THE COVID GENERATION
On a study table, jostling for space between medical books and video game controllers, lies a crumpled Dunkin Donuts napkin. It had remained in the pocket of Rohan Kulkarni’s jeans since the last time he had been out with his friends from college. That was in the middle of March, when their group of six final-year students from Bangalore University had been out discussing their summer internships over burgers and thick shakes. Spring had just begun and Kulkarni was saving up to take his long-time girlfriend on their first weekend trip together to Kodagu next month. Definitive moments in the life of a 20-year-old—the first internship, the warm cocoon of a firm friends’ circle, the thrill of an unchaperoned romantic vacation. None of them knew back then that it was all going to upend soon.
A month after Covid broke out in India, Kulkarni’s internship was cancelled and he called an end to his relationship. “I wanted to work with a travel company. Now that sector is pretty much closed to me. I pictured myself as a travel writer one day—I don’t know what to picture myself as anymore,” says Kulkarni. He keeps the napkin from Dunkin Donuts as a reminder of the good times. He says it gives him hope. “One day, life will be more certain again. As I figure it all out now, the napkin tells me that the constraints on my movement and my future are temporary,” he adds.
India has more than 20 million students enrolled in around 700 universities and more than 35,000 affiliated colleges. At first glance, the year 2020 has certainly changed how these young adults in the age group of 18-24 years are studying and planning for their future. The Class of 2020 at Delhi University, for example, does not know when it will graduate as final-year exams remain in a limbo. Due to begin on
