Kho gaye hum kahaan?
It has become very normal for the aged group 14 to 20 years boys and girls to live life which we can’t even imagine. On any Friday or Saturday night come to any night club or pub or a restaurant of Mumbai these days, this age group is partying harder and wilder than what your imaginations can run. There is not 1 bottle but sometimes two, costing lakhs on the table (yes we have bars and restaurants in Mumbai where a bottle is sold in lakhs), vape in their fingers rolling and rolled up weed cigarettes in their pockets on the table they are dining out. Things which were normal for Mumbaikars for certain age groups and certain financial backgrounds, today for the younger generation, it is a very regular phenomenon.
Yes, weed is very normal. I am told by a friend who is a regular party goer that whenever they are at a high end restaurant or a pub on the weekends, it is very normal to see two/three boys coming out of the bathroom cubicle cleaning their noses. He continues, these days these young boys and girls are booking tables which cost a few thousands and lakhs too…That’s why when your child asks for money to go to a night club and says it is the entry cost, it is for the table…Then they divide the bill equally.
I don’t have a problem with this aged group dining outside. I have a problem with their no-drinking sense, drugs and other related things these kids do. Worst is nightclubs allow these children as they have made fake ID cards to get an entry. One thing these kids don’t understand is what harm they are doing to their bodies and health by consuming things which aren’t meant for their age. Now the worst is, conditions of the parents. Here outside parents brag their children aren’t into anything, they just go with friends for normal dinners, my question to them is …are you sure? Give a surprise check to one of their night stays or social gatherings at the weekend. You are lucky if your kid is found to be normal…
The other day one of my closest friends’ son wanted to go to a party…As a parent saying NO is not an option anymore. He said yes, but what he narrated to me really shook the daylights out of me. He said, Vikrant that day I decided to let my son who is 17 years old go for this one reunion which was taking place at the top floor restaurant of a 5 star hotel in South Mumbai. But then, at around midnight I decided to go to the place myself and give a surprise check. Even I was out with a few fathers whose children were with my son. When I told them about my plan to go and do a surprise check since we all were nearby, none of the fathers agreed to it. But I wanted to go…I went to meet my son but what I saw Vikrant, was totally maddening. Young kids, about 40 to 50 of them, had booked tables worth thousands and lakhs and every child was vaping and dancing and drinking to the music, as most of these plush restaurants turn into lounge bars. There were a few kids whom I have seen grow up, they were so drunk that they came to me with a bottle and asking me to have a shot, little they realised that it was an uncle whom they were talking too…I cried a little, but then saw my kid was fine, straight went down to the waiting car and friends, and left them at the mercy of God telling my friends everything was fine.
Many children who live in big houses, a strict watch on them is of utmost necessity as many times you think your child is sleeping but they have sneaked out, ,my dear parents…Haven’t we all done that right? But then we did it for thril…l these kids do it for partying.
Parents, please, it is not cool for your children to smoke, drink and do drugs…Don’t turn a blind eye or deaf ear to this if you have got a slightest hint…If you know your child has got addicted, ignoring the problem won’t help…but addressing it ASAP will …This is a tender age…they don’t know what depression is in a failed love story, failed career, failed marriage…If now they are into all this, imagine when they become independent and successful and life throws them a challenge, just imagine what the son/daughter will do…
Wake up parents, ACT…Don’t mistrust them, don’t ground them, don’t beat them or don’t stop them…they will revolt more…Instead if you can’t, let your elders in the family handle it with love..Bring that trust and confidence in your child again, be friendly with them. There is HELP available, be it via counselling or approaching the right doctors.
If you think only the upper middle class or lower middle class children do all of this, I know few people who are worth more than we can even think…Stories are there of them also…
Vikrant Meena Hemant Joshi.
