Measuring the MTV Generation

Youngsters in New Delhi love Alisha China's Made in India, with `Pardesi pardesi' from Raja Hindustani and `Chappa chappa' from Maachis following closely, hanging out in restaurants, and they are more willing than their counterparts in Mumbai and Bangalore to pay for branded goods.

Snobs with a vernacular touch? An MTV survey of 450 upper-income youth across the three metropolises naturally chooses to call them individualistic, but apparently Delhi's youngsters (for research purposes, the species is defined as persons between 15 and 29) do believe they're the best, especially when it comes to upholding traditional values. For instance, just 2 per cent of them love hanging out in pubs and bars, compared to 18 and 20 per cent in Mumbai and Bangalore respectively.

Delhi kids don't subscribe to the view that their compatriots in Mumbai and Bangalore know more about the latest trends in music, movies, TV shows and fashion. While 72 per cent of Delhi kids believe they're the first to catch on to the most happening things, only 59 per cent in Bangalore and 57 per cent in Mumbai think so.

At the same time, either Delhi kids are more attuned to Mumbai's film industry or they're just more comfortable with the matribhasha. For, while 72 per cent of Mumbai kids prefer Western music as do 62 per cent of Bangalore youth, in Delhi, the competition is close, with Indian music losing out by just 4 percentage points.

So, what unites youngsters across the three metros? Hamara Bharat Mahaan? Forget it. It's Michael Jackson, from Bandra in Mumbai to M. G. Road in Bangalore and Basant Lok in New Delhi. And dance music is the most popular genre.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.