So they're young, successful and creative. They grew up in the 1980s with Doordarshan, cassettes, Grammy awards and the days when MTV played English songs. They transitioned from being teenagers discovering their identity in Socialist India to making the most of the era of Liberalisation. But one wonders if they represent shining India or the India that is struggling to get out of its cocoon. Palash Krishna Mehrotra, columnist and writer, lifts the veil off the dark, often scintillating world of India's urban youth in his part memoir, part travelogue, part social commentary, “The Butterfly Generation” (Rupa Publications, Rs. 450).
Palash's evocative descriptions draw the reader into the worlds of people we know, have heard about or hang out with. But he is unapologetic about putting it all out there. “This is an after-hours book,” he says over the phone. “I was interested in what the software engineer did after work. If I were to write about people who came to office, worked and returned home, you wouldn't have read it.”
Reviewers have criticised Palash for narrowly analysing India's urban youth through socially exclusive groups. To this contention, Palash replies “They weren't friends of mine. I got to know them to observe their lives. I don't overplay the Dehradun stuff like Pankaj Mishra does,” as an afterthought he adds, “I offer a literary perspective, which most don't understand.”
Palash is tired of the regular “India” books. “Who is going to write our narratives?” he wonders and continues, “People read foreigner's analysis of India. I wanted to defy that.” The chapters on the music revolution that has caught the imagination of India's urban youth makes for a compelling read. “Metal guys have their own sub-culture. They negotiate modernity on their terms, and have important arguments on modernity,” says the author, whose first book was “Eunuch Park”.
Palash may have been born into privilege — he is the son of the noted poet and anthologist Arvind Krishna Mehrotra — and educated in St. Stephens, Delhi School of Economics and Oxford, but he doesn't take any of this for granted. “Like any middle-class boy,” he says, “It was mandatory for me to get a foreign degree.” He wrote the proposal for the book when he was in London. But when he returned to Dehradun, he discarded it. Things had changed back home. All his friends had left. And Palash moved to Delhi and other cities, which helped him in his research.
For Palash, “The Butterfly Generation” is a celebration of India's urban youth. He tries to understand what Valentine's Day, the emergence of McDonalds and other employment opportunities means for the youth. Stand up comedian Sanjay Rajoura finds quite some space in Palash's book. “Our generation has the guts to make fun of our communities. That's a big moment for us.”
Though Palash the columnist writes about political issues, Palash the author chose not to explore it in “The Butterfly Generation”. “It's my take on what I find interesting. What you exclude is endless.”
