Most of the people who are reading this post were born in a free, economically resurgent and forward looking India. Our parents’ generation is responsible for having gotten us this far. But while they have achieved a lot, they could not succeed in solving a host of extremely pressing problems and dilemmas facing us today. The baton is in our hands now. We can choose to maintain the status quo or take a stand and change the society we all crib about. Here are a few things our generation needs to leave behind.

“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” – Edmund Burke

1. Letting society dictate our lives.

“Log kya kahenge?” This phrase is probably the bane of a young Indian’s life. For too long, we’ve been letting others tell us what we can or cannot do. Over time, this has resulted in whole generations of “Yes-Men,” “Pencil-Pushers” and “Head-Nodders.” Our parents tell us who to marry, our relatives tell us where to work and our peers decide whether we’re good enough to hang out with them or not. I say, fuck that. Let’s be comfortable in our own skins, love as we like and work where we please. As long as you’re a decent human being, it shouldn’t matter what the hell you do.

2. Patriarchy.

We need to get rid of this. We need to get rid of the notion that a man is superior to a woman and that the latter is the former’s property. This is the mentality that makes people kill their daughters in the womb. This is what makes assholes think that they can rape or molest a woman and get away with it. And to get rid of it, we have to first get rid of it in our homes. The only way to do this is if we teach our sons to respect our daughters. And our daughters must be taught to respect themselves.