing to get intelligent people whom I can put my faith on. The quality of education across the country has been more or less limited to facebook sharing of political party bashing or ideological fights. It is never becoming intellectual. We are seriously turning into a banana republic and we are not realizing it a bit. Not a bit, I bet.
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