Hippies, Yuppies and now... ZIPPIES

       

I have been trying to read Thomas L Friedman’s book The World is Flat and have come across some pretty interesting observations he has made. Now this one takes the cake as it beautifully summarizes the evolution of the global ‘youth’ all these years. I’ll just describe it in my own words as it is too good to be overlooked.

Hippies formed an integral part of American culture in the 1960s with all the drugs and rock-and-rolla. Many of them could be seen on the banks of Banaras searching for enlightenment in saffron clothes. Remember Dev Anand’s movie Guide! This trend particularly took off after The Beatles came down to Rishikesh to the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Although they are not in as many numbers as before but they can still be seen around in Goa and on the banks of Ganges.

The high-tech revolution in the 1980s transformed many of them into Yuppies. The emergence of new technology in workplace revolutionized the way things worked and many of them transitioned to the stage of Yuppies. These were people who were able to take advantage of the development and the removal of inefficiencies in the workflow. The increase in productivity gave them rewards which were unthinkable before.

But the IT boom in the late 90s opened new avenues, new scope for everyone as it made the playing field level for everyone irrespective of his/her social and financial status. The hope it generated gave birth to a new breed of people Zippies - who are buzzing with energy, have age on their side, seek challenges and are goal-driven. And its not hard to guess that this class of people are from India – raring to scale new heights and jump over many of the economic levels at one go. Every household in India has atleast one potential Zippie.

How True!

A very remarkable connection between the Generation X, Y and Z.