How Can We Guide India's Youth Towards a Brighter Future? Let's Discuss Solutions

Hello Friends, Recently, I was asked to address the management students of a B-school. I took some slides from the presentation and have attached them here for your review. Please share your comments.

Youth Achievements and Challenges

Every now and then, we hear about the great achievements of school children or college students. However, the majority of the youth seem to lack direction. They are expected to lead and shape the future of the country, creating a world of peace and prosperity.

Seeking Solutions for Youth Direction

Given the current situation, how can we correct this path? Can we discuss possible solutions?

Thank you.

Dear Rao, The slides have started off very well. It would be nice if you could add more slides on how they can be contributing members of society and what responsibilities they have towards family and the nation. You can also add what their personal benefits would be if they focus on goals that are worthwhile. It's a nice thought!

Regards,
Dhannya

Hi Dhanya,

I did that. As instructed, this is a motivational speech I delivered to MBAs. Now, in this context, I omitted some parts because I specifically want to hear from the youth as well. Thank you for your feedback.

I am amazed at the provocative message in the slides. I am sure K S Rao's idea is to trigger a debate. I have been away from India for over 40 years. However, I have been visiting India every year for the past 10 years. I do not get the impression that all young people fit the picture depicted in the slides.

Even 50 years ago, we had students coming from other states to Bangalore to study Engineering, some of whom gave the impression that they had come to drink, eat masala dosa, and enjoy movies. If our intention is to ensure that the youth grow up to be responsible citizens, then we (parents, teachers, and the media) have to take the right initiatives and pursue the right path.

Have a lovely day.

Regards,
Simhan
A retired academic in the UK

Thank you for the comments. I really don't mean all the youth are the way I depicted, but the majority is like that. I wish and dream that the majority should be achievers, and some may be like the ones in my posting. Only then can the dream of India becoming a Super Power come true. As you correctly said, this provocation is only meant to trigger a debate.

Regards,

You have raised a very good topic. The youth of India are really going in an undirectional way; that is because we don't have the right leader who can guide all the youths in the right direction. I would say that, for a while, we had Abdul Kalam in the recent days, who was showing the sense of direction to the people of India.

Political System and Youth Leadership

First and foremost, the political system needs to change. Youths should cultivate leadership qualities and work sincerely to lead the country. This change should come from each one of the Indian youths.

Regards,
Lakshminarayana
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Dear KS Rao,

Please add some slides of people who have achieved great things in their youth, like Bill Gates and Tendulkar. This will help convey the message more effectively and leave a stronger impact on their minds.

Regards,
Sarana

The Youth of India: Values and Direction

The youth of India, in the majority, have lost their values and direction. The blame is not only on the leaders (so-called) but also on the shoulders of their own families from where they get their values. What we preach as parents is not heard by the youth; rather, they observe how we live. We are giving them too much freedom at the cost of morals and values, and this is the real culprit. The youth desire to be counted as "Forward" in society. To be considered "Forward," they feel they need to be "Experienced." Without experiencing the so-called high society activities—partying, boozing, relationships, and many more—they believe they will not be considered modern enough. Easy money and riches are their desires, along with fashionable looks, apparel, accessories, gadgets, bikes, and autos. Satisfying the needs of girlfriends and boyfriends is driving the youth crazy and leading them to resort to many evils and crimes. Newspapers are filled with news of such crimes by highly educated young men and women. Why do they indulge in such crimes? Have they witnessed their own family elders earning money through unfair means? Let's all, as parents, elders, leaders, and teachers, ponder over these thoughts and join together to give direction to our youth.

Dear KS Rao, you have asked to address a very good topic. The youth of India are really going in the wrong direction; this is because we don't have the right leaders who can guide all the youths in the right direction. I would say for a while we had Abdul Kalam in recent days, who was showing a sense of direction to the people of India.

The first and foremost thing is that we need to change the political system. Youths should cultivate leadership qualities and work sincerely to lead the country. It should come from each one of the Indian youths.

Regards, Lakshminarayana
[Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Your presentation is incomplete. What exactly are you trying to convey? It would be great if you establish the purpose of this presentation.

Discussion on Youth Trends

About the discussion going on here... I think the main reason why youth is going in the wrong way could be the imitation tendency, technically called the "demonstration effect." The middle and lower class are trying to imitate the upper class. This has led the youth to be loan bearers at a young age. Guys and girls take loans as soon as they get a job and spend it on bikes, jewelry, designer dresses, cars, trips, etc.

Impact of IT Culture

The IT culture is another issue. Working like a donkey for 5 days a week and then allowing themselves luxury through booze and parties is the trend. The peer culture forces others to be involved in such activities. If you don't do all these, then you are considered old-fashioned or conventional, which is not a very "cool" image. Most of the youth try to grab attention by involving in such activities and by attending parties. They are forgetting that personality and character are the most important aspects in life.

Thank you for triggering the debate. I made a presentation containing 45 slides providing direction and solutions to correct the youth. This is a presentation I created for the students of a B School. Intentionally, I omitted certain parts because I want to gather public opinion and then refine the presentation. Anyway, thanks for your comments.

Regards,

Youth of India: A Call to Action

I will not agree with the argument/ppt; not every youth of India is like that. Many are struggling hard for their goals. There might be some percentage in every country, and ours is a nation with the best traditions and culture that we have been following for thousands of years. Like a coin (both heads and tails will be there), people will live according to their environment. Moreover, instead of saying we don't have good leaders, good politicians, etc., why not try to be a good citizen? Try to be a good citizen of India, and the probability of others following you will be higher.

Instead of criticizing others, if we can do something good for society and live as a model for others, it will help us achieve our vision.

Yes, the focus should be on the positive tendencies of the young. There was no time in history or in modern times that these kinds of cultural, political, social, and religious onslaughts were/are not there. The solution is not to harp on the negativities but to put emphasis on the positives. The majority of young people in India are still God-loving, respectful, and law-abiding. Our work should be to inspire them to take up challenges in life. Life has both possibilities - right or wrong. Urge them to take the right path. Eventually, they will all find the right way and make India proud.

Dear Rao, Better discard this presentation, as you would be presenting just the gloomy side of the youth. Contrary to your views in your last post, it is not the majority of such youth; rather, it is a very small proportion of the total youth population of India if you were to conduct a real survey. Therefore, don't attempt to portray just the dark side of that very small part of the youth to fill their minds with negativism. You are going to address the budding managers, where you need to make their career somewhat inspiring. However, you would be labeling those aspiring managers as loafers and unruly vandals only. I am sure the management students would not appreciate your speech and might walk out rather than listen to it. It would be better to persuade them to align their profession with visionary leadership, innovation, and idealism. Aim to make the occasion a memorable function rather than a bitter pill for them. Regards, PS Dhingra Vigilance & Transformation Management Consultant Dhingra Group of Management & Educational Consultants New Delhi

The Present-Day Youth: A New Perspective

The present-day youth are better than those of our generation. They are clear in what they want and are prepared to work for the same.

In a tropical country with a multilingual population of more than 100 crores, some aberrations—in elders' view—like chilling out are bound to occur. T N Seshan, the ex-CEC of India, used to say in meetings that our generation has let down the country. The youth are making waves. They sweat and toil to increase the share of the services sector's contribution to India's GDP. They are our nation's pride—we should nurture them and guide them if they really go wrong.

Hello friends, thanks for your excellent interaction and continued debate. There are some who received a wrong signal in my posting. I never said that the total youth is getting degenerated. As said by somebody, the present generation is definitely better than the past. But let me ask this: In a class of 60, how many toppers are there? In a group of 300 final year students in B Tech or B school, how many are getting jobs in top companies? I find many national survey numbers stating employability skills are as low as 15-20%. What does it mean?

Do you think this generation nurtures a good value system? For them, those values are changing and they feel they need to be redefined. I don't agree fully, but maybe here and there you need to redefine in accordance with the changing societies. But overall, respecting elders, parents, gurus (teachers and faculties), speaking truth, taking care of parents in their old age, etc., these things don't change. But the outlook is getting changed in the present generation, which doesn't appear to be good.

Pained by this, I resorted to address these issues to the college students. They received this very keenly. The presentation was not a criticism; rather, it became an eye-opener. I received excellent attention and interest.

I purposefully omitted the second half of the presentation, only to ignite a discussion and receive public opinion and debate.

Thanks to all of you for your excellent feedback.

Regards, KS Rao

Dear Mr. KS Rao, you are right. But before directing youth, directing parents is very important and necessary. I feel that most parents expect more from their children than they have to offer. In this regard, if you have any ideas for youth, I would be happy to work with you in the Pune area. I have an aptitude test that shows students' strengths and weaknesses.

Regards,
Madhuri
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Dear Rao, It is great if you have received excellent attention and interest from the students of the B School. However, if you purposely omitted half of your presentation from the HR community, that was an act of dishonesty on your part to garner only partial views from the community and to invite criticism. You could have provided the full presentation for a comprehensive evaluation of the pros and cons, allowing the community to offer honest and critical feedback on your actual presentation. Asking for views on only half of your presentation was not justified.

Your example of many students (out of a class of 60) not becoming toppers does not indicate that all those students who do not become toppers are spoiled or incapable. When discussing the youth of India as a whole, you should have addressed a broader perspective rather than focusing on a specific section of students from a single class of 60. If you had chosen a more inclusive topic, you could have compared students from at least 10 different B schools of varying quality across India to make a more relevant survey.

For instance, if one HR manager in an office is ineffective, it does not imply that all HR managers in India or the world are also incompetent.

Nevertheless, I still disagree with your views, as the part of your presentation displayed sheer negativism, and by withholding the other part of your presentation from the community, you may be the only one aware of whether that part was positive or negative.

You may be aware that in any institution, there is a system of feedback provided to guest faculty by the students. Before assuming that the students of the B school showed excellent attention and interest in your presentation, I would suggest you consider the feedback given by the students.

Regards, PS Dhingra Vigilance & Transformation Management Consultant Dhingra Group of Management & Educational Consultants New Delhi

This discussion is like the blind men trying to describe an elephant. I viewed the slides presented by Rao again and found that the messages in them are based not on facts but on his opinions. For example, what percentage of the youth fit the description on slide 5 (roaming at night and sleeping till 9 am, closing books and teasing girls)? In medical research, such opinions are considered as "useful as background resources, and the least clinically relevant" (please see slide 16 of my presentation on Research Methodology attached at CiteHr).

Have a nice day,
Simhan

Dear Mr. Rao, I have gone through your incomplete PPTs and read some of the comments as well. I respect the thoughts of all those who have responded. However, I beg to differ. I am almost 40 years old now, and the impression from most comments is that the youth today are scoundrels while we were saints at that age. Maybe most who have responded were, I probably was the only one different, but I can only speak for myself.

I was in Pune for 5 years and interacted with a lot of youth during my time there. Of course, the teenage urge to rebel, the usual 'ho-gung' way was prevalent among the youth. However, there was also a strong desire to excel. Even a class 8 student could tell you where he/she wanted to be in 5 years from now, what his/her area of interest was, and how he/she had planned to get there. Youth today are much more mature, serious, career-oriented, and fun-loving (no problem with that, I suppose, as long as they do not infringe upon other people's space). Thanks to the idiot box and the internet, they are more broad-minded, better informed, and more intelligent than I was at that age.

There are black sheep everywhere, but that could be due to upbringing, the environment at home/surroundings.

Sorry, Mr. Rao, if I have disrupted the linear thought process and disappointed you. These are my views only, and you are welcome to delete them at your will.

Regards,

Ajay Bairoliya
Freelance Trainer in CRM, Hospitality, Spoken English, and Soft Skills
Ph: [Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons] / [Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

skillsgalore: How to break into a group
Ajay Bairoliya - India | LinkedIn

Dear Ajay, I wish that you had read all the comments before replying. I am not sure if you read mine just above yours. Comments based on opinions are only useful but not really relevant.

The Role of Technology in Education

The technology has broadened the knowledge base, and many know what they want to do. However, there are those who do not know what they want to do (just as I did not know over 60 years ago). There are also those who get enrolled in courses because their parents say so or because friends have done so.

Generalization on Student Quality

Based on the number of students that seek help at CiteHr, we cannot generalize on the quality of students, as only a minority of those who attend colleges seek help here.

I hope you will find the time to see my presentation on Research Methodology at CiteHr.

Have a lovely weekend.

Regards, Simhan

The picture presented is a matter of concern. However, what is the percentage of these youths? The students of business schools should get stimulus to reduce this percentage and work for the have-nots to achieve equity and sustainability of development.

Hello Mr. Rao, I may be a little inexperienced in all these things, but this is not the only picture of the Indian youth. There are other aspects as well. Many young boys and girls are becoming aware of their future and taking it seriously. We can take some initiatives to bring back those individuals who are distracted from their path. For example, we can give them motivational speeches or seminars starting from an early stage, like from the 10th grade. Showing them the possibilities of their future through examples from other nations and highlighting cases of individuals who went astray can be beneficial. This issue can be resolved through good and healthy communication.

Dear Rao,

Good message.

In India, still more than 50% of youth do not have adequate food or education, are without family, and lack any support. Many youth are working for daily wages. Please do not forget to include these points in your PPT.

With Best Wishes,
Parthiban

Dear Rao, Great thought, great ignition. It's an eye-opener. So, I think we can add the idea of 'skills, individuality, and values'. If they keep values forever, even by changing their skill and individuality to higher levels, I believe only values can control us in the era of personal penetration of media.

Thank you,
Naushad V Moosa
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