Are the ‘Cows’ turning Chic?

There seems to be a raging spirit in Indians these days to adopt a more suave and savvy get- up. And owing to this expensive and elite behaviour, a new trend has come over the tide with the seemingly visible modernization. Moreover, a constant desire to succeed is inducing in the common Indian (who once was a product of soil and sweat) an array of fragrant western charms. India is no more the land of intimidating cows and gregarious thugs but an even worse concoction of societal confusion. India’s tryst with development is conjuring vivid images of the nation, robbing it of its ingenuity and showing the world what fallacious modernization means.
However, the prospect of this development is rather paradoxical. Take gaming for instance that has become a new and hot favourite among the chic Indian adolescent. Annually, India spends about two million rupees in extending its reach into the realm of gaming by adopting sophisticated devices. However this phenomenal investment that could have been used to develop human capital, is consequentially diminishing and only plundering the Indian treasury. The reason for this is that the average Indian kid lacks the ability and capability to delve deeper into gaming owing to two factors- the concentrated modernization and mere gaming apathy (stemming primarily from poverty).
It has been noted that from 68% of eligible non-handicapped gamers (i.e. the age group of 16-27) only 23% actually utilize their charms as an effective gamer. Others are either too poor or lack the initiation into gaming due to a sorrowful inferiority complex. So is the investment even worth it?
Further, with a constant flow of gamer blitz, handed down by Sony and Nintendo- to name two- another market is carving its niche in the Indian society. But since the gamers are only about 4% of the total population there is scarce knowledge about the future of gaming industries. “Will there even be skilled workers available to us? Also, most of the gamers eventually find more high paying jobs!” adds Rajesh Katheria, CEO of Dhruva India, a gaming firm.
Games have also been the cause for a series of highly perturbing ills like mental fatigue, damage to eyesight and most of all damage to personality as the average gamer is in an impressionable age. “It may be hard to believe but one seventh of our cases are due to psychological damage done by violent and chaotic games,” adds an anxious Madhu Mehta, dean of the brain healthcare institute in Hyderabad.
So the botomline is that even though India proposes Gaming Development as part of its national endeavours, the arena seems to be far from reach. The capital being invested is a sheer wastage and requires a cohesive and coherent understanding of the Indian society. And in order to raise the stakes of gaming in India, the government must propose a practical set of schemes that can educate the average Indian both economically and technically. There is a grave need to remove the obstructing apathy!