India has a very strong family support system and we are inherently a very compassionate and caring community. All are welcome has been the main stay and more the merrier has been the spirit! The quest for a better life and the consumer culture spawned by the economic boom, is creating new challenges for communities and society. As we move away from our family, our community, our city and head for the fruits of economic boom and globalization, the youth too face many challenges.
Away from home town, in a new metropolis and maybe a new country, the young person is often at sea, and find it hard to lead a zestful life. The stress and challenges of long work hours, the constant connectivity and the need to out smart our peers, all make life a big challenge. To help our young and emerging leaders, there is need for us to offer an environment to enable the youth live their passion. Be it sports, skills, service to the community or even the outward bound activities; the best way to help young people overcome the challenges of life is to support them to be passionate about what they do, and help each individual find her or his own true self.
Youth and passion are a crucible for change, any change in the world be it positive or even negative cannot happen without youth action. The revolutions, economic or even military might all taps on the energy of the youth. The inherent spirit to fathom the unknown is there in the young, and adults must be the mentors to encourage the youth to bring about positive action. The academic system and the work environment is inherently made of marks and measures, and often does not deliver a good quality of life. There is the need to encourage the young to follow their passion, get involved in their true quest and find the hidden talent. Today we see opportunity in sports, service, skills and outward bound activity as the way to help youth discover themselves. Young are today innovating to find new socially sustainable models to help community, they find working with outward bound agencies and building social networks with common interest most meaningful.
Human development is not about marks, and we need to offer the positive environment to help young lead a life full of passion, help them follow their heart and do what they find most meaningful. There are countless examples of young people who did not fare well in the marks system, but followed their passion and added phenomenal value in fields of social work, skills and inventions too. As we in India now find that innovation is the only answer to build a strong economy, it is even more imperative we let the youth follow their passion and we adults need to foster an open mind and work towards building new communities and groups to help youth overcome the challenges faced when they have to move out of the comfort zone and venture away from the family and community.
Let us all work to challenge young people everywhere and help them equip, empower and engage with society to build passionate communities.
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