Tall stacks of hi-fi speakers boomed with tunes of western music as bright-faced, colourfully-clad students waited for the inauguration of `Communion-99', a three-day cultural and literary festival.

``There is nothing wrong with today's youngsters,'' declared litterateur and thinker Suresh Dwadashiwar, minutes after the blast of music had quietened down.

The Resident Editor of Loksatta was delivering the inaugural address of the festival organised by the Department of Mass Communication and the University Departments' Students' Council to mark the University's Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

``By branding the youth as indisciplined or disobedient, the older generation shows that it has failed to gauge the winds of change,'' said Dwadashiwar in a thought-provoking address, even as the students were preparing for the next item on the agenda--a dance competition.

``Sometimes I wonder,''he mused aloud, ``whether people of my generation wasted their time by becoming bound by all these traditions of blindly following the commands of elders and teachers.''

At this juncture in history, he felt that change had ushered in an era of individual freedom. He said that the Supreme Court judgment allowing maternity leave to unwed mothers is a case in point where individual rights prevailed over age-old traditions.

All the path-breaking events in the 20th century set the stage for decentralisation of power in every sphere of life. Be it politics, religion, society or the institution of the family, there can be no concentration of power anymore, said Dwadashiwar. He added that just as political rulers find today that they do not enjoy the same sway over people as their predecessors did, the heads of families are discovering that they no longer have the last word. The cause of all strife and tension in the world can be traced to the failure to gauge the direction of the winds of change, he added.

Itis not a question of whether the new generation is right or wrong, but a matter of understanding and adapting to change. ``Today's youngsters are not spoilt but, perhaps, have matured too fast. The onus lies with the older generation,'' he felt.

He underscored the fact that the age of prophets, saints, kings and emperors and even mahatmas is over. Going back to the events of the 20th century, Dwadashiwar observed that this will be the era of the common man.

He appealed to journalists, writers and thinkers to prepare the society for the crucial role it will have to play.

Presiding over the function, Ashit Sinha, Senior Vice President of Ispat Industries Ltd, also felt that values in the society keep changing because perceptions change with time.

The Chief Guest on the occasion, V H Ghorpade, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, lauded the efforts of the Department of Mass Communication in giving a platform to cultural and literary talent in the students.

Earlier, in his introductory remarks, theChairman of Nagpur University's Platinum Jubilee Celebrations Committee, Dr Arun Satputaley, spoke about the year-long programmes. It had been decided by the committee to celebrate the University's 75th year, by focussing on three main areas. To discover hidden talent in cultural, sports and literary activities, to conduct academic activities like seminars, workshops and conferences, and third, to expand and strengthen University departments by adding courses, instituting chairs and increasing research facilities.

So far, the committee has been fairly successful in all these areas, he said.

K G Misar, Head of the Department of Mass Communication, stated with pride that the department offered a video programming course and had a TV studio, Internet facilities for the students and its own Web site.

Snehal Meshram, Secretary of the University Departments' Students' Council, proposed a vote of thanks.

Today's events featured a dance competition and a debate contest. Slated for tomorrow are a Mock PressMeet, Personality Contest and Fashion Show.