Generation Gap

The fields of science and technology are constantly evolving and so is the way of living of the people, their beliefs, notions and their overall behaviour. Thus, people belonging to different generations behave differently and have their own set of ideologies which is referred to as generation gap.

The people belonging to different generations have been given different names for instance those born before independence have been termed as the Traditionalists, the generation after that is called the Baby Boomers, those born between 1965 and 1980 are called Generation X and those born between 1980 and 1999 are known as the Generation Y. There are a few things that clearly show the gap between these generations.

People belonging to the older generations lived in a joint family system and believed in sharing and caring. However, this concept has deteriorated over the generations. The current generation wants freedom and there is hardly anyone who follows the traditional way of living in the joint families. The overall lifestyle of people has changed drastically.

The Hindi spoken by people belonging to the pre-independence era is quite different from that being spoken today and the change did not occur all of a sudden it occurred over a period of time – generation after generation. Each generation adopts a new group of slangs thereby creating some division from the earlier one. Communication between people belonging to different generations at home as well as workplace sometimes becomes quite difficult due to this change in language.

While people belonging to the earlier generations were good at taking directions and were loyal to a single employer, people these days get bored quite quickly and seek new jobs within a few years or at times even months of getting a job. The Gen Y people are innovative and want to share and implement their own unique ideas rather than blindly taking directions from their boss.

Women belonging to the older generations were mostly confined to home. They were only seen as someone who should take care of the house, going out and working was the thing of the men of the house. However, society’s attitude towards women has changed over the generations. Today, women are allowed to enter any field of their choice and work just as men.

People belonging to one generation are very different from the other which is natural. However, the problem arises when people from different generations try to impose their ideas and beliefs on the other while totally condemning that of the others’.