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   Every person in this world gets the gift of youth but very few are able to make this phase really meaningful. For biologists, the young age is a matter of biochemical changes in the body. When the growing age reaches a certain stage these specific bio-chemical changes start taking place and they continue for many years. Generally the age-span between 15 and 35 is taken as the period of prime youth. After 35 the young age begins to wane and is gradually replaced by the silvery touch of middle age maturity. So this prime span of about twenty years is the most precious in one’s life and need to be utilized for laying down the foundations for worthwhile life.

The onset of youth is accompanied not only by physical and biological changes but many psychological and emotional changes too, whose upward and downward swings have been deeply studied by psychologists. According to them this is a period of emotional flux. Many kinds of thoughts and feelings come and go, waves of impulses and spurs rise and subside, stormy cycles of conflicts, dilemmas and rebellions arise in the psyche. All these waves rise and fall with such rapidity that they can easily confound and destabilize a person. The psychologists, their differences on many counts notwithstanding, are all unanimous on this ongoing transitional storm inside. They all believe that if the urges and strengths of this youth phase are not controlled and properly channelized, life could be derailed and the melodious song of youth could turn into a noisy cacophony.

Be it the biologist or the psychologist, both hold that with the coming of youth many physical and mental capacities develop. But along with them there also grows up a crop of hungers and desires which start consuming these extra powers gifted by nature. Endless desires and longings for material and corporeal pleasures dry up the inner spring-well of energies. They divert the young mind in multiple directions, chasing mirages one after another. By the time one gets hold of oneself and comes down to the terra firma of reality it is often too late. The gilded gift of youth and everything else is lost; the body becomes weak and falls a prey to physical diseases, psychosomatic disorders and complexes. This scenario is not imaginary. Often we come across living examples of such unfortunate endings of wayward youth.

Almost daily, TV channels and newspapers harp on “youth in drug trap”, or “terrorist youth arrested”, or “young man kills a dozen” and so on. Among such misguided young persons we can find both the rich and the poor. Their family backgrounds differ, their castes and languages differ, and they belong to different places. But one thing common to all of them is that they could not receive the benefit of value orientation; some selfish elements misguided their emotions and urges in wrong directions.

In modern times the number of young persons bereft of a meaningful aim is quite large. Sometime back a reputed newspaper had published a list of such young persons who are connected with some political big-wigs or some large business houses and yet all were involved in heinous crimes of murder, extortion, drug abuse and the like. Apart from the deviants who do it for adventure or thrill, there are others who faced with the usual challenges of life take recourse to short cuts rather than struggle and stick to the right path. The youth of today tends to think, “I must have everything in the world and have it this moment itself.” They have soaring ambitions but no matching talents, patience and perseverance. Such unrealistic dreamers are wont to slide down the slippery path of life’s journey and destroy themselves, very often literally.

Today, the situation obtaining in almost every country in the world is similar. Researchers and scholars have spent endless hours to understand this phenomenon and have come to believe that the complexities of the young age go beyond mere physical and psychological dimensions, though the symptoms emerge on these two planes. The root cause is the lack of right vision about the purpose of life. A young person can lead and enjoy a meaningful life only if he has the correct perspective on things, only when he has the ability to look within himself and understand his true identity as a soul – with intellect, emotions and the body as means of expression – as instruments.

The youth of today is not intrinsically bad or selfish; he is simply directionless. He has the potential to become a Lokmanya Tilak or a Subhas Chandra Bose. He too can build up a large business empire and become a Jugal Kishore Birla, or Jamshedji Tata or Dhirubhai Ambani. The youth is potentially endowed with the courage and strength to face the challenges of life and to overcome the adverse circumstances. He has the sensitivity to feel the pain of others and the capacity to bear and overcome his own pain. But alas! He is unable to do all these because he does not have the right vision.

For making youth a meaningful span of life requires a spiritual vision. Spiritual vision does not mean worship of deities or observance of rituals or propitiation of adverse planetary positions. It should not be linked with wearing a ring, stone or amulet either. It has decidedly nothing to do with temple-mosque disputes. Its true meaning lies in a correct and full understanding of the nature and purpose of life and its intricacies and nuances. One has to appreciate one’s own special qualities and to learn the correct ways of cultivating these strengths. One has to refine one’s inner consciousness and has to maintain a positive view of life even in adverse circumstances, so that psycho-mental complexes do not develop and entrap one in any kind of a vicious cycle of wayward directionless and pervert pursuits.

Scientific spirituality is the necessity of a young life in modern times. It is the right path to make the gift of youth purposeful and successful. It is independent of any particular sect or creed. It is that sovereign message of life which the sages and seers have been spreading since the time of the Upnishads. It is that great mantra which Swami Vivekanand dinned into the ears of the youth –“Uttisthata jagrata prapya varanibodhat [Arise! Awake and stop not till the life reaches its goal – Kathopnishad 1/3/14]. It is that eternal song through which Lord Krishna advised the perplexed Arjuna in the Mahabharat - “Klaibyani ma sma gamah Partha….” (Do not be timid Arjuna!). It is this very song of emotion which has inspired the youth through the ages and brought to the fore their valor on each occasion of societal crisis. It is the dire need of the hour.

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