Feature

The Youth the Hope and Future

Amitava Basu

During the visit to Shillong in 1923, Rabindranath Tagore, while walking, observed a red oleander plant crushed by pieces of discarded iron. A few days later, he found an oleander branch with a single red flower protruded through the debris. Inspired by this scene, he noted, “created from the blood of its cruelly pierced breast” and wrote the play Red Oleanders.

The play, Red Oleanders, is based upon the principle that evil is caused by greed, lack of human sympathy and oppression, which separate fellow beings; and good salvages humanity trapped in tyranny and frees the oppressed, but at a sacrifice.

The central character of the play is the King who cruelly exploits nature as well as all possible human resources in order to develop a highly centralised bureaucracy and add to his wealth. The king barricades himself behind an iron curtain and transforms his city into a fort and his subjects into digging machines who grope in the dark searching for gold. The people lived and worked like machines driven by the king and his hierarchy comprising the headmen, the sub-headmen, the priest, and the professor. In the soulless town, people forgot the beauty of nature, the green meadows, the dazzling sunshine, the tenderness and love among humans.

In his pursuit to amass wealth, the king ordered to bring Nandini, another central character of the play, from her village detaching her from her lover Ranjan. Undaunted by the king, Nandini spreads her touch of life and joy and love symbolising the highest truth of humanity a truth for which men and women, in all times and countries, have been willing and eager to make the supreme sacrifice from a conviction that behind this spirit in human is God. Nandini defeated all machinations by spreading an atmosphere of love when whomever she met, ranging from 'dry as dust' professor, 'file-grinding' headmen, and the 'sinister' priest.

The message that the play conveys is like the blossoming of red oleander, which is a common flower in Bengal, happiness too has to be a product of love and of labour that is civil and honest and made of human sympathy and consideration.

The world today continues to face the humanitarian challenges that Tagore had articulated in his play. Poverty, illiteracy, hunger, disease, environmental pollution, violence, conflict and discrimination continue unabated. And to overcome these challenges, there is need for Nandinis, who can only come from amongst the youth - our future. Rachel Jackson, wife of the 7th President of the United States, Andrew Jackson, said “Our youth are not failing the system; the system is failing our youth. Ironically, the very youth who are being treated the worst are the young people who are going to lead us out of the nightmare”.

In June 2009, the youth of 150 countries representing 50 million youth volunteers of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement gathered at Solferino, Italy, to define the vision of humanity. They mobilised themselves to alleviate human sufferings and appealed to the world community to- recognise youth as agents of change; encourage the unique abilities and skills that young people can bring to the table, such as intercultural communication and innovative use of technology; include youth in decision-making and planning processes at all levels; push for youth to have a stronger role in programme development and implementation to empower their community; and increase focus on formal and non-formal peer education as a primary method of prevention.

It is the time for the youth to take lead and pave the path for better life and better future for mankind. If we are to ensure peace in this world, it has to begin with the youth.