India's youth redefining social mores

Manasvini M Yogi has seen at least 20 batches of college freshers come and go. Teaching at IP College for Women in Delhi, she has seen a lot change. “We have always got girls — of all kinds,” she says. Smart, shy, big town, small town, rich, not so rich — especially in the hostel the crowd has been a good mix.

When they came from a small town it showed – in the way they talked, the way they dressed, their shyness, lack of confidence and even the way they went about their lives. “Many took months to open up,” she recalls. Some changed dramatically in three years. Some never did.

Lately though, that pace of change has hastened. Today when they come, they seem far more worldly wise. Even the shy ones open up in days, not months. The big town-small town gap continues but its fast narrowing - thanks to media explosion. Within weeks these girls get confident enough to step out alone, go out for lunches, do shopping, party, make boyfriends and pursue careers.

If earlier 20% were serious about their careers, today it’s 80%, she guesstimates. Their money power too has gone up. “You can see it,” she says from their dress, the parlours, restaurants and even the doctors they go to.

Girls, in a patriarchal feudal society like India, hold a true mirror to the social, cultural change – if any – that is happening in the country. And that mirror shows happy images of Liberalisation Children. Girls’ enrolment in male-bastions like Delhi’s SRCC and many professional schools are up. Their numbers in the corporate sector is rising too. They have been outscoring boys in schools and colleges.

Yes, these numbers are small and often limited to urban, middle class families. Amid female foeticide and dowry deaths it is difficult to conjure up gender equality. But the trend is undeniable. A growing number of urban households, often with just one or two children — and at times even pushed by economic necessity — are beginning to give their girls the voice and freedom they deserve.

Perhaps narrowing of the gender divide – at home and outside — is one of the significant ways Liberalisation Children will shape our society and culture. But that’s not all. Their global aspirations, a new materialistic lifestyle, unlimited possibilities for future and an optimistic outlook will have both subtle and significant impact on India as a society. Here are some:

A fling with new ideologies

Delhi-based Sikhi Gupta, 18, is hoping to get through to a mass media course in DU. She loves challenges, likes to be adventurous and creative. “I want to excel in whatever I do,” she says. But she has a passion – to work for animals. “That’s one thing I strongly feel about.” There are many Liberalisation Children like Gupta, who in their small-big way are/will be pursuing their passions – from water conservation to environment and global warming.

“They do not have a deflected view,” says the Delhi-based sociologist Dipankar Gupta. And are not bogged down by global ideologies like socialism and Marxism. They will create their own. “Liberalisation children are not consciousness raising. They are conscience seeking,” he adds. Issues like gender equality, anti-racism, multi-culturalism, environment – things outside the state domain – will be closer to their heart. As a result, they will be “less hypocritical and far more genuine” in whatever they choose to pursue.

Glass half-full, not half-empty

For long India was a country of glass half-empty. There were many have-nots. And even the haves behaved like have-nots. Things are reversing with the liberalisation children’s power to dream and strive for it. “We were cynical, constantly focusing on problems and how to get around them,” says ICICI Bank HR head K Ramkumar. “Liberalised - these children of dreams only think of bigger dreams and new frontiers,” he adds.

But big dreams will also come with bigger heartbreaks. “They have embraced success even before the success has embraced them,” says Future Brands MD Santosh Desai. As a result many will be in classic denial mode. “You are going to see many disappointed people – who will begin to fall off,” he adds.

Hierarchical society going horizontal

Priyanka Todanakar’s life in a Mumbai chawl wasn’t easy. The youngest of three children, her father was a mill worker and mother worked as ward help to support the family. “The only thing my father could do was push us to dream and try hard,” says the 22-year-old graduate.

All three kids slogged – gave tuitions to support their studies. Today, her eldest sister, an M Com, is settled in the Gulf, married to an engineer. Her brother, an electrical engineer, works with an MNC in Mumbai. And she, a graduate, is studying work as a lab technician.

Struggle, hard work notwithstanding, liberalisation has made moving up easier for many at the lower rung. This economic mobility will spread wider and deeper with the Liberalisation Children. “I see horizontalisation of a very vertical Indian society,” says Publicis APAC regional strategist Partha Sinha.

In a vertical society, the top deck dictates and sets the agenda for the rest. Horizontalisation will change that. There will not be one best route, one mainstream - just multiple hybrids all equally acceptable. With myriad contradictions “validity and respect for alternate viewpoints will go up,” Mr Sinha says.

Goes without saying, Liberalisation Children will likely make Indian society far more heterogeneous and diverse.

Narcissism, greed will take its toll

The recycle nation is learning to spend, upgrade and live life on credit. With the economy being fuelled by consumption, they have seen us signal “greed is good. Consumption is good,” says BCG India chairman Arun Maira. This materialism is creating a transactional breed, who sees everything in life through the money lens.

Ask Natasha Singh, 17, who just passed out of the 12th to take up a three-year internship assignment at a five-star hotel in Bangalore. “Money is the most important thing - life is a struggle without it.” Society and companies will have to learn to live and cater to this materialistic and self-centered breed. During induction programmes, all they want to know is what we can do for them, rarely what they can do for companies,” says ITC agribusiness CEO S Siva Kumar.

Relationships too will suffer, says Mr Desai. Ms Yogi of IP college can already see it. Earlier she saw girls go through relationships and break-ups in college. “They were so devastated after their break-ups.” They took a long time to recover and move on. But these days they seem to be far more in control – “It was good till it lasted. Now just move on,” they say. “In a way its good but I don’t really know,” Ms Yogi says.

From an economic standpoint, there are serious implications. “Business is about individualisation of greed,” says Mr Maira. These kids will be great producers and consumers – which will make for a great economy. “But so focused on money and their own self – will they build a great society?”. With short-term goals, they will be prone to taking shortcuts in life, which could get disastrous sometimes.

Life isn’t all about money. Social living isn’t all about self. And if money brought happiness, the world’s largest economy – US – would have had the happiest people around. For Liberalisation Children, challenges will remain – just that new ones will replace the old.