Bushwhacked brings the change
“Youth” is the time of adolescence between childhood and adulthood. It is also a very special state of the human life cycle full of form, passion, freshness and pure-soul.
Of course, we as Nepali, are in a position to perceive more accurately to understand that “youth power” is the commonwealth of the whole world. In a country where “Lahure'' has a long tradition of going abroad in search of work, sending young people abroad for work has become an organized initiative lately. Energetic youth-wealth has taken the world by storm.
This article is prepared in continuation of the discussion I started in the last issue with the title “Bamboozled Politics”. I earnestly request readers to read both in series - makes more sense to it.
It is all natural, entire strata of the society have legitimate anticipation for the power, idealism, passion and courage of the youth in the exploration of modern science and technology, varied information including physical labor for the mandatory social transformation in righteous direction.
It is not a good sign for the society and the country that young people, the bearers of social change, prefer to stay away from social activities. It is only through conscious youth that it is possible to increase the attraction of youth in the process of mapping nation building- also called national-politics. Traditional political parties are adept at abusing the youth. No one but a conscious youth can explain that these morons are using the youth in the most degrading way and only for their own selfish aims.
There is a difference between being politically conscious and working for a particular political mission. However, it is important for people to be active in knowing if their political role does serve the greater good of society. This is one of the main processes that is not at all happening in a nation like ours. Most of the youths are indifferent about what is going on in the country, which is a reason for the continuation of the vicious cycle of politically protected absurdity. Most of the youths are looking for a job that pays Nrs.250K per annum, that is the set expectation. They should be made aware that the corruption level is so high in this country that almost half a million graduates can have jobs that pay approximately Nrs.250K per annum, without increasing the size of the existing budget of the country, just by “controlling” corruption, not saying “zeroing” the corruption.
With the increasing use of social media platforms for news sources, negativity has become ingrained in their political views. The interest of today's youth towards cultured politics needs to be encouraged by bringing effective and collective awareness raising programs for accurate political understanding. Politically enlightened youth need to volunteer themselves for this mission of disseminating how politics should carry the greater good of the nation and people. Ultimate goal is to raise people’s happiness index higher and higher.
Not including the youth in the decision making process of the country is like living up to the Nepali proverb, “ जस्को ब्या उसैलाई देख्न नद्या”. I see the need to respect the voices of the youth and move towards synthesizing and implementing their honest and definite innovative ideas. We also need the involvement of the youth to make the community a better place for children, youth, adults and the elderly.
In principle, citizens vote for leaders to represent them and their views, and leaders support and uphold the interests of citizens.
People say, a political leader should have the following 10 attributes:
- Honesty
- acumen
- sincerity & politeness
- social-astuteness
- speaking skills with meaningful content
- interpersonal skills
- human network building ability
- long term thinking and foresights
- cohesive attitude
- accessible
Hardworking person with such qualities can be transformed into THE LEADER after going through the rigorous & socially complex processes. It takes a longer duration even with consistent & sincere effort.
In the middle of this article, I would like to encourage readers to play a quick game: Let's see how much you give to the top 10 leaders of the main political parties who are currently ruling, in each of the 10 essential qualities of a leader as mentioned above? Score 10 for the best and 0 for the worst. Sum up to come up with a number assigned to each leader. It would be easy to guess the political direction of our country if it remains in their hold, with the help of the result of this activity. I will be more than happy if you can share the total marks received by the leader you tried this activity with. (email: mosuka@hotmail.com)
After so much time spent on explanation & articulation of ongoing political events in the country, I would like to take the belief that there is no doubt about the urgent urge for active participation of youth to take the lead, eventually, in the nation building process. Let it be clear that we want young people to play a vital role in their own personal development so as to contribute to community development. Let them have an abundance of opportunities to learn life skills through significant role playing in promoting human rights and responsibilities, in the global environment- as we all know “the world is already flat enough” as described by Thomas Friedman back in 2005.
It is inevitable that the youth will be commended for their role in the process of political socialization. There will be opportunities to open political eyes and repeatedly internalize the process of acquiring governing power, a just and enjoyable world, to frame the notion that a desirable environment for talent development can be created and fostered.
This process will give birth to good leaders and at the same time it will be a moral school of instilling the concept of good governance.
Let’s not forget, in the end, everyone is important and wants to define their ideas in their own way, and all we want is " in the modest way”- defined by the society we live in.
