“What Young India Wants” by Chetan Bhagat
Chetan Bhagat published “What Young India Wants” in the August of 2012. Try to go back in time and remember the backdrop of that year. Anna Hazare’s movement for Jan Lokpal bill was still fresh in the minds of people. The Congress led UPA government was in power and was facing a downhill of popularity among the general public due to recently uncovered scams like 2G Spectrum and 2010 Commonwealth Games and people were still not so convinced of the BJP led NDA. It was a tiring and confusing time for the young people. They were clearly confused about their priorities. Should they fight for Lokpal bill, focus on their studies or start thinking about the General Elections of 2014 where they could get a chance to exercise their voting rights and bring about a change in the situation.
Addressing these questions, is Chetan’s work “What Young India Wants”. Let us look at some of the questions he asked and points he raised on behalf of us and are they still relevant after 10 years of publishing this book.
1. Defining a clear set of values for Indian culture
Chetan lands heavily on the topic of values that define our Indian culture. He doesn’t mean it in any religious or caste based context but rather in terms of the justice system and the ethics and morals of Indians in general. His slight indication was towards the situation of politicians walking freely even after being accused and proven guilty in cases. I personally believe that in context to politicians, this problem still persists, condition has definitely improved but the problem hasn’t been eliminated completely.
2. Importance of a merit based system
This is was one of these situations which persists even to this day. Running a country is never easy and on top of that, running a country like India, which has huge diversity in its culture and languages, is like climbing a mountain with a slope of right angle. But our people have done this for the past 75 years and will continue to do so but now we need to focus on the efficiency of these people. The writer urges people to rise above politics based on caste and religion and vote for people who are actually excited to work for their people and area. Vote based on merit and qualification. But also do remember that qualification for running a country is not entirely based on education but rather it constitutes many more attributes and qualities of character of a person.
3. Disadvantage of business-politics nexus
What we can understand from this is that the writer is questioning the ethics of politicians who are in close ties with businessmen. He suggests that politicians while receiving money on one hand in the name of party funds, make it easier for the business houses to get permission for their ventures which is a compromise in the quality. This also affects environment and other projects directly or indirectly. He gives the example of education industry where it has become very easy for people with money, power and contacts to open educational institutions. He doesn’t condemn the commercialization of education but rather insists big business houses to enter the field and provide some quality control.
4. Importance of improving condition of farmers
One thing that can be said with 100% accuracy is that the condition of farmers is still pretty much relevant even after 10 years. The recent farmer’s protest over the farm laws is testimony to this situation where the government claimed it to be beneficial for the farmers and the farmers claimed otherwise. Chetan insists that we should have made great strides in the field of agriculture long ago. We should be no longer dependent on rains for our crops and we should also provide a platform for amalgamation of agriculture and technology. He cites the example of countries like China and Australia where the efficiency of farming is very high compared to ours.
5. Problems in aviation industry
The aspect of aviation industry which really surprised me after reading “What young India wants” is that however glamourous this industry seems, it is big pain for the owners. Stating the problems, Chetan gives the examples of Kingfisher Airlines and Air India which were loss making at the time and now after 10 years, Kingfisher is defunct and Air India has been privatized with it going back to TATA group.
6. Importance of youth and their education
Given the academic background of Chetan Bhagat, this point seemed inevitable in “What young India wants”. He heavily emphasizes on a restructure of Indian education for the benefit of the youth with respect to modern day trends and requirements. He also states that even after so many years of independence, only few universities are considered prestigious. This situation needs to be changed and heavy portion of the GDP should be focused towards education.
There are many other factors which Chetan issues in his venture. He discusses an array of topics ranging from terrorism, Pakistan, IPL , politicians, USA, our behaviour as citizens and many more.
After reading this book 10 years after its publishing, I could clearly observe the changes in many areas. I didn’t agree with some of his views but then again, that’s what democracy is about isn’t it ? But the best part about “What young India wants” is that the book is not negative in its message. Certainly it highlights the issues of this great country of ours, but I strongly believe that the first step in solving a problem is acknowledging that the problem exists in the first place. Chetan Bhagat is hopeful in his message for the country and so are we and yup, you should definitely give “What young India wants” a read :)
Also check out Kitaabghar’s analysis of “Think Like a Freak”.
Note: For readers who are fans of his stories, don’t worry, this book has a surprise for you too.
See you in next session!!
