All of us know and also accept that the youths of any country play an important role in the fast development of the nation. They represent the most dynamic, energetic and vibrant section of the society and are also the most valuable human resource of the country. It is good that our country is known as the country of young people as we have the largest population of youths (Individuals within the age group of 15-29 years as per the National Youth Policy). To say, besides the young professionals and students of college/university, some school students aged 15 years and above qualify to be called as youth in the normal sense. But, should the age, which is only a number, really be the only criteria to be called a person as youth in true sense?
Actually, many wise persons including
Swami Vivekananda are of the opinion that every youth should have some basic
qualities to really qualify for this term. They define youth broadly in these
words: He or she is a youth who fights against all evils; who is curious to learn
new things; who is physically and mentally strong; who is creative and
innovative; who possesses both good understanding and enthusiasm; who is a
solution finder; who creates history by his/her good deeds; who is not only a
talker, but a real doer.
If all persons,
particularly the youths evaluate themselves on this parameter, they will find
them lacking in one or more qualities. Of course, there is nothing abnormal
about it. Nobody is perfectly perfect and nobody is born with all the good or
bad qualities. Yes, trying to learn and improve has been the best policy
governing our life. All bad qualities and habits – may it be telling lies,
smoking, consuming alcohol, taking drugs, indulging in unlawful activities,
disrespecting and humiliating elders at home and outside; and many other bad
traits, we learn and practise here only. Of course, blaming others and
continuing with such bad habits is a futile attempt to safeguard oneself.
However, it is never too late to mend. And it is not correct to opine either
that there is no chance to stop practising bad habits and start a new journey
on an improvement path. There are many ways to do this and there are
innumerable examples of such turnaround stories in the public domain. But for
this to happen and happen in a sustained manner, the person concerned has to
take the call and make a firm decision to forget about the past and move
forward with a strong resolve and time bound action plan. The good people
around you can only motivate and help you to a limited extent, but the
requisite action is to be taken by you. Yes, you too can find many people who
at one point of time or other realised that they were moving on the wrong path
and then made a course correction to take the right path and achieved amazing
success in life.
The truth is that life gives you the opportunity – big or small to enrich and empower yourself with good qualities despite some constraints or difficulties – big or small.
Several well-known persons are of the firm view that the problem is part of
everybody’s life. Everybody is not fortunate to have cake walks in life. You
must have the courage and strength to build and shape your future amid multiple
hurdles and difficulties – known and unknown both. And if you claim to be a
young person in real sense, you have to prove not by your words but by your
deeds that you don’t expect a cake walk in life and are fully prepared to face
the challenges and are confident to move ahead successfully. Those young people
who have this positive attitude, they are not only able to lead a meaningful
life for themselves, but also are able to be the change agent for shaping the
life of others.
As always, I'm keen to know what you think on this subject. Hence, I request you to post your comments to share your valuable opinion. (hellomilansinha@gmail.com)
# Published in my Sunday Column of "Morning India" daily.
