Of blackened lips and reddened eyes ... ! - II
By Vijay Phanshikar :
The expression “blackened lips and reddened eyes” referring to addicted young persons -- men and women -- in the last edition of ‘Footloose in Nagpur’ became a subject of
discussion in many groups
through-out the week. Many responded to the subject positively, and joined the loosefooter to express a serious concern about the decline of the standard of young conduct (in whatever percentage). This evidence of the social concern of large
numbers of people about young
people falling prey to addiction
certain created a sense of
assurance that things can still
be rectified.
The loosefooter admits that he received a phone call from a rather angry girl who asked in indignation, “Why are you worried about us?”
The loosefooter responded calmly, in effect, that he would never agree to turn a blind eye to young people going wayward.
But if this one call dared the
loosefooter, there were countless
calls from others -- parents and teachers included -- agreeing that
the city of Nagpur was showing increasing and expanding evidence
of how young people were falling prey to wrong habits.
Through-out the week, the
loosefooter’s eyes kept accidentally noticing “blackened lips and
reddened eyes”, making him feel
sadder than ever -- making him think hard about what could be done to counter this cultural degeneration. The loosefooter did realise that the city of Nagpur now has umpteen numbers of modern restaurants
and cafes where smoking and
drinking are considered respectable, even welcome.
An acquaintance who runs one such joint shared with the
loosefooter that increasing numbers of young people falling prey to wrong habits spend pretty good amounts
of money on an every-day basis to satiate their wrong desires (whose extent can transcend all normal
definitions of ‘wrong’).
If there is even an iota of truth in that observation, the matter is bloody serious.
“But why are you really worried about such a trend only in Nagpur? You will find such wayward youth even in smaller cities and towns as well -- in Vidarbha and everywhere. There is a whole racket of organised crime to fan wrong habits especially among young people whose sense of self worth and proportion is always stands on a loose ground,” a Police officer friend said most knowingly (of course urging the loosefooter not to reveal his name to anybody).
Obviously, this vice has become
all-pervading.
Where do we go from here ? Is anybody really, really,
really concerned about this most dangerous, and therefore unwelcome, trend that is gobbling up our young people’s innocence and their sense of self worth and their sense of right and wrong ?
At this question -- to no one in
particular but an issue for all to
ponder over -- the loosefooter would love to exit the piece on “blackened lips and reddened eyes” !
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