A teenager is in depression after finding out that he doesn’t qualify as a millennial. Four years ago a lady shouted the epithet at him when he inadvertently spilled her coffee whilst gazing on his phone. After that he started seeing and hearing “millennial” everywhere. The more he noticed it, the more it started resonating with him. He embraced it as his identity and started referring to it as his “breed”, “tribe”, “DNA” etc. He engraved a tattoo bearing the word on his arm and wanted one on his forehead but was talked out of it by his parents. He made email addresses, usernames and social media handles with the coveted name. He participated in millennial pride marches. He passionately believed that he had the right to get offended and outraged if any film or book misrepresented his breed. He took to vandalism, burnt effigies of film directors who misrepresented his community. He filed petitions and lawsuits whenever anything hurt his generational sentiments.
He has joined a support group where has met people in similar situation. “In particular there’s a 1985-born who has a similar story to mine. After years of championing the notion Millennial Khatre Mein Hai [Millennials are in danger], he was suddenly told that he was not a millennial. He presented a proof from a news report that mentioned Saudi Arabia’s Prince Salman, who’s also born in 1985, as a ‘millennial prince’. However, his plea was quickly rejected following opposing claims from sundry sources. Some custodians of society say that he can be accepted as a ‘borderline millennial’ but not pure millennial, while others argue that any form of acceptance is out of question. Who makes these rules? Is there a book of laws that decides who’s what?” he spoke in a contemplative mood.
“In my childhood we kids from different age groups used to play football in the neighbourhood. We invited one another to our birthday parties without asking who belonged to what brand of generation. Nobody cared who or what was millennial, gen X, gen XX or gen XXX. No one judged you for that,” related a pensive Cowan Johar.
“Politicians exploited me to secure millennial vote bank and now that I am of no use, they have shunned me like people shun their broke relatives. I vehemently endorsed this political party with the hope they would fulfil their promises, including my ultimate fantasy Millennial Rashtra. Now that the Millennial Rashtra is a strong possibility, they tell me that I am not a millennial. At the time of elections, my voter card and passport were enough for them. Now they want me to furnish a pile of documents to establish my generational identity,” he protested.
“I gave my blood and sweat to the community. I considered older and younger generations as the antagonists. I adhered to all the tropes of identity and cultism. I believed that my way of life was the only truth and would secure me a spot in heaven,” said the sombre youth Cowan Johar.
The first instance of disenchantment occurred when, at Kartik Aryan Film Festival, he shouted, “We killed party animals!” His remark was met with scoffs and sardonic glances from the congregation. He explained himself diffidently, “Did I pronounce any word incorrectly? Is there something wrong with my English? I went to a highbrow school where my entire family had to go through a series of tests, interviews and lifestyle checks before my selection. The kind they showed in the critically-acclaimed movie Hindi Medium. Oh, that was a rare Hindi film I saw. I am a Hollywood fanatic since birth.”
One of the members in the congregation clarified, “There’s nothing wrong with your English and we don't mind what movies anybody watches. It’s just that you didn’t kill party animals. We did. You aren’t a millennial. You are generation Z. You are too young to be a millennial.” A pregnant silence ensued.
“I bowed out, mortified, under the pretext of answering a phone call. I could hear stifled laughs behind me. I hoped the congregation was ill-informed and the entire episode was an aberration. Then a few days later, my five-year-old niece asserted, ‘Uncle Cowan, I am a millennial. You belong to no-name generation. You are too old to be a millennial.’ Coming from a child prodigy like her, that really got me worried,” said Cowan Johar.
One of the members in the congregation clarified, “There’s nothing wrong with your English and we don't mind what movies anybody watches. It’s just that you didn’t kill party animals. We did. You aren’t a millennial. You are generation Z. You are too young to be a millennial.” A pregnant silence ensued.
“I bowed out, mortified, under the pretext of answering a phone call. I could hear stifled laughs behind me. I hoped the congregation was ill-informed and the entire episode was an aberration. Then a few days later, my five-year-old niece asserted, ‘Uncle Cowan, I am a millennial. You belong to no-name generation. You are too old to be a millennial.’ Coming from a child prodigy like her, that really got me worried,” said Cowan Johar.
“The rude awakening dawned upon me when,” recounted Cowan Johar, “I proposed to my sweetheart. She turned me down reluctantly: ‘My family and friends won’t let me marry a non-millennial. They are very strict. What will people say? The world won’t accept our love. If you were born 98 days later, you might have qualified as a semi-millennial; even so my family is very particular about the ideology of Pure Generation on which millennialism was founded.’ I realised I had been living a lie.”
The final nail in the coffin came when the state refused to recognise him as the citizen of his dream Millennial Rashtra (nation) and forewarned to banish him lest he supplied documents and proofs of his millennial identity.
Experts have called it a “loss of identity and purpose” in his life which can lead to a sense of alienation and worthlessness. He can lapse into online trolling, war-mongering, drugs and terrorism if his identity isn’t rebuilt. Even so, it would take centuries or even millenniums for him to recover from this trauma. Social activists have advised him to join Generation Z, the subsequent generation, but he has unequivocally rejected the offer: “They want me to convert to a just-another bland, alphabetically-named generation. Haven’t we had enough of Gens ABCXYZ? It just doesn’t have the ring of millennial.”
The final nail in the coffin came when the state refused to recognise him as the citizen of his dream Millennial Rashtra (nation) and forewarned to banish him lest he supplied documents and proofs of his millennial identity.
Experts have called it a “loss of identity and purpose” in his life which can lead to a sense of alienation and worthlessness. He can lapse into online trolling, war-mongering, drugs and terrorism if his identity isn’t rebuilt. Even so, it would take centuries or even millenniums for him to recover from this trauma. Social activists have advised him to join Generation Z, the subsequent generation, but he has unequivocally rejected the offer: “They want me to convert to a just-another bland, alphabetically-named generation. Haven’t we had enough of Gens ABCXYZ? It just doesn’t have the ring of millennial.”
He has joined a support group where has met people in similar situation. “In particular there’s a 1985-born who has a similar story to mine. After years of championing the notion Millennial Khatre Mein Hai [Millennials are in danger], he was suddenly told that he was not a millennial. He presented a proof from a news report that mentioned Saudi Arabia’s Prince Salman, who’s also born in 1985, as a ‘millennial prince’. However, his plea was quickly rejected following opposing claims from sundry sources. Some custodians of society say that he can be accepted as a ‘borderline millennial’ but not pure millennial, while others argue that any form of acceptance is out of question. Who makes these rules? Is there a book of laws that decides who’s what?” he spoke in a contemplative mood.
“In my childhood we kids from different age groups used to play football in the neighbourhood. We invited one another to our birthday parties without asking who belonged to what brand of generation. Nobody cared who or what was millennial, gen X, gen XX or gen XXX. No one judged you for that,” related a pensive Cowan Johar.
“Politicians exploited me to secure millennial vote bank and now that I am of no use, they have shunned me like people shun their broke relatives. I vehemently endorsed this political party with the hope they would fulfil their promises, including my ultimate fantasy Millennial Rashtra. Now that the Millennial Rashtra is a strong possibility, they tell me that I am not a millennial. At the time of elections, my voter card and passport were enough for them. Now they want me to furnish a pile of documents to establish my generational identity,” he protested.
“Where will I obtain those documents and mathematical proofs from? Is that even possible? Do they even exist?” he collapsed into a fountain of tears, knowing very well the answers to his own rhetorical questions.
3 comments
That's a sad story
Is it good or bad? I have added a few things, which I had forgotten earlier.
Good good of course
Post a Comment