Every generation carries the imprint of the world into which it was born. These labels — Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z — are not arbitrary; they reflect differences in upbringing, exposure, and the basic texture of life at formative ages. In global discourse, Gen Z is usually defined as those born between 1997 and 2012. In India, boundaries blur because technology arrives unevenly across class, caste, and region. Yet one fact is obvious: Gen Z is the first generation whose consciousness developed inside a digital world. It isn’t an exaggeration to say they never knew a world without mobile phones, internet access, or social media. Even the way we pronounce the term — “Gen Zee” in American usage, “Gen Zed” in British usage — reminds us whose cultural sphere shapes our imagination today.
To appreciate Gen Z, we need to look at who came before them. A person born in 1980 is a good example. They have no living memory of Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister. Their political awareness begins somewhere between Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination and the 1990s coalition era. But more than politics, they lived through a long arc of material change: the transition from ration shops to supermarkets; from the single landline in the neighbourhood to the first Nokia mobile phone; from black-and-white television to cable television; from inland letters to emails; and from a shortage economy to the post-1991 world of LPG reforms. Each new device arrived as an event — the first refrigerator, the first home computer, the first internet connection. Their worldview is built on gradual change. They remember what came before.
By contrast, someone born in 1997 enters a very different India. They are born into a world where the mobile phone is already becoming common, internet cafés are mushrooming in every town, and early social media is starting to shape friendships. India is growing at a fast clip, the middle class is expanding, and there is a certain confidence in the idea of a rising India. Their childhood has YouTube, SMS language, and a sense of being connected to a much wider world. They also grow up in the shadow of terrorism and global insecurity: 9/11, the Parliament attack, the Mumbai attack, Iraq and Afghanistan in the background of every news channel. They inherit the fruits of the reforms that Gen X and the older Millennials pushed through — IT sector growth, the outsourcing revolution, and the optimism of the 2000s.
The demographic context is crucial. India’s population pyramid reached its most favourable shape with Gen Z. For the first time, India had a large youth population capable of driving economic growth. But demographic advantage comes with its own anxieties. There is a wide gap between the number of young people and the quality of education they receive. Skills do not match industry requirements. Work culture and discipline vary widely. Pockets of poverty remain stubborn. A demographic dividend can easily turn into a demographic burden if we fail to act. This is not a theoretical point; every country that experienced such a youth bulge went through a decisive phase of reform or stagnation.
Consider the United States in the post-World War II period. The baby boomers were born into stability and prosperity, but they also produced enormous cultural churn — civil rights, feminism, anti-war movements, counterculture, spiritual experimentation. A large youthful population with economic security often becomes politically and culturally assertive. China offers another example. Its demographic peak in the 1980s coincided with the beginning of market reforms. The result was four decades of extraordinary growth and a transformation of the country’s global position. Now, as its population ages, growth is slowing, innovation is becoming harder, and labour shortages are emerging. Africa today stands at the beginning of the same demographic curve, but is weighed down by extreme poverty and governance failures. Whether it can break out of this trap remains uncertain.
This brings us to the uncomfortable question: has India missed the bus? Fertility rates are falling across the country. Economic growth may not remain at the pace required to absorb millions of young people. Job creation lags. Learning outcomes in schools remain poor. India once feared overpopulation; now, we will soon confront the opposite problem — ageing without becoming rich. Whether India can still catch up depends entirely on whether we undertake serious reforms in manufacturing, labour markets, education, and state capacity. Demographic advantage is not a guarantee of success; it is only an opportunity.
In the midst of all this stands social media — the central environment of Gen Z. Social media is not simply a tool; it is a space where people live, form communities, argue, display themselves, and create meaning. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, Snapchat, and TikTok shape identities and relationships. Gen Z is unique because social media reached them before adulthood. Their mental world — ideas of friendship, self-esteem, success, and even morality — took shape online. COVID-19 deepened this shift, turning education, entertainment, and social life into a continuous digital stream.
This transformation has weakened older structures of authority. Parents once dictated how their children should dress or behave. Today, fashion trends come from influencers sitting thousands of miles away. Corporate advertising shapes aspirations more than family values do. Social norms used to be enforced by neighbourhoods, elders, and local culture; now they are overridden by meme culture, global entertainment, and algorithm-driven feeds. Even the state struggles to control narratives: political messages spread through reels and influencers faster than any official clarification. Sharp power — micro-targeted political persuasion, emotional mobilisation, algorithmic manipulation — sits side by side with soft power — culture, entertainment, symbolism.
Gen Z stands at a complicated crossroads. Their strengths are obvious: digital fluency, comfort with technology, global exposure, and entrepreneurial instinct. But they also face distractions, mental health pressures, and a turbulent information environment where truth and falsehood are difficult to distinguish. Their world is shaped by demographic shifts, technological revolutions, economic uncertainty, and a politics increasingly mediated by algorithms. How they navigate these forces will shape India’s future.
Understanding them is not optional; it is essential.
