A fortnight ago, BJP president Nitin Nabin had a four-hour deliberation with young party colleagues on how to reach out to the youth. From newly appointed Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha chief Hemang Joshi and his three predecessors\u2014Tejasvi Surya, Poonam Mahajan, and Anurag Thakur\u2014to Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Rajasthan deputy chief minister Diya Kumari\u2014most of the 44 attendees shared their views.<\/p>\n
The term \u2018Gen Z\u2019 was not to be used. Those gathered used \u2018students\u2019 and \u2018youth\u2019 instead. No one mentioned the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) or criticised the young protestors. Except for Saumitra Khan, West Bengal BJYM chief and MP, who complained about ministers \u201cnot listening\u201d to him, the broader theme of the discussion was about engaging with the youth. That Prime Minister Narendra Modi also wanted their feedback was evident from the presence of Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who was constantly taking notes.<\/p>\n
One doesn\u2019t know what Nabin gathered from the meeting. Three days later, he posted a video link<\/a> of his meeting with the Russian envoy, Denis Alipov, with Boney M\u2019s \u2018Rasputin\u2019 playing in the background.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tShow Full Article<\/p>\n Nabin was ostensibly trying to impress Gen Z, unmindful of what history books say about Rasputin\u2019s role at Emperor Nicholas II\u2019s court. The BJP president didn\u2019t even pay heed to the lyrics, which describe him as \u201clover of the Russian queen\u201d and \u201cRussia\u2019s greatest love machine\u201d.<\/p>\n A few days later, at a youth event in Vadodara, PM Modi made a grand entrance with Queen\u2019s \u2018We Will Rock You\u2019 playing in the background. As columnist Tavleen Singh wrote<\/a> in The Indian Express, \u201cLuckily, it was only the tune that played. Had he been aware of the words, Modi may have fainted.\u201d<\/p>\n This is how the lyrics go:<\/p>\n \u201cBuddy, you\u2019re an old man, poor man Playing the British rock band\u2019s 1977 song was obviously supposed to be a \u2018cool\u2019 thing that would endear PM Modi to Gen Z. It\u2019s what Bonney M\u2019s 1978 song was supposed to do for Nabin.<\/p>\n What Gen Z is worried about<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a problem: Gen Z doesn\u2019t identify with these songs. They are from the bygone era. I called up my old friend Sarthak, a popular RJ with Fever 104 FM. He has been hosting radio shows for over two-and-a-half decades, and knows a thing or two about Gen Z\u2019s music taste.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have no idea who Freddie Mercury (Queen\u2019s lead singer) is. They don\u2019t understand the context (of \u2018We Will Rock You\u2019),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n And do they like rock?<\/p>\n \u201cThey don\u2019t. They rediscovered Metallica when they saw Stranger Things on OTT. But when old allegations of racism and sexism surfaced, they started cancelling them. Gen Z are into a lot of hip hop, a lot of pop. They are not listening to long forms; they like 30-second hooks. It\u2019s a mix of hormones with social media,\u201d said Sarthak.<\/p>\n According to him, the most important thing politicians should be mindful of is that Gen Z get \u201cangsty\u201d when elders try to emulate their choices in music or elsewhere. \u201cThey think you are invading their space,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n That is million-dollar advice to politicians. When they \u2018clock\u2019 or \u2018flex\u2019 or talk about \u2018OGs\u2019 because of \u2018FOMO\u2019, it\u2019s \u2018delulu\u2019 politics because Gen Z may be perceiving it as an invasion of their space. As a father of two Gen Z children who gets an occasional glance into their friends\u2019 world, too, I can add some things to the list of \u2018don\u2019ts\u2019 for politicians whose desperate attempts to woo this generation only expose their ignorance.<\/p>\n For one, don\u2019t preach to them or \u201cforgive\u201d them because you think they are \u2018misguided\u2019 and you know better. They are pretty well-informed about what\u2019s happening around them and hold strong views about issues\u2014local, national, or international. So when home minister Amit Shah says that by 2029, the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) will be implemented in all 21 NDA-ruled states, Gen Z has many questions. \u201cWhat\u2019s their problem with live-in relationships? Why is this government\u2019s business?\u201d a young man asked me recently. I tried to explain BJP leaders\u2019 arguments about protecting women from fraud and legal accountability, but he was not convinced. Many from this generation may be turning vegetarian and vegan, but they aren\u2019t amused by the government deciding what they should and shouldn\u2019t eat. You may be convinced that Sanskrit is better than any foreign language, but don\u2019t deny them the choice in the garb of the three-language policy.<\/p>\n What I am driving at is the fact that it\u2019s not just NEET paper leaks or our education system or lack of employment opportunities that are making Gen Z angsty. Those issues are important to them, but their concerns are much larger. They are as worried as you and me about individual liberty, human rights, rural and urban infrastructure, newborn babies dying in hospital fires, and water contamination deaths. Just speaking their lingo isn\u2019t good enough. Playing Boney M or Queen songs to woo the youth shows how far removed our politicians are from the Gen Z world.<\/p>\n
Pleading with your eyes, gonna make you some peace someday
You got mud on your face, big disgrace
Somebody better put you back into your place.\u201d<\/p>\n