Ibonio D’Souza
Youth are no more children, nor have they the frenzied responsibilities of adulthood; they are at a stage where they can mould history. All revolutionary changes for progress have been made by youth, but in order to do this, they must know history; the mistakes made and the changes brought about in the past. They must have the knowledge, the right judgement, and the capacity to plan.
The old gang of cronies and bandicoots who have been wielding power will neither allow them to change anything, nor will they themselves do anything new. The old will follow the old orthodox methods. Since they lack the capacity to absorb changes, it is but natural that they can neither see new ideas, nor implement them. Their interest lies in maintaining the status quo in whichever field they are: religion, science, politics, or whatever, and thus stagnation sets in. If the youth follow orthodoxy slavishly and do not carve out new possibilities, they are doomed to frustration. They try to exhaust themselves in wasteful dissipation of physical, mental, psychological and intellectual energy – smoking, drinking, drugs and loud noise in the name of music.
Is there a way out? The answer is that they have to go through planned study. It is not enough just to imbibe what is given by the media, because that is not knowledge, but only modulated propaganda. The youth must learn to judge for themselves from their own convictions and then have the courage to live up to them. Their plans and vision must come from within, based on their own understanding of the world, their patriotism, love for society and loyalty to the country, not necessarily to the government.
Unless the youth of today are vigilant, dynamic and smart, the nation, and with it their future, will sink. All powerful governments become tyrannical, as supreme power corrupts supremely. Today, youth can change this, as they have the power of vote, the power to choose their leaders.
In Japan, an average young man works 10 to 12 horses a day because he is committed to the job allotted to him. Happiness comes from fulfilling that commitment. Once the youth are thus inspired, how can that country not grow?
The youth have to get geared up to work, to acquire, and having acquired, to distribute – for a healthy nation. Corruption, the naked display of selfishness in cancerous personalities, will go only when youth oppose it – not by ‘goondaism’, the noisy ‘mobism’ of the universities, or the guns of the terrorists, but by organised disciplined planning. First acquire knowledge, judge for yourself, then learn to sit together to take decisions, to carve out the future. You must get inspired by an ideal or an altar, and then dedicate yourself to it. This altar need not be religious; it may be professional, social or economic. Whatever your field, excel in it and give it your best. You must take the nation to a new sunrise, but not with guns; it is no enemy we have to fight.
