Who says young people today are not loving?

STUDENTS OF MY COLLEGE DID ‘SOMETHING’ THAT CHANGED THE PERCEPTION OF SOME TEACHERS

The youth of today is targeted for being irresponsible and insensitive, living in its own world. Bikes, smartphones, high-end gadgets , late night parties and many other ‘negative attractions ‘are what constitute his or her flashy world. The popular perception, even among many intellectuals, including teachers, is that the youth runs after money, completely dumping the value system.

If you ask a teacher to define a modern student, he or she connotes the word student with ‘rowdiness ‘. Most of my colleagues even go so far as to define modern youth as nincompoops, people who are directionless and aimless.

But last month, the students of my college did ‘something’ which changed the perception of some of these teachers. A brilliant student of our college had a terrible accident, sustaining near-fatal head injuries. Surgery saved her life, but she had to spend two long months in a private hospital. The victim was very poor. Her father was a tailor and his means were limited. It was beyond his economic prowess to get his daughter treated in a private hospital.

When her classmates came to know about the financial condition of the victim’s father, they led from the front . First, they approached the principal of the college and urged him to donate liberally towards the fund which they had decided to raise to pull their friend out of the jaws of death. The principal appreciated the efforts of the students and donated a big amount, motivating the staff to contribute. One of the students whose father was the president of an NGO arranged for a donation of ₹1lakh . All the students too parted, some with a year’s pocket money, to build a strong corpus of funds. Two students sold their high end mobiles. Five students who used to work part time to support their families gave their six-month salaries.

They also kept a constant vigil at their friend’s hospital bedside for two long months.

Finally, their efforts bore sweet fruit. Their friend beat death. Her friends hosted a big party when she finally joined college. They got her books and helped her get back to studies. They did for her what the older people would not have been able to.

That made me realise that young people are very capable and compassionate. The future of the country is in safe hands.