‘How will you define a VIP in your life?’ asked a friend once.

I replied, ‘Well, certainly not the sort who distance themselves by layers of Z-security and create traffic snarls.’

I was silent for a while and my friend continued to look at me for a more elaborate explanation. I then decided to answer by writing a short 4-line stanza.

This person will lead and do new things
And encourage me to find myself
This doesn’t mean insincere flings
But deeper dives into the self!

This friend was convinced by what I searched for in the VIP in my life and now insisted that I tell him who this person was. ‘Your wife?’ he ventured, and seeing me dither, he gambled on, ‘Your father… or your grandfather… or maybe a writer you admire?’

‘None,’ I said, and told him that I admired all of those he mentioned but the real VIP was my son.

‘Your son?’ he said, and then went on, ‘sons and fathers are generally on either ends of what the world calls a generation gap.’

I told him that this was precisely why a father needed to be open to accepting the new-age concepts of his son. ‘And the day I started inching closer to these new-age concepts, I realised that they made a lot of sense. I mean, he not only told me the nitty-gritty of how to surf the net, he also introduced me to the various social media platforms and even blogging.’ The truth is that if today I am close to being known as an expert with platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Linkedin it is because of this VIP in my life. VIPs open the path to a different form of learning and this is what a satisfying relationship is all about. This is what diving into the self to discover our ‘me’ inside us is all about.

‘Look,’ I said, ‘it was my son who read all about all about tele-banking and internet banking and insisted that I lose my fear of it. We are transacting with ease and without any hassles through mobile banking as well as managing our account virtually.’ I didn’t tell him though that even our credit card fear was won over by the informative bits that my son fed us. ‘My son is my VIP,’ I insisted, ‘as he is the one who now helps me be very pragmatic and business-like with apps for my mobile. He is the one who has taught me that productivity needs to be viewed from a detached position and not an emotive high ground.’

Generation gaps are meant to be overrun and overcome… their presence is an indicator that learning has stopped somewhere for some people. The truth is that this gap is responsible not just for a half-baked new gen but also a restless and lost mass from the generation that is waning. A coming closer simply refreshes both generations and makes them look at things from a new perspective. The older generation gets introduced to newer concepts and learns to walk with the moving time and the new gen gets to view everything new with a more balance and mature perspective.

Sketches - Generation gap

Sketches – Generation gap

 

 

Arvind Passey
21 September 2014