Driven by ambition, caught by anxiety and determined to push every lever under his/her control, a young Indian looks forward the future with hope of the best and preparation for the worst. All is neither ever rosy nor always rigorous, is the ringing reality of life.

Proud heirs of a legacy that goes back to more than five thousand years, the youth knows that ambition coupled with ability and acumen, offers many a chance and challenge to the young always inquisitive and impatient to make a niche, and thus reap the harvest that lies ahead.

Of all the periods of life, the best to strike gold manifests itself when teenage steps into the shoes of youth, with all possible trials and triumphs, pains and pleasures. In every age, perceptions and priorities undergo a metamorphosis. If in the past the youth, was moved by motive and mission, the present offers to the youth both ambition and adventure in plenty.

Precariously perched between the pulls of the hallowed past and the mysteries of the East, on the one hand, and the glittering glamour of the West, on the other, where the present holds an irresistible sway, the Indian youth finds itself on the Western side of the fence. Fired by the stimulus and success syndrome of the living present, the young nurse an ambition to reach the top of the world, however hard and relentless the effort may be.

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The value systems of the Indian youth are still very much Indian, even if outward symbols are Western. They are mature in their consumption of the West and their acceptance of the East. Modernity has come about not by rebellion, but by parents and children narrowing the generation gap to accommodate each other. A major transition has been the replacement of idealism with acquisition.

Their one question is how to make money. They equate success, happiness, fame everything with money and they are looking for the fastest route to go there. The Indian youth are like a tidal wave. Whether India in the new millennium will ride it or go under, will depend on how it taps this potential power.

The ‘deep divide’ between the urban youth and the rural one is too conspicuous to need any description. The former has an easy access to all that passes on the technology, information and communication fronts and thus he adjusts his aspirations accordingly. Suspense about success and anxiety about stealing a march over others are normal experiences that an urban youth has to live with.

On the contrary, the rural youth is still way from the passion and pursuit of ‘sky is the limit, and instead of against, he is worried to make both ends meet. In fact, these two different categories offer an interesting study of two different species under the title ‘Indian Youth’, the one on the march and the other suck-up.

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The urban youth knows what he wants and he may get it without making much fuss about the morality of the ways. The ruling mantra seems: for all ends, you must have the means.

And there is no shortage of the latter commodity considering the money he can make from everything, whether it is modeling, or star-ups or all three in one mind- blowing combination, street-smarts, money savvy, and surfing through jobs and relationship, there is anxiety leading to state of being ‘burnt out’.

There is stress from an unprecedented peer-group pressure from scenario where achievement is compulsive-obsessive disorder.

For the Indian youth of the new millennium life is not just fun and play, but also a money-fetching career. The onslaught of television and internet has given their minds enough food for thought.

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Opportunities galore, yet the simmering frustration among the urban youth have seen drug addiction, and crime taking its toll in a big way. May be, the urban youth, intelligent and innovative enough, need what generations before them needed; proper guidance without pouring it down their throats.