Catch 'em young

It's a brand new year, and we're all contemplating the newness of it all. New trends, new habits, new goals, new personalities. But if we view newness through a broader prism, two new things have happened in the "new age". One, kids don't want to wait till they grow up before deciding on career goals. Two, career goals, by themselves, have moved off the conventional path - nothing "unusual" about that per se, but what is unusual is that the unconventional thinking vis-a-vis one's future sets in very, very early. A far cry from days of yore when young ones were just instructed to study hard, period, not entertain thoughts of what they wanted to be (like, say, an actor or a rock star). High school ended with them opting for "science" or "arts"; it was clear that if you studied the former, you'd be a doctor or an engineer - both top-of-the-rung callings by conventional standards - so, obviously, you had to be "brighter" if you "got through" in science. Now, it's all become a level playing field. Kids as young as four or five already know they'd rather be a ballerina or a chef instead of treading the beaten path. For them, it doesn't matter if they study science or arts; they only want to follow their young dreams. More power to them.
Elsewhere in the new year - with a new Prez taking over the US - we wonder who will be dressing the spanking new American First Lady. New strand of thought too: what happens if your shrink/therapist needs to see a shrink/therapist? (We swear we didn't just think it up, it's an idea borrowed from last year's flick Dear Zindagi!).

All this and much more. Enjoy reading wknd. and have a great weekend.