G-1947. In our grandfathers’ generation — those who were in their 20s in 1947 — you had to be lucky to get a job. This generation had seen freedom come but was perhaps ill-equipped to profit from it. Its aspiration then was to get a little toe into a secure job market, provided largely by the government. This made government jobs not only a revenue stream but brought with it a shimmering status. A pension at the end of 35 years was the cherry. A time-and-motion process guided them towards this pension.

G-1967. Our fathers’ generation — those who were in their 20s in 1967 — was a little better. Not because job opportunities had multiplied but because new avenues of income generation were born in the form of lawyers, accountants and other professionals. Doctors and engineers were needed the most and hence the doctor-engineer obsession with their parents. Here too, some professions carried more status than others — doctors, for instance, commanded and carried as much respect and status as government servants, more so perhaps as the decline in service delivery by government servants had begun.

G-1991. My generation — those who were in their 20s in 1991 (apologies for the break in rhythm but that was the turning point) - is a little different. We were children of liberalisation and fresh from guitar serenades in college were wonderstruck with the economic crooning that hit us and turned into non-stop hits. Here an opportunity, there an opportunity, everywhere opportunity. Many, not all, were lucky to find our ‘calling’ and turn our jobs into joys. Hard work and smart thinking was and is our survival mantra.

... contd.