Abhilash John is originally from Kerala in the South of India, but he grew up in Ahmedabad, in Gujarat.
Locked in a cage of constrains and expectations, Abhilash was not able to dream and follow his personal path. A street child helped him to challenge his fears, to set him free to explore his strengths and passions. Through his social venture, Khoj, he offers “the great Indian treasure hunt”, An adventurous journey for Indian youngsters to break out of their parent’s dreams.
“Set me free” – Joe Cocker
It was a sweltering summer afternoon in Ahmedabad. I had just come out of my office that was cooled down to the level of a refrigerator’s temperature. Standing on the street and trying to get acclimatized to reality, I watched a 12-year-old boy, walking barefoot on the tarred road, selling storybooks. I felt pity and offered some money. But he said, “I don’t beg. You can buy a storybook instead.”
I was impressed. Just like everyone else, I had assumed that all the children on the streets were begging. But this boy, called Irfan, proved me wrong. This little guy looked happy, and upon further conversation, I was able to understand that he was free to make decisions for himself. I could see the curiosity shining in his eyes to explore and learn new things.
I realized that I was living in my comfort zone and that it was killing me. So, as a result, I decided to take control of my life. It was not an easy decision to resign from my well-paying job.
Once I used to pity street children, who were not as privileged as I am. But later, after spending time with them, I pitied myself for not being as curious, creative, adaptive, and free as they are.
This is the story of an average Indian youth who is caged inside his fears, burdened by parents’ expectations.
According to UN World Population Prospects 2019, India has the highest number of youths in the world. Yes, we are young, energetic, and ready for life. But are we? We are good enough to secure two individual gold medals in the history of the Olympics, but we cannot offer world-known innovators, rock bands, philosophers and, and, and…
The lack of innovators stands in contrast with the fact that our education system has the capacity of producing 1.5 million engineering graduates every year!
Whatever the world knows and appreciates about India are our ancient inventions. Let’s have a look at maybe one of the most influential one: the number zero. But the zero is already 1600 years old!
We are also known for having created an entire text on sexual practices, the famous Kamasutra! And not to forget yoga! Although the world believes it to be a US invention, nope… it is not. But it is as ancient as everything else we are famous for.
Yes, India is known for being one of the oldest civilizations in the world. And ancient India was considered as one of the epicentres of arts, philosophy, music, astronomy, herbal medicine, and spiritual enlightenment. Even in the near past, we had great free thinkers and philosophers like Swami Vivekananda, Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore, and Rani Laxmi Bai, a leading figure of resistance and symbol of courage who fought against the British rule in India. However, in postcolonial times, India has failed to “produce” any inspiring icon for the younger generations to follow.
Every year, on average, 1.5 million students get their degree in engineering, which is way higher compared to western countries. But still, we lag in innovation in the areas of science, technology, arts, and philosophy.
We must ask the question, why?
Indian culture is known to be conservative. That means that, in general it is clinging to traditional values and that it is averse to change. Our sociocultural upbringing, combined with the education system, plays a huge role in not letting us think out of the box.
In India, children are overprotected and prevented from experiencing a free and adventurous childhood, and young persons are not encouraged to ask questions, have opinions, or go beyond the walls of certainty. Anybody breaking out is branded as a “rebel”.
We are all born curious. But the system through which our children are raised kills that curiosity. Our “dreams” are aligned with societal norms.
The following features of our society are most surprising to those from more open cultures: It’s up to the family to decide who their children play with, what they study, who they marry, when they have children, how many, and if possible, a boy first, and so on.
Since most sons stay with their parents their whole life, these decisions continue till old age. This makes the children give up their dreams and passions. Expectations from their family leave the youngsters with the fear of failure, fear to take risks or to try something unconventional.
The immense pressure of expectations has become the main reason for many youngsters to commit suicide. According to the latest data released by the National Crime Records Bureau, more than 139,000 Indians committed suicide in the year 2019, and 67 percent were young adults.
Our education system is outdated and still follows old theoretical classroom teaching techniques where students are rewarded for having textbook-answers. There is no emphasis on creative or experiential learning. Instead, students are made to stick to a specific syllabus. The life of an adolescent is reduced to rushing from one stage of life to the next, meeting expectations set by their parents: completing school with good marks, followed by obtaining a secure government job and starting one’s own family, all indicators of ‘success’.
There are millions of adolescents living in cramped building blocks, who have moved from their villages to cities like Delhi, Kota, Jaipur, Bangalore, Lucknow, and many more, preparing for the governmental and other competitive exams to fulfil their parents’ dreams. There is a huge weight of expectations on the shoulders of youngsters, and failing to meet these expectations leaves them with shame. In the worst-case scenario, for many suicide seems the only way out.
I’m one of these Indian youngsters who forgot the ability to dream, and it took me a lot of courage to admit that I had to break out of my expectation cage.
But let’s have a close look at the situation of the Indian children and youth that grow up outside conventions, youngsters that are not part of the mainstream cultural life -children and adolescents who are pushed to the margins of society and are therefore, freed of all conventions. They are often looked down upon but enjoy freedom from family expectations and are, therefore, able to make important decisions for themselves. From a very young age, they learn to survive in constantly changing environments, adapt to new challenges, and find solutions for problems they face. Thus, they acquire life skills through living life itself, which many of us from more privileged backgrounds lack. The question is, what can we learn from these survivors?
To find out, my organisation Khoj offers “the Great Indian Treasure Hunt”, an eight-month program for Indian youth to learn, unlearn and relearn more about themselves and their interests. It’s an exposure to the world of social change, environmental solutions, and team experiences.
Teams of diverse backgrounds will explore their India and thus themselves. I will connect them to social change makers, nomads, artists, those who live their dreams and don’t try to fix the broken dreams of their parents.
