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Death of Romance Sunanda Vashisht Sunanda was born in the beautiful valley of Kashmir, India when Kashmir was known for its unparalleled natural beauty and not as a cauldron of fear and terror. She did most of her schooling in Delhi and dabbled with several professions before moving to U.S last year. She is currently pursuing higher studies here. she likes to introduce herself as an explorer because she wants to spend all her time in this world exploring unknown. Writing for her is a cathartic experience. She can't remember when she began writing first but she does know that writing has always helped her to be at peace with herself and with the world around her.

Couple of year's back I was sitting in my Delhi apartment with some of my friends. It was a sunny winter afternoon and all of us were enjoying the intoxicating winter sun. I switched on the television and while surfing the channels I suddenly spotted an old Hindi Classic movie. It was Bimal Roy's Devdas, one of the finest and most tragic love stories ever made on Indian screen. Of course all those who have seen the movie will recall that the character of Devdas was played so effectively by Dilip Kumar that he came to be known as King of Tragedy after this movie. As I sat glued to the television watching Devdas's battle with the bottle and himself probably for the 50th time I was moved yet again by this man's passion for his beloved. All of us were quietly watching the scene when a friend of mine got up from his seat and said loudly "What a loser man!" most of my other friends echoed his sentiments. They argued that it was a waste of a precious life to be pining away for a woman whom you loved once and now is somebody else's wife. They could not fathom that if Devdas knows that he can never have his Paro ever again why is he hell bent on killing himself for her. " Why doesn't this man get on with life. A complete loser, this Devdas character is guys," the same friend concluded.

I tried to argue in vain about love superseding all other emotions and of course this man could not help it. "Love can do this to you guys," I tried telling them. "What rubbish!" the same friend, who is now a successful lawyer from Oxford, snubbed me. " Would you kill yourself for unrequited love?" He asked me with a scorn. I was still in College and young blood circulated in my veins. I said loudly "If I loved someone truly yes I would" Roars of Laughter followed my declaration and the same friend said, " You are such a loser!"

My voice got submerged in peels of laughter and I realized that I was in minority here and everywhere. The idea of dying for somebody in love was light-years away from my generation. I suddenly felt middle-aged and old fashioned. Some people like me, I guess are born middle-aged and I suppose die middle-aged.

I thought about incident few days ago and started wondering. Maybe love stories exist only in books now. Although the sale of Valentine Cards and flowers have gone considerably up in India and I guess everywhere else but where is the romance? 'Love is in the air" some advertisement claimed. I sighed and said; "I don't see it" What has gone wrong with this generation? It is not that they don't fall in love, but they fall out of love as quickly as they fall in it.

I was speaking to a bunch of young people on campus one day and I asked them "Who were their role models?" Most of them echoed in the same voice "Bill Gates and back in India Dhirubhai Ambani". I thought that 25 years ago it would probably have been Gandhi or Subash Chander Bose. And when I asked them the reason for their choice a young man probably in his late teens said "Don't you see the amount of money they have made in their lives. Bill Gates started Microsoft in a garage and Ambani worked at a gas station." "So?" I asked trying not to sound stupid. "And see where are they now. They have made so much wealth that it is unbelievable" "But Money isn't everything" I said softly trying not to test their patience. "Of course it is!" They looked at me as if I had just landed from an alien planet. "Money is Power. People respect you only if you have money and that is my ambition in life. I want to be a millionaire before I touch 30" the young man said. All his buddies looked at him with awe and were deriving inspiration from him. "That is the way to go Buddy!" One of his friends said. I was already feeling lost. I asked them what they felt about Bhagat Singh. A Pretty Young Thing who was sitting in tank top and made sure that her waist line didn't exceed the prescribed limit for PYT'S said with a lot of confidence "Oh I read about this sardarji in my history books when I was a kid. He was the same guy who, I forget right now, but I think he killed some British officer and he was actually laughing when they hung him. How cool! " I looked at her and asked if she would do the same if she was in his situation. She looked at me and philosophically said,"That was a different age. Nobody does any of those things now." Had any of them read "My experiments with Truth" was my final question to which they answered, "Of course not"

"What kind of books do people in college read these days" I asked.

"Who has the time to read books, they are such a waste of time. All our time is spent is preparing for competitive exams for MBA 'S and things like that and of course we are also learning computers besides that, where is the time to read books" I couldn't bear any more. I got up and was finally convinced that I didn't belong here. Gone are the days when parents used to gift their children books like "My experiments with Truth" and '"Discovery of India" now they only buy them "Preparing for GMAT" and "Guide to getting in IIT'S". I remember quite clearly that a week before my board exam for 12th grade (supposed to be a very crucial exam in India), I actually went and bought myself "A passage to India" and I would study for the exams in the day and in the night when my mother thought I was sleeping I would be reading Passage to India with the help of a torch light. And I did extremely well in boards and all other exams after that. Such passion for reading or pursuing any kind of art form doesn't exist today for some reason. I guess it doesn't fetch you any money so why waste your time. The emphasis today is on becoming a "well -skilled person" instead of a "well-read person". The passion for earning money quickly supersedes all other passions. There was a time when Youth was associated with radicalism and rebellion. Not any more. The young people today want to conform to everything. They want to change nothing; they want to introduce nothing new to the society. They just want to make their first million before 30.They don't feel strongly about anything, they are not passionate about eradicating social evils, they don't want to take out processions against injustice, they don't want to know what the local politician is doing in their area. They just want to worry about their first million. It is sad very sad. But where did we go wrong, where did we lose the touch. My father used to tell me that when Emergency was declared in the country thousands of young people left schools and colleges and protested against the injustice. They rebelled, they were put in jails their careers were ruined, but did they care, of course not!

That was the time when people did not believe in individual success. They believed in the society succeeding together. They believed in sharing sorrows and happiness. They believed in moving together. Before I sound like a hopeless lawyer of socialism, I want to make one thing clear. I belong to this Generation x as it is called. I believe that 'Nothing succeeds like success' I believe in cutthroat competitions and I also believe in achievements and I also believe in earning money. But at the same time I also stand for rebellions for a cause, I stand for giving a hand to the people who may not be as privileged as I am, and not sound condescending at all when I say that, and I want to have a comfortable life but I want others around me to have a comfortable life too. My heart still weeps when my countrymen are fighting natural disasters like floods and earthquakes. I want to help them because they are my countrymen not because if I do so I will get written about in newspapers and my photographs will be splashed on TV screens. I was discussing this situation with a friend the other day and she remarked probably correctly that there are no issues worth fighting for or dying for. Everybody is selfish in the present scenario and everyone is looking at personal interests. How can you not be cynical in a country where every single politician is corrupt, where the government is busy in solving Mandir-Masjid dispute rather than worrying about the eradicating illiteracy or making drinking water accessible to every single person in the country. There is no hope for India and that is why youth are disenchanted. That is why Ambani and Gates are the role models, and that is why individual success is all-important. She is probably right. We have treaded a complete wrong path and our vision is clouded. But doesn't that mean this is the time for revolution?

Shouldn't the young men and women instead of saying 'chalta hai" get up and say this cannot continue. Where are all the firebrand writers of earlier days who said
"sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil mein hain
dekhna hai zor kitna baazuey kaatil mein hain"
Hundreds of young men and women took to streets after getting inspired by this one couplet.

I think it is high time that youth all over the country get together and say 'Down with Anarchy" Sure there are no alternatives, sure every single person there is corrupt, but that doesn't mean that if there are no alternatives we will go on with what we have. Let us rise and rebel. Most heads that are at the helm of affairs will fall, maybe every single head there will fall but out of chaos will then emerge New India. It is time to don the mantle of freedom fighters yet again and free India from the shackles of corruption and nepotism. All that requires vision and I haven't lost hope yet. The youth today are the architects of modern India. Let us worry about bigger goals than making few millions and owning Mercs and Armani suits. We surely are capable of bigger things. Let us act now before it gets too late. Let us usher in the age of Romance once again.

Until we connect again....

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