Generation Gap in India

Quite often do we come across situations wherein we have a healthy dispute with our elders (especially parents) about our low waists or probably the knee-cuts or maybe the late nights or one of the thousands of “issues”. Sports Vs TV Games, Home Made Vs Fast Food & so on – it’s a miniature battlefield out there! So what is all this about? The young getting careless – or the elders getting tougher? Well, practically, it’s none of these. What we have here is a Generation gap. Technically, it is defined as occurring “when older and younger people do not understand each other because of their different experiences, opinions, habits and behavior”. So ultimately what comes out is a series of clashes running haywire all across the world. Before concentrating on the Generation Gap in countries like India, let us have a look at its worldwide history. The 1920s introduced the newer generation to jazz music & dance halls, thus creating a socalled gap between them & their elders. But the real cause behind the widening of this gap lies in the 1950s (often pronounced as the age of Baby Boomers) wherein soldiers had just returned from the wars & had begun having families. The veterans, being slightly tough in nature, naturally detested the youth, who were highly influenced by the introduction of the rock culture. The next big gag was created in 1980s which gave birth to the MTV era. Pop, Rock, etc. just poured in from all sides, drowning the new generation altogether away from their elders. This gap then started widening drastically in the 1990s & today, it has expanded in leaps and bounds. Now let us concentrate on the history of Generation Gap in India. Far back in the 1920s or so, the families in India lived by certain unwritten rules. Women (& girls) spoke back very rarely to their husbands or fathers. The youngsters too, rarely spoke back. It can be noticed that the condition of Indian economy (not to forget the reign of the outsiders) was directly