MILLENNIALS: Time to find ourselves

One day, as our fathers, forefathers and mothers kept renouncing the generational gap, somebody woke up and chose violence. He/ she decided that it's high time we acknowledge and label different generations, hence the "" millennials "" came to be. A sad lost and hopeless generation, stuck between the past and present, analog and digital, artificial and organic, duty and love, wokeness and traditional. We have seen a lot of changes around but not within us.

We saw food shift from natural homegrown to artificial and chemical laden. Now we search for overpriced, chemical-free and organic sustenance. We moved from rearing cattle with our parents to becoming lactose intolerant as we age. From postcards and letters we slowly came to perfunctory statuses and WhatsApp messages. From sleeping on chatai on rooftops with cousins in summers, we moved to air-conditioned isolation chambers. We spent our vacations playing on the roads and gullies with friends and cousins. Now they are mere strangers we follow and envy on Instagram and Facebook. From comparing Pokemon cards, we came to comparing our packages, lifestyle and vacations. From walking for miles and shopping in the local market we came to online ecommerce as it's cheaper, convenient and artificial. We used to listen to radio for hours now we can hardly complete a 20 second reel without scrolling. We saw black n white TV, and now marvel at the colours and life-like appearance of HD video. We used to save money and stand in line to call our loved ones, now a mere SMS is all we get and receive. We are more connected than ever but not close anymore. We moved from those old rotary phones and telegrams to mobiles that can do and experience everything. Before we die, we will see human efficiency becoming obsolete in the face of AI. From watching terminator and matrix in theatres as kids to seeing it become a reality, we surely have come a long long way. 

We are the generation stuck between duty to our parents and grandparents and our overwhelming love for our children. We spend our time either scolded by our elders or bullied by our juniors. We are used to slogging and working our ass off, as this is the only way we learnt to get validation and success. We struggle with boundaries and self-respect. We wish to defy tradition, but resent and isolate anyone be it young or our peer, who dares to fight or change our limiting beliefs. Because without it what are we and how will we justify our existence. We know we are struggling mentally and emotionally, but neither have courage nor financial means to ask for help. We know mental disease is real, but God forbid if we accept it in front of others or go on to be labelled as mad by the society. We are breaking and crashing, but we are putting on a brave front because we feel we are the support for both the younger and older generations. We are delusional about our importance and have an insight about it too, but we are terrified of what will happen if we put it out in the open.We wish to take charge of our lives, we crave autonomy, but our tradition, upbringing and rigidity beats us down. We vouch to save our progeny from generational trauma, and then go on to either make the same mistakes or overcompensate and overindulge.

We desire respect from our children and wish for love and acknowledgement from our elders, but struggle with self-acceptance and love. We kept changing according to their expectations, never asking ourselves what makes us happy. A choice the right of every soul became a forbidden fruit for us. Everybody knew what we should do to feel needed but no one asked what you needed. We are huffing and puffing our time away, in office and home, with family, friends and office, moving from one deadline to another, from one goal away from happiness to another, slowly and steadily withering away into obscurity and regrets. 

Maybe it's time to make that choice "" to walk away and love ourselves "" but will be brave enough to make it in this lifetime??!!!