Gulnaar Mirza By Express News Service BENGALURU: I am quite flummoxed by our mint-fresh generation, the uber cool set who wear the digital native tag with ease, who aspire to be global citizens, and who carry little baggage. They are free souls, almost hippie in their outlook and wary of striking roots.Theirs is a world of blurring borders, of multiple friend groups, and seamless living – of co-working, co-living, co-habiting, co-owning (pets, generally) and also of little commitment. But they are happy with it, this young lot, which is tuned out of this world, their heads in the cloud, dreaming of crossing continents, unfettered by bonds and EMIs. Theirs is the world of Uber, Bounce, Dunzo, Zoomcar and Nestaway. Why buy a car when you can use and move on? Why buy a home when you may want to uproot and explore new horizons? Why get tied down to regular jobs when you can dream on? In their world, there are no slots. Mixed parentage is the norm, so is having a single parent. They could span two states, two communities or even two countries, and defy all narrow definitions. They represent a unity of cultures, are accepting and non-judgmental, unruffled by divorce, questions of religion and sexuality. Universal names are the norm – an Aman, Azad, Sahil, Sameera, Sara or Alisha could be on either side of the community divide and could escape the eyes of those who read a name, and read into it: who see north/south, east/west, upper/lower, forward/backward, sect/creed, Punjabi, Telugu, Bengali, Bihari… who profile a person and slot it away for later use. In compartments. They are the smart generation, a creation of the Internet who don’t discriminate between gender, colour and orientation. They create their little universes and inhabit them, and may appear disconnected, but make no mistake, they are awoke and aware. They care deeply for the environment, just as they do for their personal freedoms. Yet, there are disturbing trends too: at a summer school workshop, a speaker was booed out just because he didn’t fit into the right end of the political spectrum. Sadly, there is a formal compartmentalisation happening today, and taking its toll, as we are called upon to prove yet again, our parentage, roots, social standing, caste, community… Our born identity, as it were. And where, in the confines of the strange new world order, do these children fit? Will they accept it as the new normal, will they bow before the reich or discard discrimination and march on? For it is they who hold the torch of hope.

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