Only about 20 percent of todays youth have developed a purpose in life, finds Williom Damon, the director of the

Stanford center on adolescents . He further says and I quote Youth is like energy and it requires to be channelized in proper direction or else this unrestricted force can give u a shock . "Life is thorny and youth is vain" was rightly said by S.T. Coleridge as today s colleges seem to have seen it all .Students beating up examination superintendents when barred from cheating, a young girl filing a case of sexual harassment against her colleague , students forcing a lecturer to polish shoes in the class and we sit here today , sipping down a cup of our favourite drink thinking about the future of this country . About 85% of todays youth live in developing countries. Just imagine if this very youth will be directionless then what will be the future , a future that we so wholeheartedly count on . And there lies the big question that stalks the mind of both the learner and the learned . Although both sections console themselves that it is all about a few bad apples in a basket, yet in the same breath complain of the degradation of values in society which left the present day youth directionless. Todays prime time hit reality shows on television like Roadies, Splitswilla and others portray youngsters as bitchy, back stabbing and vicious beings. In an increasingly competitive urban scenario youngsters resort to insensitive and un-human acts to win the rat race. These shows provide a glimpse of young India. Is young India unforgiving and ruthless? Is the carefree youth losing its innocence in a cruel high pressure world? Are parents to forcing their children to be the best at the cost of their moral values? Are qualities like friendship and loyalty being replaced by greed and jealousy? There is no getting away from that there's only one answer to this and it is YES. The word patience no longer exists in the dictionary of youngsters. And that is the main reason behind the communal riots that we read about every second day in the news papers Be it Bihar ,Alighar or Gujarat they only bring to notice the lack of patience in todays youth. The lifestyles youngsters adopt today are chosen either out of curiosity ,peer pressure or fashion, alternatively stress, anxiety and frustration drive them onto these paths. What is even more alarming is that the attraction of todays youth is no longer for cigarette, tobacco or alcohol. These are now termed as soft items. The "in" things are cocaine, heroin, brown sugar which are so called as stress buster. We should not forget 26th November 2008. A tragic incident which has left a mark so dark that even decades will be less to make us forget the sound of the gun shots, the sight of a 106 year old landmark burning with innocent people inside and the fact that our very nation was the victim of a such an event. And I would like to bring to notice , that Kasab stands as a clear example of the gullible and directionless youth of today who easily fall pray to the lure of lucre. This unequivocally proves that whatever the youth are doing , they are neither aware of its consequences nor do they bother about it. Now for the so called reasons for the very strength of our country to become directionless. Many blame the faulty policies which make the rich richer and the poor poorer, some blame the corruption in the country and still others the mentality of the politicians which make the country un progressive and hence the poor are left with no choice other than to go on the wrong path to keep there body and soul together. But I ask ,does running away from a grave situation means dealing with the situation? Does it mean rectifying the root cause of the problem.? No , in fact it graveness the situation all the more. So denying the undeniable fact is not going to solve the problem. But instead of giving ourselves to despair we need to correct the sources affecting them .The biggest factor above all is the allurement they find in the lifestyle of present day politicians who want to be at the helm of power by hook or crook. Politicians should try to be a role model for our youth and guide them to the path of justice and not to forget over ambitious parents who take more as a matter of social upliftment than of pride if their child gets into a prestigious college .