The Gen Y Syndrome

 

After a heated debate with my 10- year old, we settled to verify with the know-it-all Google. The question was whether I belonged to Gen X, Y or Z. Though we found contradictory statements, we finally agreed with what AI threw up with a beautiful image. I was declared a 'Gen Y or Millenial', ones born between 80s to mid 90s, typically the 90's kids. My mother who is apparently a 'Baby Boomer' as per the categorisation (wonder who named them that!) intervened stating it was called generation gap in their days, but hadn't heard of any specific names.

In the 90s, when we were busy watching Tom and Jerry and Shaktimaan, we didn't realise that larger elements like globalisation and liberalisation were slowly changing our lifestyles, everything from the food we ate to the content we watched on television. Not having the 'Skip' option meant that we learnt to wait during Ad breaks; tolerance is really a virtue to practise. And we definitely used more of our hands, limbs and heads those days. Life then was much more peaceful with new attractions like the growing number of satellite-based television channels and internet slowly creeping into our households. However, the pace at which they crept into the living rooms was fairly in control. 

Ironically, this is the generation that spent a good part of their childhood appeasing their parents, and now continues a larger part of their adulthood appeasing their kids. A generation that believed all through childhood that their parents knew-it-all, but struggles to compete with technology to convince their kids that we know-it-too. A generation torn between elderly parents who are quick to flag the parenting flaws on one hand and kids who demand privacy and independence in their choices on the other. A generation that feels out of place on Facebook and unwelcome on Instagram, we ultimately end up reading what others are building on LinkedIn.

I respect the loyalty of my parents' generation that spent two or more decades working for a single company; yet I know it wouldn’t work for me. I admire the clarity of the Gen Z in terms of their personal and professional ambitions; but again I couldn't act irrationally. I see myself carrying a scale, not knowing where to draw the line. My only solace is talking to a fellow Gen Y who is equally lost and fumbling in the dark. No wonder, we grew up checking on the neighbour's house when the electricity was gone.

Nevertheless, we are proud we belong to probably the last of generations that was made of mettle. We survived long electricity cuts playing Antakshari; we can still breathe when out of network coverage. We can watch our entire marriage album and recall at least 80% of the people, as we had practiced relying on memory. Austerity is in our blood, remember we sustained with the 24-film camera we carried on a 4-day school trip. We had been reprimanded at school, teased by seniors, but back then never heard of the word depression. We are like frogs, that can live in both the worlds, quietly making our choices while sticking to norms. The biggest challenge we face is the parenting challenge, we don’t have a user manual like our parents did (I guess they followed their parents and it worked!) What with the constant reminder on right parenting, we keep doubting our ways!

Regardless, I continue my role as the watchdog, watching out for the creepy crawlies that enter our homes not through doors but through the gadgets and devices, that can turn our world upside down.