Kaleidoscopic News

"A Kaleidoscope is a jigsaw-like puzzle which will have only few pieces, but one can make thousands of different patterns by constantly re-arranging them. Whichever way we assemble them, it would make sense & will form a cohesive model."


Given below are 5 disturbing articles about the youth of India.

News # - Today’s youth losing track.

Family values are diminishing in our society as a whole, especially in youth. The parents do not instill in the children the discipline they need, as they are too busy working than to worry, nurture and care about their children.

Smoking & drinking at young age, lying to parents, addiction to Internet & TV, wasting money on unhealthy food items are the common problems of today’s youth. When these people grow up as adults, they neither understand the family values nor do they have many healthy habits.

They would not invest more time with their family; they would not eat right; they would not rest right; they would like to spend more time with friends at a pub or a fast food joint. They would consider their work to be more important than family, spending long hours at work & the result would be a high price to pay. They could get serious health problems very early in life or would find it difficult to find a proper balance between personal & professional life, leading to more stress & traumatic relationships.


News # - India moves away from healthy food.

As the national accts for 2007-08 show, people have begun moving away from cereals, proteins & other healthy foods towards beverages and other so-called 'Junk Foods'. Spending on hotels & restaurants have also gone up by 30% in the last 5 years. People due to their long & stressful work are finding it difficult to cook at home regularly & are more dependent on restaurants & fast foods.

The statistics showed that the expenditure on cereals, pulses, bread, milk & milk products, meat, egg & fish have seen a sharp decline. On the contrary, spending on high calorie food products like soft drinks, frozen food, fast foods, chocolates & cakes etc is on the rise.

It is also to be noted that public spend on medicines have also gone up largely. Young people of today are prone to some serious health hazards like heart attack, cancer, kidney failure, liver failure etc due to consumption of such unhealthy foods over a period of time.


News # - Steep rise in incidence of heart disease among youth raises concern.

There has been a 79% increase in heart disease among Indians in the last two decades. But the worst part is that the coronary disorders & heart attacks are rising even faster among our youth & 11% of people below 35 yrs have some kind of heart ailment.

Improper food habits, lack of physical activity, high level of stress at the work place, lack of rest, increase in smoking and alcohol consumption are all classic risk factors which can put one high on the risk zone of coronary heart diseases. Sadly all these have become a part of the Indian youth’s life style.


News # - Strained relationship within family on the rise.

India is known for its strong family values & relationships. But, slowly the image is disintegrating & there seems to be a strong decline in family bonding. People are so immersed in their work that they do not have time to spend for their family. They live like robots under the same roof, going about the routines mechanically & concerned only about their careers.

No time to relax with spouse; No time to play with kids; No time to cook for family (Highly dependent on restaurants for food); No time for any physical activity; Its all about work & no time for rest. Such situations not only lead to strained relationships within family, but it takes a heavy toll on a person’s health as well.


News # - Long work hours causing fatigue among youth.

This week, a survey concluded that long working hours increased an individual's chances of illness and injury. The study points out that overtime and extended work schedules are associated with an increased risk of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, fatigue, stress, depression, musculoskeletal disorders, chronic infections, diabetes and other general health complaints.

It noted that for those working 12 hours a day, there was a 37% increase in risk compared to those working fewer hours & a 60-hour week carried a 23% greater risk. Such long work hours combined with poor eating habits & physical inactivity leads to severe health problems among youth. More seriously, working long hours continuously may even lead to some relationship failures.



That’s it with the news. And I hope you remember what a kaleidoscope is. Now what?

Having read about Kaleidoscope, I thought ‘why not a kaleidoscopic news?’. I mean, the 5 news articles given above are like different pieces of puzzle & if you read them together in any combination or order, it should become one single article & make sense. You can read just 2 articles or 3 or 4 or all 5 in any order & it should look like a continuous story. It is a challenge & I just went ahead with it.

I worked on the concept first & collected the relevant news and edited them suitably. I saw to it, that all the 5 news are different, but connected to each other one way or the other & there be a link between them. My intention was to make them in a kaleidoscopic way, that there should be some logic from whichever order they are looked upon.

Having spent very little time in research & thinking, I know that I have succeeded only moderately in my effort. However, it is a sincere attempt by me to try out something different (Is this a first attempt in kaleidoscopic news? I don’t know seriously) & looking at the outcome, Iam not that disappointed.