‘Diversity India’s biggest strength’
Turning 18 in January, this Delhi University student of Sanskrit from Ayodhya plans to go home to get a voter ID card soon
Turning 18 in 2019, Aryan, a Delhi University student of Sanskrit from Ayodhya, wants a prime minister who doesn’t discriminate on the basis of religion. Aryan, who goes by one name, is an odd 17-year-old. At 16, he switched off his smartphone forever. “It gave me headaches. I used to feel that my brain was vibrating all the time,” he said, checking his jeans pockets for his basic Nokia. He also happens to be a member of Generation Z who distrusts social media. “You never know if the person you are chatting with is real or fake,” he explained. “Besides, with Facebook and Whatsapp, you never get the feeling you do when talking to someone face to face.”
Only once in while does he find someone to have a real conversation with, however. In 2016, Aryan moved from his village in Ayodhya to Delhi to study Sanskrit at Hansraj College. He is still processing the big-city shocks. “Delhi is so crowded, and everyone is always on the move. If a man wants to keep standing in one place for a while, the city won’t allow him that. There is so much pollution. It is also very expensive. Very few youngsters who come from villages can survive here. If I didn’t have the option to live with my uncle in Burari, I couldn’t have, either,” he said. Back home, his father owns a buffalo shed and has a wife and three children to support.
DELHI DREAMS
Within his first year in Delhi, Aryan figured out why everyone seems to be in a rush. “The thing all of them seem to be running after is either education or jobs. Unemployment is rife. In this city, people can do anything to make money, however little. How few people achieve success in this quest is also clearly visible,” he said. Now a contestant in this race, the second-year student has begun to score points. “After coming to Delhi, I decided to learn English. I realized how essential it is to know the language. So far I have been learning through the Internet -- from websites and from Youtube channels-- starting with basic grammar,” he said.
Aryan still hopes a Sanskrit degree can get him a job, especially at a time when interest in India’s ancient past is at its peak. “Even Nasa has a post for a Sanskrit translator,” he points out. But what he is really aiming for right now is a government job with a minimum salary of ₹30,000. “Private jobs make you work a lot. No fixed hours, no fixed income.” His first choice is a bank job.
MIRACLE SUCCESS
Aryan currently spends his weekends browsing coaching centres in north Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar. All of them appear equally tempting to him. If one advertises the number of its students who have made it through the entrance examination for the position of probationary officer, the next shows off the number of views its star teacher has on his personal Youtube channel. “I have attended many demo classes,” he said, checking out a coaching centre touting “miracle success” in reasoning-based examinations. He doesn’t have much time left to decide.
“I must have a job by the age of 21. Kuchh bhi (whatever that is).”
He is in a rush for many reasons, but mainly because he wants to use the money to become a singing star. “First I will get trained, then I will bring out videos on Youtube,” Aryan said. An amateur singer of sad Hindi film numbers, Aryan laps up any opportunity to dazzle the public. Some people have appreciated his talent, he said. “Man has two biggest fears: of death and of stage. I have no fear of the first and I am 60 percent over my fear of the second.”
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
In January, Aryan will turn 18. Shortly after, he will go back to Ayodhya to get a voter card. He doesn’t know yet who he will be voting for in 2019’s Lok Sabha elections. “I have no interest in politics,” he said. He reads the Dainik Jagran every day, but for news pertaining to only “sports, science, economy, and Nasa.” He does seem to have gathered a lot of impressions, though. From an interview with an IAS officer he once saw on the internet, he learnt that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has done a decent job of running Delhi. “They have done good work in education and health,” he said. Does that make him an admirer of Arvind Kejriwal? “I don’t know. If I support a politician today, and tomorrow if he does something wrong, then I won’t feel good about it,” he explained. He has also heard that the Samajwadi Party did some good things in Uttar Pradesh while being in power. “They distributed laptops to poor students.” About Yogi Adityanath, the new chief minister of his home state, he has two things to say. The first is that “he is only interested in the development of Gorakhpur, his constituency.” The second: “He promotes religion -- only one religion.” Aryan has also gleaned from conversations around him that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) believes in “old tradition and operates on the basis of that.” What about the Congress? “They care about both Hindus and Muslims,” he said.
LOVE TRUMPS RELIGION
Aryan doesn’t believe in religion. “Not at all; since I was a child. I believe in love and humanity. If you believe in religion, you tend to do that at the expense of fellow human beings,” he said. His Hindu family isn’t aware of his iconoclasm. “My mother will kill me if she hears me say these things. I don’t mind being dragged to temples if it makes them happy,” he said. He does have a problem with there being too many temples in and around Ayodhya. “Far more than schools and
IF I BECOME PM
For someone with “no interest in politics”, Aryan has “thought a lot” about what he would do if he were made the prime minister of India. “The first thing I will do is fix law and order. I will make sure it works for every section of society. I will seek opinions from ordinary citizens,” he said. He will also enable the youth to follow their dreams. “Only those who want to pursue education will do so. That way there will be less competition for college seats and jobs. Why is education the only route for success in India? America is a great country because its young people can do what they want to do.”
Aryan would also like to work for female empowerment. “The general perception of how girls are doing in this country is shaped by the cities where they seem to be progressing every day, but no one is looking at the villages where they are either underage workers or underage brides,” he said. He would like fewer dummy schools and more real education.
The PM, Aryan believes, should treat every community equally. “If he makes one community his weapon or his shield, then the others will turn against him,” he said. “In a country like India, no one thing holds much value. Our seasons are more than one, our religions are more than one. Our diversity is our strength.”