Genration GAP

I do not identify wholly with my generation; but I am prudent enough to admit I have my reservations. I do not mean to be judgmental but that doesn’t mean I can be entirely objective. I am a bridge between my parents’ generation and mine but I do not blend into any of the two comfortably.
My generation (they keep changing the reference to W, X, Y ) is undoubtedly super-cosmopolitan, urbane and flexible. The people (more like young people) of my generation are driven (both materialistically and even spiritually), full of zeal and open to life’s surprises. Like a trait common in a unified tribe, they share an obsession for and/or impassioned by the notion of rebelliousness. Their sense of rebel is not highly idealistic. It doesn’t come from a desire to change the world or bring about anarchy unlike their counterparts of the seventies. Their rebellion is either to break free of the norms of society that are imposing, or to stand up against authoritarian figures. But most of all, their rebellion is for their Freedom- the much coveted f word.
I remember how my parents’ generation was when they were our age simply because parents never let us forget about how obedient and scrupulous they were. While our parents keep reminding us about their schoolbook perfect youth, we impishly study history and sociology in order to find out what really happened back then. We are duly surprised and shocked to find that that generation was more progressive, wicked, more mischievous, and certainly more experimental than we had been previously informed.
Every decade comes with its novel ideas and ways and every generation has its own predisposition that it considers to be supreme. Change is as inevitable as the seasons, but comparison can sometimes help put things in a better perspective.
From what I have seen people of my generation are fiercely independent, whimsically audacious and always have an opinion to offer. They have a strong sense of time and peer acceptance takes precedence over familial matters. They love a challenge and are always on the lookout for better and newer ones. They move away from tradition in a tangent and indefinitely gear towards the unexplored. They are fearless and compassionate as long as their ideals are concerned and open to alternate ways of doing things.
Traditions are set by previous generations. While some are time-honed and had been passed on through astute teaching and affirmative upbringing, others have been fabricated along the way. Every new generation, therefore, has more traditions to follow, so to speak. And every new generation also has new weapons to fight existing traditions and create new ones.
Battles between the generations are not only ideological; far less so. Changes in lifestyle are as stark as night and day; and generations that in reality are separate by a decade seem in practicality a century apart. In my parents’ generation most people had jobs as oppose to careers. The distinction between work and personal life was simple and clear: as soon as you come home you leave work behind and you are only concerned with family matters. This generation, in sharp contrast, virtually work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Even when not physically present at office, they can be easily reached through their pagers, cell phones etc. and summoned to work. Work does not end as soon as you come back home and more often than not, instead of choosing between the two, you bring your work home. Your work avatar mingles with your social avatar until they are a chaotic blend of many personalities.
My parents and others in their generation did not spend extra time on spiritual thoughts. They quenched their spiritual thirst in the living of the mundane things: revelations arrived from accidents, and realizations from mistakes. It was common knowledge that if you live long enough, or you have lived enough life, you automatically attain a certain level of self- insight. You find the answers to your questions as you go about living.
My generation wants the answers before they face the questions. They take time out from their hectic social life to do some bone-fide soul-searching. You cannot be at peace if you do not follow Feng Shui or do I-Ching. You cannot relax until you do something Zen. You are more regular in visiting your psychiatrist than you are in paying your bills. You search fruitlessly for a friend in your therapist: telling him/her your fears and apprehensions, and confiding in him about your innermost wishes and desires. You see in our parents’ time they used to call such a person a friend. But you, the typical by-product of globalization cannot have a friend as close to your heart because most of the people you know are those who compete with you in your workplace.
In my parents’ generation travel was a virtue, a ceremonious event that had some transcending motive. In our generation it is a necessity. You can work in one country and go on to assignments in four others in three days. You have breakfast in one hemisphere and brunch in another. You talk into your phone more than you talk to real people. You are so busy getting from one place to another that you do not have to see things around you.
In the old world (well it’s not old in actual time measures but technology can stretch time beyond imagination), things were slow perhaps even unproductive. But that also meant people had more strength for self-preservation. In the current world security is a luxury we cannot buy with money.
My fellow compatriots are global citizens in all aspects. They celebrate holidays and festivities from around the world along with their own. They speak several languages and live in different time zones. They work and live fast, they multitask and they rewrite history. They are dedicated to their causes and they can be frivolous in their relationships.
They do not retain let alone practice most of the values their parents taught them. Whatever is left over from the teachings of our parents’ era should be enough to carry us over to the next big phenomenon. Whenever we will reach the place where no psychiatrist and no Zen can help, these values can help restore faith in ourselves. For no matter how different one generation is from another, in essence human nature is optimistic. Humans seek comfort in memory and get strength from things of the past no matter how distracted you get, you can always come back full circle and end where you had begun. That’s what bridges are for.