Encore Verico: What do the restless youth of India want?
The dreams of the young generation in India are very big and they have a habit of breaking the tradition
In India, young people between the ages of 18 and 25 (ie Generation Z) are proving to be unconventional, but will the country's economy be able to fulfill their dreams?
Internet entrepreneur Encore Verico has millions of followers on YouTube and Instagram and receives around 300 emails from young people on a daily basis. In this article, he is telling us how different the youth of India are from the people of the first generation.
When we think of young Indian citizens from middle class families, we think we are talking of hardworking and literate children who fully respect the wishes and traditions of their families.
We imagine young men and women who are preparing for a competitive exam that can get them into top medical or engineering universities. We imagine that they are determined to pursue a stable career, that is, to fulfill their parents' dreams.
Obviously, these are just stereotypes.
The middle-class youth I spoke to are questioning their parents' every move and are rebelling and taking alternatives. They do not always follow the safe path but in their short life they get lost and return to the traditional path and do what they are told.
As a young man I was one of those people and I was sure that the people who would come after me would not be much different but these young people wear different clothes and use words that I have not heard before. ۔ (As my 22-year-old video editor says, it's more appealing to say nois instead of nice.)
They have more times to go and maybe they have had at least one romantic relationship before marriage but I was sure that if I got to the bottom of it I would find someone whose purpose Looking for a stable job.
All my thoughts on the young middle class were challenged when I started creating content on YouTube and other social media two years ago.
I made videos that were viewed by over 4 million young people. Half of them are between the ages of 18 and 24 and 40% of them live outside the 10 largest cities in India.
They understand English but are more comfortable speaking their native languages. I receive hundreds of emails from them every day. They range from money to career, personal relationships and mental health.
Generation Z (18 to 25 year olds) starts looking for opportunities from the university
I talked to a 15 year old boy who taught himself coding. He dropped out of college and was trying to introduce his father's business to the digital world. I also contacted a 24-year-old painter who has been painting since I was six. He is a freelancer who earns three times as much as a full-time job after college.
I also talked to a girl who is an accountant by day and a boxer by night. (I've heard them, they're great at their job!)
I used to think that these 20-year-olds might be one of the few extraordinary people who wanted to break the tradition, but now it seems that it is not just a matter of a few young people.
Here are some of the ones I found to be interesting:
College is not just for degrees
For Generation Z, college is not just a way to get a good job, it is a place to look for opportunities.
They don't just focus on classes, tests and curriculum. For them, college is a center of networking and experience. This is a place where they can think of a startup or even introduce it. During this time they can also do several internships without financial pressure.
They don't go around looking for a job
Indian youth seldom took breaks between high school and college.
Being idle all year was considered a sense of futility or selfishness, but the 18-year-olds I spoke to said they did not want to waste their lives trying to be someone they were not.
So they spend a few months or a year thinking about who they are in order to move towards their goals.
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Not late marriage, or marriage at all
Almost all the 20-year-olds I've talked to consider long-term relationships to be a hoax.
They want to avoid it early in life. It is more important for them to know themselves and take care of themselves, rather than holding someone else's hand.
They are not afraid to take financial risks
Most of these young people grew up watching their parents whose purpose was to stabilize life but they have realized that now is a different time. Inequality has increased, big dreams are being dreamed and there are many ways to succeed.
For them, money is not a means to an end but a means to an end.
A luxurious bungalow in their own area is not their goal. They want to invest in the stock market and cryptocurrencies with their monthly savings and buy Air Jordans shoes for themselves. . young Indians consider social media as their school
Social media is for learning
These young people consider YouTube as their school.
They don't care where or who is teaching the lesson. They follow the right people on Instagram so they can quickly find guidance and wisdom.
They have both desire and courage. One of his virtues distinguishes him from all previous generations of India: the appetite for risk.
Taking risks has always been a difficult decision for India's middle class population.
Even in my parents' generation, people were looking for a stable life. The privileged elite sought balance in life and work, happiness in career and great purpose but Generation Z is not only aware of the opportunities available globally but also does not hesitate to take advantage of them.
Instead of trying to recover, they wallow in their sadness and thus, experience more failure.
That's why the founders of extraordinary startups are inspiring faces for them. Like Vijay Shikhar Sharma of PTM, a digital payment platform, or Riteish Agrawal, India's youngest billionaire who founded the largest hotel network in the country.
It is a fact that PTM is not yet profitable and companies like OVO are in debt in the cycle of immediate expansion but this is not a big concern for them.
That's what bothers me. When we were growing up we were often taught to wait against our will. We had to line up to buy milk and we would wait for days to send a call or a letter. We waited many years to buy our own car and spent our entire lives in search of financial stability.
We have not learned to be patient on our own, but the Indian environment has taught us to live such a life but now we want everything immediately. Food, clothes, books, movies and even relationships are just a click away.
When the pace of the world meets the desires of Generation Z, they need everything right now. I recently read a tweet that read, "My problem is I need everything today."
This is the situation of Generation Z all over the world but our economy in India is not in line with the dreams of this generation.
Will a young accountant become a full time beat boxer? Will the 20-year-old artist find a job in a graphic design company?
Will this restless generation be able to fill the gaps in their desires and existing paths or will they fall into this vacuum?
Only time will tell the answer ...
Encore Verico is an Indian entrepreneur, author and teacher of popular books that create content.
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