Age truly is a number, that is everyday on the decline. Cities are populated with the young. As one tries to negotiate the snake like traffic on the congested roads in Bangalore, which swells up further on weekends, isn’t a pretty sight. There are impatient drivers with traffic that plies bumper to bumper with cars, Ola taxis and autos filling in young IT employees between the age group of 25 to 35 years of age, who have migrated into the city with their dream jobs. Cities like Mumbai and Bangalore is a reflection of changing India. One can find the constantly rising curve in migration towards a better future. The youngsters in Bangalore earn big salaries in the ever growing IT industry and in also other businesses. There is also a huge entrepreneurial environment, out of which many startup entrepreneurs started their journey at a very young age in the city. So most are inspired to start their own businesses in a similar fashion. With the promise of fulfilled dreams and the ever increasing wish list from life, they seek jobs with bigger salaries. Thereby some luckily get the right profile at work and manage to have a quick rise in spending power and also in their personal financial mobility. This in turn automatically empowers them to make choices of living a lifestyle that they covet. Earning a high salary at a young age makes them exude an air of confidence. Youngsters also are increasingly becoming more savvy as negotiators of their salaries. With the new found money power, there is a massive shift in aspirations among the youth of today. Most want to work hard but they want to party harder. The average youth isn’t too worried about savings or are not in a hurry to get married. Post pandemic most have begun to work online from the comfort of their homes or in cafés. They thrive in an office environment that work without too much hierarchy or strict rules. Many of the top Indian IT companies are raising concerns about employees taking up a second job alongside the primary job. Wipro recently fired 300 employees because they were moonlighting. The idea for them is to try to juggle multiple jobs, while sometimes being a full time employee. Many often see no wrong in this arrangement. The idea for them is to earn as much as you can. Gone are the days when one could find employees who worked all their lives in one single company. It is like finding a dinosaur walking in a mall. The pride now is in the number of jobs you have changed for better pay. Most youngsters in Bangalore are seen during weekends in groups, either entering pubs or exiting after a night of serious drinking and dancing. Some girls in the groups can be seen inebriated, which was unimaginable in the past. It was an alien concept where social conditioning and conservatism, made women choose to be seen within the morality limits of behaviour, therefore being drunk or out of control was considered indecent. The difference is that it is now okay to discuss hangovers and the remedies among a parent and child too. Bars and pubs in Bangalore and in the major cities of India, are not gender biased, making it a safe place for women to party too. Therefore more number of women can be found smoking and drinking more openly than what their aunties or mothers could ever imagine. Many millennials have been born to parents who were the first time family wealth creators. The pressure to own a home is mostly off the youngsters shoulders. Many who come into larger cities from smaller towns, give up the old life, where they were raised with a different set of values. Their parents viewed money and success very differently, from them. Most were witness to parents who were and still are guilty of spending their earned money. The parents subjugated themselves to fit in within the rules that their parents had set for them. Among those rules, one was to respect the head of the family, irrespective of his behaviour. He was the father and he decided how money was going to be spent, increased or created. This has drastically changed now. Most young people who are born in already fairly secure financial homes, definitely don’t see the need to save money to build a new house. They have better ways to spend their cash. Talking to Nivedita Sen, who works in an IT firm in Bangalore said : “I don’t wish to settle down, have children, get stuck and married like my older sister. I travel a lot and have met few men. Most are friends with benefits. I am happy to be single and don’t want the restrictions of a marriage”. Society today has the Gen Z and the millennials. They are changing the way the world till date has viewed norms of living the ideal life. In this context most are not willing to live a life of sacrifice. They prioritise themselves over anyone ever. However, as many old timers disagree, with this way of life, one can’t not listen to this voice of the total youth population which has increased from 222.7 million in 1991 to 333.4 million. It is projected to reach 371.4 million by 2021 and thereafter, decrease to 345.5 million by 2036. With this surge in the number of young people, their voice of dissent of leading a life on their terms can’t be deafened nor can it not be heeded to. Most are ok to struggle to pay EMIs for their fancy cars. They have shifted cities to live the dream life of working, staying with a friend, which can be of any gender. They pool in cash to pay the rent of the apartment, the salary of the cook and the cleaner. All they want is to live life and explore all opportunities before they are tied down with responsibilities which they find oppressive, unattractive and most unappealing.
Mohua Chinappa is an author and a podcaster of a show called The Mohua Show.