Using hashtags against a certain institution or brand has become very popular amongst the Twitterati. This time, unlike others, the trending #BoycottMillennials is more of a meme or a sarcastic remark in retaliation to what Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman recently said at a press conference. On being asked about the downfall of the automobile industry in India, she said that the youth in India prefer using cab services like Ola and Uber rather than paying EMIs for a personal vehicle and hence, the industry is facing a loss. In response, the millennials raised the question, “Is it fair to blame us for everything bad happening in the world?” in the best way they know, through memes and hashtags!
That’s how hashtags like #BoycottMillennials and #SayItLikeNirmalaTai began trending, where users are blaming millennial lifestyle and choices for nearly everything.
Some of the most trending tweets are ‘Coal India is at its lifetime low because millennials have switched to LPG. Koyle pe Khana ni banate #BoycottMillennials’ and ‘Airline industry is in recession because millennials are preferring Skype and Whatsapp video calls over personal visits #BoycottMillennials #SayItLikeNirmalaTai.’
Aadithyaa GB, filmmaker and freelance photographer from Bengaluru, says, “Firstly, that’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard a minister say about the youth. Of course, we are going to make it into a meme and go crazy; it’s what we do best! Yes, our lifestyles might be affecting the economy but it’s not the primary cause and the fact that the memes are getting funnier by the minute means that people are acknowledging such stupidity! My favourite meme is, ‘Agricultural industry is facing a loss because millennials are eating more pizzas than daal-chaawal.’
Shubham Poonia, a student from Bengaluru, laughs sardonically, “On the one hand, they are saying technological advancement, shared economy, environmental sustainability and, on the other hand, they are questioning the fact that we do not prefer paying money to buy our own vehicle. It’s too hilarious actually. Abey, paisa kiske paas hai gaadi lene? Traffic dekha hai Bengaluru mein? Road cross karne ki jagah nahi hai, gaadi kaha ghusau? (Who has the money to buy a car or a vehicle? And have you seen the traffic in Bengaluru? There’s no place to cross the road on foot, where will I fit in a car?).”
According to Harshit Patwari, who works as a senior account manager, a statement like this about the youth is completely irrelevant. “You say things like the ‘strong youth in India will make us a global power’ and now you say this. It makes our representatives hypocrites. We are being used as an excuse for every question they don’t have answers to. This is a classic, ‘aaj kal ke bachche na (kids these days!)’ sort of scenario!”
