Parents VS kids

1. Then:

You guys had no Internet, thanks to which you guys had the most memorable childhood memories and no 9gag or Tumblr eating up your time. 

Now:

We live, breathe, eat, speak, talk Internet. We're obviously more aware of things than our parents but when it comes to non virtual work- we fail. Miserably. 

2. Then: 

Your eating, sleeping habits were on point. You'd have a daily routine that you would followed which made you a much more disciplined than any other generation. 

Now: 

Lolol, what is sleep? Food- pizza, pizza, any cheese, oh and pizza. 

I'm sorry did I hear someone say 8:00 am? That's practically the middle of the night. 

3. Then: 

You guys were so scared of your parents especially your dad that you didn't have the guts to look them in the eyes because of which most don't have open conversations about what they actually want to do in life, and you guys live with "what ifs" and all your dreams which you couldn't complete cause you didn't have the nerve to do what you want or go against your parents wishes. 

Now: 

It's not changed much from then, but yes, we kids at least have to nerve to convey our dreams, if we run after them or not? Now that's circumstantial I think.  

4. Then

You guys seemed more self assured than this Gen Y for sure. 

Maybe it's because you don't have social networks to ruin your self image after seeing the other people lifestyles (pretentious even so). 

Now:

Self assurance is something of the myths cause you might self assure others but are lost when it comes down to oneself. Whether it's ones self image, body, social life, life goals. Everything is so damn scary and almost everyone has a complex which leads to self destruction. 

5. Then

The level of competition was negligible compared to present. I'm not saying there wasn't, obviously what's life without a little competition? 

Now: 

Life's a joke- you're in the 2nd most populated country and not that it's full of airheads, oh no, you're competing with sleep deprived, hard working, parents pressured kids. That's all. Not one- but about a million of such kids. Hey no pressure kiddo. 

6. 

You guys complain or boast (I'm confused which) about how your pocket money was 40-50 rupees and your parents never spent more than 300-400 rupees on your whole childhood. Or complain about how you guys didn't get new shoes or clothes like ever considering all were hand me downs from your siblings. What you guys don't realise is that you guys learnt the real value of money the hard way, and is something to be very very proud off. 

Now: 

Our Starbucks latte comes for 200-300 bucks. 500-1000 is cheap for us and we burn money like its nobody business. "Baap ka paisa." after all. 

7. Then:

Your school fees was like 10-12 rupees, and you guys never ever forget to remind us this. But please try to get that we kids are in a very very expensive generation. That costs of living are higher- your days are gone. It's a little unfair to compare your cost of livings with ours just cause of the massive change in economy. It's not our fault that the onions are as expensive as gold okay? 

Now: 

More expensive, better quality. Let's show off the brands of all that we're wearing in our hash tags so that people know I don't do cheap. Come on guys- I know we can we better than just brands and stupid labels. There life more than that- and we need to start learning the value of money, the sooner the better. Our "baap ka paisa" will run out sooner or later and then what? 

8. Then:

You guys did have people who drink, smoked or did drugs. But it was all under the covers. But a very less fraction. 

Now:

Having a social life = late night partying + drinking/smoking. 

Kids these days smoke like nobody's watching, do drugs to follow a new fad. Sometimes I feel that the peer pressure and the whole tension to do well knowing that there are probably 100 people better than you leading to such extreme measures. But drugs and smoking are inexcusable habits

9. Then: 

Due to lack of technology, you guys had the privilege to explore all the possibilities and try out new things. Anything you did was new.

Now: 

We're following fads to go vintage. If we have a eureka moment- just google it. 10 million people have already been there or spent that. It's more and more difficult to stand out. So we spend all our time trying to fit in. Originality is lost. Very few get to stand out which is a tremendous achievement! 

10. Then: 

Romance was something special and oh so chivalrous and filmy. From writing letters to stealing glances at the local park- romance those days were something different. 

Now: 

Lol, romance? You mean he/she liked my facebook/Instagram post. That's so romantic. Or she/he send me a text first- best day of my life. It's a virtual bubble we live in- and virtual romances and online dating is something I can't fathom. At all. I'm sure our romance stories will start something like this: "It's all began when she/he sent me a Instagram/Facebook request." 

But all it all- teenagers will be teenagers. This or past generations: there's some traits that we can't get rid off. From rebellion against parents to crushes, to pressure. We're all on the same page somehow. 

Serendipitous meetings?

As she sat, waiting for the bus; She could feel the trickle of sweat cascading down her neck. But at the same time the sudden temperature drop and a cold gush of wind chilled her to her very bones. Flabbergasted at the ever changing minds of the weather gods, she ran to a nearby cafe, in hopes of drying off. 

The cafe was crowed and the hustle of people annoyed her to the point that she decided to walked out in the stormy weather; which seemed like the grey scale of doom would wail out its misery anytime soon. Out of the corner of her eye- She finally found an empty bench which was canopied by an umbrella. Though the bench was occupied by an old man,she went on her way in hopes that she would have come company till the storm passed. Just as she got closer- she realised that the man was smoking a cigar and having a very sensitive throat to smoke, she thought of going someplace else when the rain started pelting on her back. She quickly jumped under the umbrella with a peevish smile on her face as she watched the startled look on his face. 

They sat in awkward silence as the smell of stale smoke hung in the air and the only light -was coming from the lit end of his cigar. "Weird weather, eh?" He asked, to which she just shrugged. Finally noticing her uneasiness, he put out his smoke and gave her an dry smile. Noticing his  relaxed posture, his aged wrinkled skin, his small beady eyes, she tried to read as to what kind of background he may be from, when suddenly he said, "I smoke to die."

Curious by the way he told me such a private so easily, she just shrugged and said,"Hey, no judgements. Do what you gotta do, but smoking is never the answer, nor will it ever be. There many other ways to be sad and pretend to want to die. But you know they say to each their own." 

He just smiled and lit another smoke. "Do you like the world?" 

"Yes...no...well most of the times" she flustered. 

"Why? What's to like- good people die, bad people die, strong people die, weak people die, chaos is hiding around every corner of our life, we can't wait to live but at the same time we die without living. Smokers die, non smokers die. Everyone just have a different amount of time allotted. That's it." he said. 

The despair and the morbidly of the truth behind his statement made her skin tingle . She couldn't figure out if it was out of astonishment or if she just was uncomfortable with the thought of having such a morbid topic as a 'small talk'. His piercing eyes stared curiously into hers while his words sunk in. 

"Listen here mister, you might think you have nothing to live for, and this whole "world is an evil hell and we're all just waiting to die" is not the way to go about. I agree, we're all on a time limit and there chaos and imbalance everywhere. But that's the thing, that's where the true essence of living truly lies. Waking up, taking shit from people, finding happiness with your loved ones, feeding yourself, taking care when everyone is trying to take you down, stumbling across problems at very moment and waking up and repeating everything. That's the guts, and courage we all need. The moment we run out of that courage portion, our time ends too." 

Seemingly startled at the girl's outburst he asked, "Why is there so much imbalance in every equation though? There is good and there is bad, there is calm and there is angry, there is supposedly a white and black area, but that's bull. We call know that it's all grey, no white, no black. So if there is a god, why is he so unfair? And who made him the leader of what we are granted and what we are not, what lies in our fate? Everything is twisted in ways I refuse to fathom. Explain me this whole equation of this God?"

The ends of her lips curved upwards and she said, "Imbalance is the very existence of balance, like bad is of good. Everything is intertwined in a network that is out of reaches of us mere humans. The faster you accept that- the happier you'll be and the faster you'll leave the world peacefully. The worlds full of misery- we hardly need you to add on, so try to keep you head above water. And keep swimming."

The old man's wrinkles suddenly seemed to disappear as he tried to inhale the depth of her words as silenced enveloped them. 

As they parted ways, she quietly quoted her favorite author, "The world is not a wish-granting factory my friend." To which he gave a sad smiled and they quietly slipped into the shadows, probably stained forever with insight they've never asked for but unknowingly it's marked them. For good or bad? We'll never know.