THIS statement by the legendary thinker-writer Oscar Wilde, of course, is a wild generalisation. Even though it is generally true that a good numbers of young people are not given to deep thinking and fine or graceful approach to life, thanks to their limited exposure, exceptions are always available to disprove the above utterance. We do come across young people on whom youth stands bestowed as a Divine gift. In other words, they adorn their youth like a decoration or an honour -- with grace and gratefulness. The loud-thinker also comes across such young people during his ongoing search of young people in a fast-track to maturity. A few days ago, he happened to meet two young siblings -- a (elder) brother and a (younger) sister -- in their home and have a decent discussion with them on what forces shape life’s processes of growth and development of human personality. After a general discussion over the coffee with the family for sometime, the two young people took over to share a few young concerns and issues that confronted them.

 

They had questions to ask, all right, but their response to subsequent discussion showed that they had already known the answers no matter rather vaguely. That showed that the two young people had had a good opportunity and time in their family- and friend- circles to ponder over the issues and concerns. Theirs is a family of the loud-thinker’s friend of a rather recent vintage. Meeting the family for an evening was certainly good experience. For, the man of the house is a corporate boss of long experience and an author. The lady of the house is an academician of great merit and acclaim. A relaxed conversation with them was a rewarding experience. But the icing on the cake was the two young people who were invited to join the elders and participate in the enriching interaction for more than an hour -- of course over a very well-made coffee. Both the young people wore an eternal smile on their faces. Both of them leaned forward all the time -- demonstrating their keenness to be part of the conversation.

 

And both of them demonstrated a high quality of well-digested general knowledge -- which was evident from their interpretations of various points under discussion. The conversation showed that that was a family whose members spent good time reading books -- which added a delicious touch to the time together. A wonderful surprise awaited the loud-thinker when he joined the family in its cosy -- blissful -- home. The young lady produced from her personal albums a picture of her receiving a prize in her school function when she was just a 7th standard kid. And, by the way, the chief guest happened to be the loud-thinker. What mattered most was a session of exclusive time with the two young people. The brother is working on a wide international geography across continents, while the sister works for an international company -- their exposure adding a rare depth to their personae. Of course, as young people, they did have issues to deal with. But most of those concerns were beyond themselves -- in the sense, related to finer points of human finesse. It was truly a good time with the family -- but the session with the children was something the loud-thinker would want to preserve in memory forever. Let’s be honest: Very rarely do we come across young people -- in their early twenties, if the assessment is right -- with such a sense of maturity and responsibility. They had questions and also a fine manner of asking those.

 

They had answers, too, but also had a good way of communicating those. The loud-thinker responded to the issues the young people raised in the best possible manner -- and came away feeling that he had satisfied their natural curiosity and a fair understanding of things. The next day, the man of the family told the loud-thinker on the phone that his two children had drawn up a list of 14 take-aways from the meeting they had the previous evening. That was a happy surprise. The two apparently know how to utilise youth bestowed upon them. Rarely do we come across young people with such a serious approach to treating meeting people as a learning opportunity.