Vijay Phanshikar 

 

SINCE the young group sat straight ahead and just a few feet away in a posh restaurant, it was not possible to take one’s eyes off them. They were young boys and girls from college, wore fashionable clothes and accessories and trinkets and mostly spoke English, no matter how poorly. A few of them had cigarettes in their fingers or lips, and they exhaled the smoke straight on the faces of their group-mates. They also had beer mugs -- differently filled, though -- in front of them on the table. They did not seem to discuss anything serious and seemed to enjoy what sounded like plain loose talk without purpose. But all of them had something in common -- they seemed to flaunt a lot -- even though they might not have anything much to flaunt. Yet, they flaunted something intangible -- as if they had found the secret of a truly good life. The loosefooter generally opts to keep quiet and keep a distance from such people. Occasionally, however, he picks up courage to confront such young groups and asks them about their inspirations and motivations and their ideals and their ideas about life. And almost on all such occasions, he gets a bad taste in the mouth -- thanks to the young people’s methods and manners. For, the most remarkable trait of such young people is their refusal to apply their minds seriously to serious issues of life.

 

They have no idea of what they wish to pursue in life and what their motivations and inspirations are. Of course, the loosefooter also knows many young people with stars in their eyes and fires in their bellies. Such people pursue some higher goals and seem to work for their fulfillment through focused hard work. But today is not the time to talk about this kind of young people. Today is the time to discuss with them their goals and their plans for life. When questions in this regard are posed to them, many young people openly profess that they have had no time and inclination to think about such issues. “Life should take its own course,” said a wide-eyed young beauty in a conversation the loosefooter struck with them. She was loathe to think deeply about life. “Life is a picnic,” she said (most likely in imitation of a statement by some important person. So, for her, life was and is a picnic. Frankly, however, she did not seem capable of making such profound statements. For, she had not read a single book outside her collection of text books over years. So, she was always on a picnic, she said. Others in the group nodded in assent.

 

While speaking with her, the loosefooter, however, had to turn his face away since he could not take the smoke she emitted so profusely as she puffed the cigarette in her hand. Normally, the loosefooter should have had no objection to her ways. Yet, he was appalled by the girl’s audacity to avoid serious issues and advise others to have picnic. To be sure, as she talked, the girl coughed loudly. Did she have an infection? -- the loosefooter asked. “No, no. I cough all the year. This may be the trick of the white stick I smoke all the day,” she said most casually. “In fact, all of us smoke and drink. Some of us do drugging also,” she said. At least, the loosefooter did not know how to react to the girl’s diatribes. But those forty minutes were good enough for him to get an idea about how some young people lead a wayward life. Yet, such people do a lot of flaunting of whatever they may claim to have -- which came mostly from their parents’ kindness. In plain words, the loosefooter finds himself confused when he meets such young people -- listless and rudderless. He is shocked by their thoughtlessness. n