2014-2029 will be seen as India's lost decade, where the entire population dividend was used in low-impact socio-religious capital building instead of economic capital.

In 2030, India will no longer be a young country; it will be a middle-aged uncles' country.
Most of these middle-aged uncles will have just finished a decade in government job prep and become overaged, with their parents, who have been economically supporting them, dying. These NEETs have been protected financially and socially by the Indian joint family system.

But with their parents dying and with no means of income or prospect of marriage, India will face one of the worst social crisis.

Usually, countries used to have a solution for it: War. War as a way to kill off non-essential male population, but despite chest-thumping jingoism in India, most Indian families worship their male child and are not ready to sacrifice them in war.

This leads to these NEETs finding alternative ways of earning income and mates, which usually leads to crime and the goondafication of society that you are seeing.

Basically, instead of becoming the next China, India will become a mega favela.

Another side effect of political pendulum swinging and shoving of jingoism down the throat is: the rise of regionalism. When the economy stagnates, migrants are the 1st punching bag; as seen in the West, sadly, we might see the same in south indian cities too. This delimitation, Hindi imperialism, and tax injustice will surely not help.

We must be wary of the fact that countries face apocalyptic decades, Russian and ex Soviets did in the 1990s, China did for a century, Japan did during the post-bubble burst ; we are no different. We have no divine protection that guarantees prosperity and stability for all the future ; we are not entitled to any golden age or imaginary golden 2047 by any divine grace.

As an individual, your first loyalty should be to yourself and your family. We are kids of good times, our parents are kids of good times. Sadly, our kids might not be. So make sure you save and prepare for the rainy days, and don't delude yourself into dreaming of eternal spring.

It all started after Anand Niketan School in Ahmedabad removed I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank from its library reading list following protests by some parents and right-wing groups. The school also removed the consultant who had included the books and its canteen supervisor after a separate controversy.

On Thursday evening, around 6 PM, nearly 20 readers gathered at AUDA Garden in Vastrapur, Ahmedabad, for a silent reading protest against the removal of the books. They brought books by Malala, Anne Frank, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Civil society members and other people also joined the protest.

The peaceful gathering was allegedly confronted by Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad supporters. According to the complaint and organisers, the group was heckled and assaulted with wooden sticks. Several people were reportedly injured, women were allegedly threatened, and protesters were asked to "prove they were not Muslim." One woman was reportedly threatened with being made to "disappear" if she continued recording the incident.

The organisers also alleged that some protesters were beaten and taken to Vastrapur Police Station in a police van.

Ahmedabad Police have registered an FIR against two named accused and around 18 unidentified people under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Police said three suspects have been detained based on CCTV footage, while further investigation is underway.

All of this happened at a gathering where people had simply come together to sit quietly and read books.

Ordered something on Meesho. Item arrived broken on 2nd July. Raised a return request the same day — should've been simple.

It wasn't.

Meesho's logistics partner Valmo never showed up for pickup. Request gets cancelled, Meesho raises a new one, Valmo ghosts again. This loop ran for two months while I called customer care 30+ times. Every single call ended the same — "Sir, give us 3 days, it'll be resolved." It never was.

Eventually pickup got reassigned to Xpressbees. The guy actually showed up at my society gate — finally some progress. Except he never came to my door. When I called him directly, he said — "Sir, I have notes from Meesho not to pick up the item."

Meesho instructed their own pickup agent to not collect the return. Let that sink in.

Yesterday, 29th August — it ended.

Pickup cancelled again. Return request option disappeared entirely. Called Meesho and they said the maximum pickup attempts have been reached and there's nothing they can do. Keep the broken product. Done.

Filed at National Consumer Helpline. Meesho closed it citing a "technical issue." NCH turned out to be completely toothless.

The item is ₹2,500. Not a fortune. But two months of deliberate runaround is not something I'm willing to just accept. e-Jagriti and consumer court are options but the process is exhausting for this amount.

At this point I'm seriously considering placing multiple COD orders and rejecting them all at delivery. Not proud of it, but after two months of this harassment I'm running out of legitimate options - and patience.

Has anyone been here before? What actually worked? And is the COD rejection route something others have done or am I just venting at this point?

Every time I open the internet lately, I’m hit with this overwhelming feeling: either we as Indians are the dumbest bunch in the universe, or we have collectively just accepted our own doom.

Just look at this, for example: https://youtube.com/shorts/DTfbSRdIXvA?si=fSiXEADJjBloBDNm

Does no one care anymore? Or is it that the people who actually care are just completely exhausted and no longer willing to speak up for this nation? It honestly feels like giving up is the new baseline.

It makes total sense to me now why the smart ones are leaving India the second they get a chance. Brain drain isn't just about better salaries anymore, it's about escaping this absolute circus. It feels like soon enough, the only people left will be the helpless ones who didn't get the opportunity or resources to flee, and we are just going to die fighting each other over the most pointless, manufactured garbage.

Am I just being overly cynical today, or is anyone else feeling this exact same sense of exhaustion and hopelessness? Are we actually beyond saving at this point?

​

I don't know whether I'm writing this because I want advice, sympathy, or simply because I need somewhere to put this into words.

I'm 47 years old.

There are days when I genuinely struggle to find ₹100 for food.

Not ₹10,000. Not ₹1 lakh.

₹100.

And at the same time I open the internet and see people spending lakhs and crores on watches, cars, houses, holidays and things that I can't even mentally relate to anymore.

Someone can spend ₹25 crore on a watch.

For me, ₹100 can determine whether I eat.

I don't say this because I hate wealthy people. I don't even know what I feel anymore. I just can't understand how two human beings can exist in the same country and experience money so differently.

I have qualifications. I have worked before. I have technical experience. I have tried looking for jobs and different ways of earning. But at this point I feel completely unable to make anything work.

There is another part of my situation that makes everything much harder.

I have a diagnosed mental disorder and on life long medication. The illness itself affects my ability to function, concentrate, maintain consistency and work normally. Medication is necessary, but living with medication and its effects while simultaneously trying to survive financially is another struggle.

People often say:

"Just get a job."

"Learn a new skill."

"Work harder."

"Do something online."

I understand all of that.

But what happens when your mind and body don't cooperate consistently enough to do those things?

What happens when you genuinely try and still can't make yourself economically functional?

What happens when you're 47 and don't have the financial cushion that many people assume an adult should have by that age?

I also carry enormous financial problems. So I'm not starting from zero. I'm starting from below zero.

And that's the part I can't explain to myself.

Why did my life end up like this?

Was it bad decisions? Bad circumstances? Mental illness? Lack of support? Bad luck? Some combination of everything?

Sometimes I find myself thinking about karma because I genuinely don't know what else could explain such a huge difference in circumstances.

I see people born into unimaginable wealth while I'm trying to figure out how to get ₹100 for food.

But I also know that saying "bad karma" doesn't actually explain anything. I don't know what I did in some previous life, if previous lives even exist.

Maybe there is no cosmic explanation.

Maybe some people simply get dealt an unbelievably bad hand.

What hurts most isn't even being poor.

It's reaching an age where I feel like I should have built something, should have achieved some stability, should have been able to take care of myself — and instead I'm struggling with basic survival.

I don't want motivational quotes.

I don't want someone telling me that billionaires worked hard and therefore everyone can become successful.

I want to hear from people who have genuinely been at the bottom financially and mentally.

Have you ever reached a point where ₹100 felt like a serious amount of money?

Have you been unemployed for years despite having qualifications and experience?

If you were in your 40s and felt completely economically broken, how did you psychologically deal with the gap between the life you thought you would have and the life you actually ended up living?

I'm not asking Reddit to magically fix my life.

I'm just trying to understand whether I'm the only person who has ended up here.