Listen to them

Jitender Dabas

The 21st century has entered its thirteenth year. So demographically defined this millennium is now a teenager. Children born at the turn of the 21st century will be teenagers now. As per 2011 census data, there are 243 million people in India in the 10-19 years age group making almost 20% of India’s population and the world’s largest teen demographics. So it is no wonder that everyone today wants to befriend them. Every marketer— from telcos to cola companies to Hamdard’s Rooh Afza as well as SBI—is wanting to connect with them. The defining image of the teens in 2012 was that of young girls and boys holding placards, shouting slogans and fighting tear gas and water canons in bitter cold in and around India Gate in Delhi after the rape of a 23 years old student. Likewise, in 2011, we saw teenagers donning caps that said ‘I am Anna’ at Ramleela Maidan. In the neighbourhood, Pakistani teenager Malala Yousufzaibecame the most visible new symbol of resilience against the Taliban and fundamentalist forces at 15 years of age.

But if one looks at the commercial messages broadcast by marketers one would assume that today’s teens spend all their time hanging out at malls, inside fast-food joints, on social networking sites or chatting away on their Blackberry messenger. A recent flurry of ads on TV with teenagers in

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