OK, Boomer
There have been countless posts/opinions/blogs/articles on Millennials. Even I must have written at least a couple of things about them. It is definitely a fascinating generation that has come of age and embraced individuality remarkably. Their creators are mostly Baby Boomers aka Boomers, born between 1946–1964. Boomers have been around when many houses didn’t even have a telephone or a television. I know it is hard to believe they are the same folks who are now glued to television sets and whatsapp on their smartphone.
As a Millennial, I accept I don’t get them sometimes. And I am sure; they feel the same about us. There are times when we end up having heated conversations and look down on each other’s opinions and life choices. I am not writing this to mock or bash boomers. In fact, I really believe that boomers are as fascinating and remarkable as millennials. Born within a decade or two of formation of an independent nation, Indian boomers had their own struggles and aspirations. They yearned for normalcy and were ready to spend their entire lives for the pursuit of stability, if not happiness.
We blame them for not thinking and dreaming big enough. We blame them for being too complacent. We blame them for not questioning everything happening around them. We blame them for not thinking beyond the confines of their community and social circle. We blame them for expecting the same from us. We blame them for a lot. I really believe they are trying their best to catch up to us. Imagine you just learnt how to ride a bicycle, and someone orders you to fly a space shuttle immediately. This is what happens to them most of the time.
Boomer women were simply fine with being able to work and get some financial freedom, and now we are throwing matters like transgender rights on their face. Boomers just started accepting love marriages, and now we are talking about gay/lesbian weddings. We are questioning the necessity of marriage, parenthood, religion, and job security to the generation that used those as their ultimate pillars. This is a generation that went from warning us not to trust stuff on the dangerous Internet to getting their daily dose of information from unverified whatsapp messages. They are getting hit by new issues, concerns, and rights challenging their belief system everyday without a break.
So, the next time before you call your parents bigots, narrow-minded, misogynists, or just old-fashioned, take a deep breath and think from their perspective. I am not asking you to simply ignore them and move on. Educate them, question them, and allow them the time to come on board with you. Let them sound silly, let them ask you questions, let them voice their opinions. A meaningful conversation requires both the parties to express freely. Appreciate them for coming this far. They are ready to learn and adapt if we give them an opportunity. Isn’t it cute how the people who once fidgeted with a basic mobile phone are now ordering veggies for you on their smartphones?
We got to understand that they have decades of unlearning to do. The foundations that held them so strongly cannot be dismantled so abruptly. Maybe by the time they understand our perspective completely, they will be very old. Still, we have to give them credit for giving us the means to at least form our opinions even if they might be deeply contrasting to theirs. They might not be as individualistic as us ‘snowflakes’, but they have surely experienced a lot more winters than us.
