Nepali youths : Confused and self-centred

Where are we going? What will be the destination of today’s youths?

‘Whatever you think, you will be. If you think yourself weak, weak you will be; if you think yourself strong you will be,’ Great Indian thinker Swami Vivekanand said.

Analysts have increasingly been speaking of a new phase in the life course between adolescence and adulthood, an elongated phase of semi-autonomy, also called ‘post-adolescence,’ ‘youth,’ or ‘emerging adulthood.’ During this time, young people are relatively free from adult responsibilities and able to explore diverse career and life options.

Youths in their 20s feel neither like adults nor like adolescents; instead, they consider themselves in some ways like each of these. At the same time, given the wide variety of perceived and actual options available to them, the transition to adulthood has become increasingly ‘destructured’ and ‘individualized.’ This extended period of youth, or post-adolescence, is filled with experiments with a wide range of sectors for livelihood.

Youths in dilemma

‘No idea about my goals in life. Wherever this journey leads…,’ Aryan Koirala seems lost in terms of his future. Bhaktapur resident Koirala is doing Bachelor’s in Film Studies.

Kiara Raya is an Information Technology student, doing her Bachelor’s degree. Residing in Kathmandu, Kiara is rather frank to share her inner feelings. She says, ‘To be honest, I don't have any life goal. I just want to have a peace of mind and be happy, and live in the moment, which I barely do, and explore life.’

These are some of the opinions shared by our ‘energetic’ youths, who were interviewed for this brief study. The above expressions are representatives of our young generation, which paint a picture that our youths do not have any vision for themselves. Forget about the responsibilities towards the society and the nation!

With abundant availability of opportunities and facilities, today’s urban youths are ‘modernizing.’ They are more concerned about their freedom, and refuse to be dictated by others. Professor Pradeep Paudyal sees this trend as ‘overwhelmed by plethora of opportunities.’ Paudyal is the Principal of Acme Engineering College, Kathmandu. ‘The present youths believe in personal freedom and modernization. They are very serious utilizing their rights but less concerned about the duties. This is where our little guys in their 20s are lost and confused about their goals and responsibilities,’ Paudyal adds.

Self-centered

What is more, we are metamorphosing ourselves into self-centred humans who do not even think about the obligations towards society.

A few examples of our attitude:

‘My goal is to be independent and support my family, financially,’ Parash Bajracharya says. Kathmandu’s Bajracharya is an Information Technology student doing his Bachelor’s degree.

A social science student from Kathmandu, Apsara Adhikari has the same self-centred feeling. ‘To be independent and to support my family are my life goals,’ she opines.

Raju Adhikari, a social science student from Chitwan, follows suit and adds, ‘I do have two major life goals, one is to be a travel writer, and another is to become a political leader.’

An undergraduate student from Bardiya, Garima Khanal too desires for ‘a better personal and professional life (for myself).’

Social values and individual behaviours are changing with the growing impacts of Westernization. ‘It is but natural that today’s youths are more focused on their own betterment,’ opines Dipesh Paudel, a Banker. ‘Impacts of communication technology on people’s lives are huge which can be observed in young generation’s behaviour towards friends, family and the society,’ he adds.

Youths hate politics

Economic independence, freedom to make life choices and contribute their bit to society is quite important for young people today. Nepal currently is in the throes of digital revolution, machine learning, robotics, and artificial intelligence. These all have given wings to our youths to dream big. This is especially true for the aspiring new generation, especially of urban areas, who have better opportunities of education and access to modern technologies than their rural peers.

The youths often challenge the status quo and are not willing to be silent spectators. They have a voice and know how to use it, and with them being more tech-savvy, they know how to amplify their voices. This is where it should take a shift from what to think to how to think.

Contemporary youths are looking for a purpose in their lives and once they get that they put all their energies towards achieving this. They want to give back to society by either creating products which make our lives better or through directly working on social causes which impact society, one way or the other.

Understanding the aspirations and goals of the youths is essential to developing effective policies. Aspirations can drive choices in education, employment, and job-seeking efforts. During the current COVID-19 pandemic, young people faced simultaneous labour market challenges that could lead to modify their aspirations.

This is where Nepal is lagging behind. Instead of encouraging young segments of the population for nation building, our policy makers are ignoring them. Our youths seem frustrated and have developed a negative sentiment towards policy makers. For them, ‘politics is a corrupt game.’

‘Politics and bureaucracy in our country are all messed up, and it seems going worse. I do not find any room to be optimistic,’ opines Rahul Shrestha. He sounds very much frustrated towards contemporary political wrangling.

Not a single person interviewed during this study was found optimistic about current political situation of the country. Parash assesses the system thus, ‘Too many cooks spoil the broth.’

Kiara and Aryan do not even want to discuss about our policy makers. ‘Why should I care about these corrupt crook politicians?’ Aryan questions. Kiara is furious too, ‘I do not care about politics and politicians.’

‘I hate everything about current political system of our country. Everyone in politics and bureaucracy is corrupt ... even the education and health systems of the nation has been made worse,’ retorts Apsara.

Garima too is not positive towards politics, ‘The people in politics have completely destroyed the whole system.’

Dealing and tackling children and adolescents is a daily chore for Shrawan Chaudhari. He is a school teacher from Saptari. Shrawan has a long experience with political tangling in his surroundings. ‘Youths are fed up of political parties’ interfering activities in schools and colleges. Party cadres are never concerned with education, rather they always talk about political games,’ Shrawan speaks his experiences and knowledge. ‘This has obvious negative impact on our children’s mind,’ he adds.

Light at the end of the tunnel

The picture is not that gloomy, though. There is a ray of light at the end of the tunnel. Some of our youths have a good sense of social responsibilities.

‘…Bringing change in the society in a positive way is one of my life goals,’ Rahul is one of those who spare time thinking about the society at large. ‘I am hopeful that a better system will eventually replace with what we are suffering right now,’ he adds.

All explored and explained, we can only hope for a better future for our youths and the society. For a better and responsible life, youths are suggested to follow some key behaviours:

• Youths need opportunities to connect their educational aspirations to
  concrete experiences, such as, exploring their interests with university
  faculty, staff, students, and industry professionals.
• Youths need to feel at ease and a sense of belonging in a higher education
  setting.
• Youths need to engage in future planning activities that prompt them to
  address underlying social barriers.
• Youths need to imagine their futures with others so that they can build a system
  of support and enrich their visions for their future.

Published on 21 February 2022