A while before i was born, there was a generation i would have loved to be part of… they are identified by a number of descriptors – flower power, hippies, love and peace etc.
the 70’s was their time, and the protests against what was then conventional in society, were made in several forms – from agitation on the streets to men wearing their hair long and from groupism and drugs to song lyrics…That generation was very clear in their belief that society and humanity as a whole were going on a path that wouldn’t quite turn out to be the right one, in the years to come… from the wars that were being fought for all the wrong reasons, to the pressure exerted by society on them to conform, they felt everything was going wrong.. and they fought it, by turning the tables on the way things were functioning then.. by just walking out with long hair and unkempt beards and staying in groups and resorting to drugs… not all of it was good, but they made a point…
This generation is also seeing wars, but with wrong reasons on both sides. 9/11 wasn’t right, but nor was the attack on iraq… 7/7 was not right, but nor was the gunning down of an innocent guy.. but i dont see terrorism as the biggest enemy, for it can be resolved if people can be made to sit and discuss issues.. and though that was putting it simply, it still can be done…
the bigger enemy is us, for we have forgotten humanity… in a purely materialistic society, where technological advancement and career/economic advancement are the indeces of society’s and the individual’s development respectively, there is simply no time to lend a helping hand to those more unfortunate than us, because MMS scandals, the status of the brad pitt-angelina jolie affair, the ambani feud etc are more important to us…but when i see a ‘go slow’ movement thats gathering steam in Europe, and a ‘blank noise’ happening around me, i think we might be in for a fight.. a neo flower power movement, and a way to drag us back to a better path…
until next time, how can we play a part??
Yup. Its the era of self absorbtion. If it aint affecting my life, i dont care !
mirage: too long gone to bring back??
nupur: you would have read, but i dont think you commented…
how i wish i was born in the 70s too. i wud have been a hippie for sure 😀
I think the sad thing is that the ‘system’ has begun to work for some of us in material terms. And the material victory is so overwhelming for India that the rest of it – the loss of idealism, the dilution of passion, the corruption of values – ceases to matter. Youth today seem happy to revel in the new-found pleasures of the booming economy … it will take some time before we have had our fill of this, and can begin again to get restless and look beyond the magic cocoon that we’ve created.
J: yippie to hippies!! 🙂
anjali: but hasnt the restlessness started already??