Not lost but waking up

- Archita

There’s this quiet kind of frustration a lot of us in the younger generation carry. It’s not always loud or dramatic. Sometimes, it just sits there—underneath everything we do like a heavy rock.

It’s the feeling of being stuck between two worlds. One that tells us to follow our dreams, and another that punishes us for not being "practical" enough. We grew up hearing that if we work hard, we’ll succeed. But now we see people working two or three jobs just to survive, while others thrive because they were born lucky.

We’re expected to smile, to stay grateful, to "just be positive"—while scrolling through news that makes us feel like everything is falling apart. Climate change, wars around the world, job insecurity, rape cases , cyber bullying , murders , Mental health struggles and what not. It’s like we’ve inherited a world that’s already burning and somehow, we’re supposed to fix it, keep smiling, and stay productive all at once.

And still, people say we’re lazy or ungrateful. But how are we supposed to function when we're constantly told we’re not enough, when we’re never really allowed to just stop and breathe and do what we actually want to do.

Truth is, we’re tired. We care, deeply. That’s why we get angry. That’s why we question things. It’s not because we want to rebel. It’s because we have to. Because if we don’t ask for better, who will?

We carry this frustration because we want a future that makes sense. One that’s kinder, fairer, and actually liveable. And maybe, just maybe, we’re not the problem. Maybe we’re just finally saying out loud what everyone before us was too afraid to.