"What is money?
A means to better days
Or just another apparition
To trap you in a dark maze?

With IPL (Indian Premier League) easily taking the number one spot for the most fabulous and spectacular yet frightening display of wealth ever, I think it's pretty safe to say that India is fast following the western trend of "Living for the moment". When you see a 19 yr old player making about hundred times the money (in a couple of years) that a good teacher wouldn't dream of earning in a lifetime, you know that something somewhere is going wrong.

Is the Indian youth losing economic balance? This actually brings to light a much more basic question – How do you identify the Indian youth? Is Indian youth limited to Software engineers, IIM graduates, Marketing wannabes and every NRI building up his bank account on the basis of exchange rates? Because if you remove the above from consideration then the question asked here is not even justified – in fact it is downright humorous. And there in lies the tragedy of our country's glorious progress over the past decade. Our economic and infrastructural growth has been and continues to be so concentrated to the middle and upper echelons of our society that if we consider our country as a whole, we are still languishing in the "Third World" class.

For the scope of this essay let's ignore this sad truth, assume that today's Indian youth has money to spend and ask ourselves the same question again – "Is today's youth loosing economic balance?" – And now the answer is an emphatic "YES". Just walk through any college canteen and you will see every 18 yr old with a 25,000 rupee cell phone in his/her hand. A stroll around the same college's parking lot will reveal not only high end motorcycles but also expensive cars. When a decade earlier going to a movie was an "after the exams" celebration, spending extravagantly in the cities' jazzy malls, multi screen theatres, discos, and bowling alleys has now become almost a bare necessity. "Pocket Money" is no longer an allowance that is used conservatively for college commute, food and stationary. It is in fact an asset to be bragged about – something to impress!! The same is true for the newly employed youth. With salaries in seven figures a pretty common occurrence, this class of educated Indians is the principal contributor to the "loss of economic balance".

Credit cards have become a necessity as opposed to being a convenience a few years ago. Shopping also is now a pastime rather than being a chore! People are changing cell phones, cars, houses like never before. Branded and swanky wardrobes have become implicit. The wise advice of elders is falling on ears deafened with cool ring tones and high powered music systems. Just like the developed societies we have become more and more materialistic. The sad thing is unlike the developed societies, we are still economically vulnerable and dependant on superpowers like USA. Our technological exports fluctuate hand in hand with the American economy.

Our growth potential is tremendous. We have the resources, the people and every other ingredient needed for progress. And yes – we are moving fast. But are we moving in the right direction? Is our goal a happy and contented India or is our aim a socially stratified, wealth hogging and westernized hippie society? Should we give in to materialistic temptations or should be conserve, preserve and prosper? Should we be satisfied in being able to buy a Mercedes Benz or should we be frustrated with the rampant poverty that still is a nemesis of the real India? Should we go gaga over a newly imported MP3 player or should we be horrified with the fact that our food imports are rising at alarming levels? Should we aim for the gleaming lights of America or should we try to avoid its hidden issues like the rampant bankruptcies, the huge divorce percentage, the lack of family values?

These are questions that need to be asked and answered by every Indian youth because these will determine the future of our country, our people and US!!

-Akshay Madane