Today's Brunch (the daily mag section of Hindustan Times in Delhi) has a cover story which boldly says, "Not so long ago, it was impossible for young people to admite to their parents that they had a girlfriend or boyfriend. Today, parents in big cities get nervous if their children aren't dating".
This is known as engineering public opinion towards a set of values, even without any ground, and is in real bad taste.
The article has a big set-up picture of an aged couple and a young couple hand in hand (the first couple are parents and the other their son/ daughter with date. It sites unbelievable anecdotes about conservative parents suddenly turning liberal about their daughters dating within a span of five years. They are just as set-up as the pictures. So much for misleading public and forcing a change in values.
I am a social worker and a keen observer of society, and all around me, I see young people trying to hide their relationships not only from parents, but also from colleagues, neighbours and what not -- although there is more openness between peers. And, I live in a big city, Delhi.
The funny part is, that, inspite of all the brouhaha and social engineering indulged in by the media and other forces of heterosexualisation, in my hep office (which is a publication taking out several English publications in a month) there are several young boys and girls. But only one pair of boy and girl have a relationship with each other, and its extremely candid. They don't even share it with peers, but we know that there's something on. Another boy has a started a relatioship with a girl he meets on the bus daily, and chats with on orkut, but only I and a girl have the honour to know it in my office. The others just don't know.
So, who are all these parents worried about their children not going on dates? Apart from a few over-westernised couples, over eager to prove their 'sophistication' and 'status' in the society?
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