What Mumbai's famous 'Xennials' think of this new classification

Shruti SethPeopleThey had an Internetfree childhood but they typify the smartphonewielding professional Doordarshan was their sole source of entertainment but today they use TV to stream Netflix The 36photograph camera roll taught them to be judicious but that hasnt made them averse to selfies Before they had a term for themselves those born between 1977 and 83 either belonged to Generation X 19611981 or Millennials with birth years from the mid 80s to early 2000s which seemed too large a cohort to do justice to them And so came along XennialsNormally when you look at a generational divide the ideal gap is of 17 years Also these terms are coined by American demographers which may not hold true for the Indian scenario says brand coach and strategist Ambi Parmeswaran I prefer to classify generations in India as pre and postIndependence and pre and postliberalisation he addsThe one thing that sets this age bracket apart is the shift from single to multitasking Also many of them have kids who are teenagers who constantly engage with technology and as parents they are forced to adapt shares ad guru KV SridharWhat do some of Mumbais famous Xennials think of the new classification Read onIve lived an analogue lifeShruti Seth actorI always felt we were Generation X or Y and thought it a bit sad to be recognised by an alphabet I think we should be happy we arent millennials The description for us Xennials having an analogue childhood and a digital adulthood makes sense It is nice to remember a time when everything wasnt meant to be captured but livedI remember if I went to a party there would be one person with a camera and we would be happy to pose But we didnt feel the need to share those pictures with the world As a teen I wore the same clothes every Friday to party Now I rarely repeat clothesMy generation still labours a fear that prevents them from spending more than a certain amount on a dress Today I see kids picking up stuff worth thousands without batting an eyelidBecause Ive lived an analogue life and enjoyed things the way they are meant to be remembered my memories arent dependent on my social media feedsCaralisa monteiroWe thrived on creative independenceCaralisa monteiro singerThose were the days when if we wanted to hear Michael Jackson wed travel to that one shop in town that sold his cassettes So we were brought up listening to music recorded and taped by music lovers In a way we led recyclable lives As kids we created our own toys instead of being handed an iPad and that creative independence helped us thrive While technology has its advantages todays kids fail to depend on their souls and search for something from within because everything they do comes from outside Thats why so much of todays music sounds the same tooGaurav KapurTechnology isnt our oxygenGaurav Kapur producer and cricket presenterDont we have enough confusing terms already When I started my career I never imagined that one day I would be producing solely for the Internet It was an interesting period to be born in because just as we were nearing the end of our teens we saw the proliferation of mobile phones and dialup Internet We were somewhat set in our ways yet open to new ideas While we arent at a disadvantage like those 20 years senior to us when it comes to technology it is not our oxygen either The timeline of our birth coincided with the countrys timeline of becoming a glitzy savvy nation and at that age we could soak it all in Whether it was becoming more dominant in sports or moving away from the addictively bad cinema of the 80s and the NRI films of the 90s we witnessed it allAnand GandhiWe understand the mind of a computerAnand Gandhi filmmakerI havent heard of the term Xennials before The value of it would depend on the objective If it is being used for a specific averaging of a demographic it makes sense But there will be exceptionsSome of my closest friends are Xennials and we have seen the digital evolution When I look at a programme Ive seen its evolution from a simple code to a complex network so I understand what is going on It is what I call digital psychology we understand the mind of the computerFrom scientists to filmmakers if theyve had to figure out technology and do the computing themselves before everything became automated Xennials have an edge