Increasingly, elite savarna Gen Z—especially boys—retreat into chasing ever edgier content. Addicted to saying the most vile, shocking and outrageous things because nothing else evokes an authentic reaction or consequence, we are left watching a youth that is slowly hollowing out from the inside, right before our eyes. An innocence lost, a generation of splintering identities, existing in interchangeable fractions—all falling headlong away from India and into the international cities and societies they were seemingly bred and trained to ultimately exist in.
Around 2017, a small elite savarna millennial-led narrative emerged, applauding the Gen Z cohort. The phrase ‘The kids are alright’, borrowed from an old song by The Who, began appearing in social media posts and commentaries as an indulgent, well-meaning compliment from adults who wanted to see the best in the generation coming up behind them. Many savarnas were impressed by Gen Z’s confidence in public speaking, by the performed conviction of their activism and by the number of iconic books, music, films and other cultural markers they casually referenced.
However, the same teens who were posting critical memes against queerphobia, Donald Trump and the BJP in India ended up posting reels celebrating the inauguration of the Ram Mandir, while sharing religious and caste-themed content in a tone of brazen pride that would even shock many centrist savarna conservatives of an older vintage.
For many in this elite young generation, whose education has been geared towards overseas citizenship and consuming the media of international elites, any meaningful, contextual understanding of Indian realities is difficult. They have grown up blind to the large masses around and ‘below’ them. To the savarna Gen Z, the glass floor beneath their feet is made of opaque, opulent marble. To them, the basement, where the large mass of India lives, may as well be a tomb where they have been sealed in. The fact that it can explode and spill into their lives in ways that they are unprepared to cope with does not dawn on them. That world is inaccessible to them, which is why they have revolutionary fantasies but never with any meaningful agenda—always a perennial cosplay.
— Meet The Savarnas, Ravikant Kisana
