The fortune of India is changing and the landscape of Mysore too has been changing. The youngsters too are busy getting ready for the rat race, but what about the poor people in our city? What about the kids of the poor who stand by the road and beg with tears in their eyes and no clothes on them while we drive to work in our fancy clothes and cars? Well nothing has changed in their life. The only people who can deliver these children from darkness of illiteracy and poverty are today's youth. Today's youth have money and the knowledge to pull up others who may have been privileged enough to have an education like we did.

    Indian youth today calls the shots at the market place. No, there is nothing wrong in buying good things in life and enjoying them; after all, everyone works towards having a comfortable life and attaining that status and lifestyle. Yes we must live our life but must also live a little for others.

    Education is the key to India's success today and Education is the mould that will establish its future. With this in mind, every youngster in this city must do their bit. Today we have an opportunity to chart the future of this city and the future of underprivileged children. It is possible because Mysore has not gone beyond a point of no-return like Bangalore. If we don't do it now, it's never going to happen. Uneducated and frustrated population is always a bane to the development of a decent and conscious society.

    Many youngsters wear the yellow 'live strong' band that cost almost Rs. 500, at some places in Bangalore it is even being sold at Rs. 1,000 and they are getting sold out. This money goes the Lance Armstrong Foundation in the United States. But when a wonderful project like Pratham Mysore needs funds and asks for one rupee to educate a child for day, we don't find the money, why? Is it our neo-Indianess, which says even in the matters of social work the 'west is best' and of course much cooler, is it our mistrust in our people's ability in utilising the money appropriately? Or is it just that we are heartless when it comes to our own people?

    Why does everything in this country have to be fashionable to be talked about, why does something have to be cool to hope for any kind of participation? Partly we are to blame, Yes, we the media. Sadly it is we who have brought irrelevance into vogue and it is because of us that today we find youngsters who know everything of Page 3 but nothing of Page 1, the page that is an indicator of where the nation is headed.

    We get a day off to vote, but we say nothing will change and head out of town for a retreat. Yes, I too believe in, 'It's my life and I will live it on my terms' but I think if you want a better tomorrow for this country, for you and your children, it's time we all started living a little for others.

    Pratham Mysore is a wonderful project headed by a group of dedicated and intelligent people who genuinely want to bring about change. So I request all the youngsters to volunteer to help this organisation, if not with your money then with your valuable time. What for this education and prosperity if we don't even have the dignity to acknowledge the presence of our poor brothers and sisters who need us most? -- VM