The City of Young and Prosperous

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As a war-torn nation struggles, a city entrusts its future to ambitious youth elected as administrators for six months. From ending homelessness to nuturing safety and green spaces, their idealism sparks real change. But amid progress and innovation, exhaustion and imbalance threaten their vision. Their story reveals what it truly takes to build a better city, and the cost of chasing growth without pause.

As the clock struck twelve midnight to herald the arrival of the new year, I heard loud firecrackers and joyous screams. I put my pen down and left my math problem undone because no matter what year I was in, the value of x would always be up for question. I turned on my television to watch one of those pre-recorded New Year’s Eve award functions. While surfing through channels, I came across the news of students all over the country protesting over governmental norms and laws. Our neighbouring country had begun attacking certain parts of our country; the government had too much on its plate.

They announced that for 6 months eligible candidates could administrate certain cities and be a helping hand to the government; these administrators had to be elected. The youth of the country were actively involved in politics, and most of the contesting candidates were young and ambitious people.

My city was one of the few cities having the youth as their servicemen. The elections were in the upcoming week. 

I logged into their website, “avengedcity.com”, and enrolled myself as a volunteer. No matter who the people of the city choose, I would be happy to help. After a week, the elections were done, and I found myself in the Avenged City office board room, filled with the aroma of coffee and an air of optimism. I saw many people my age, the so-called future of the country, were the ones talking about it. We had rigorous debates and discussions with various elected representatives. A plan was laid out. Our primary focus was not only to work for the betterment but also to save our city from what was coming.

We wanted bigger and better, but what we wanted more was safer, cleaner, and happier. Because growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of a cancer cell.

We could have a city teeming with skyscrapers and malls, but first, we would want every child in the city to have a roof over their head. All the volunteers and administrators were divided into groups. We were told to work as teams and encourage more  volunteers to work for the city. Within the first few days, our primary focus was to sort food and shelter for every person living within the borders of the city. We connected with several NGOs, and soon there was not a single person sleeping on the road; several residents of the city came forward to help.

After this, the momentum was set, and what happened next was sort of a snowball effect. Several CCTV cameras were installed, and various helpline numbers were allocated for women’s safety; some buses were especially dedicated to women travelling in the late hours of the night, and through the avengedcity.com portal we started collecting  donations for various causes. The city had clean roads and cleaner air, and the roads were filled with people taking bicycles and CNG vehicles to work. On the weekends, all the members of the city were invited to help clean our heritage sites, neighbourhoods, lawns, and public parks and participate in various events at old age homes and orphanages. The air pollution went down drastically; the city was 30,000 trees and countless smiles richer than before.

The technology and education sectors were buzzing, and the idea of ‘Avenged City’ was merged with the infamous Avengers to inspire teens towards creativity and innovation. A mini version of Jarvis was created to help handicapped people; teens looked at soldiers in the same light as superheroes. Things were going fine; we were happier than ever before. People started to work more and volunteer regularly. With long night shifts, several cups of coffee, and multiple rounds of instant noodles, our health was taking a massive hit. If no 22-year-old person you know would be overly cautious about their health, then how could we expect a city run by the same age group to have health as a priority? Physical health and mental health suffered as people juggled all kinds of activities. Doctors were busier than ever before, and so were their financial advisors.

We sat in our cubicles and wondered if we had created a living, breathing model of the  hedonic treadmill. Schools were jampacked, but so were pubs and restaurants. As we  produced more, we consumed more. This was the umpteenth level of working hard and partying harder.

The 6-month period was about to end; we would all go back to our jobs, figure out how to  crack the entrance exams, and worry about home loans and credit scores knowing that we had made our city better. So what if we gained a few pounds and a prescription for painkillers along with 5 mg of melatonin doing that? What we had done might not last forever.

We did not have a 21st-century futuristic city with flying cars, dozens of hologram versions of ourselves, or a space travel agency in front of us, but we had people – thousands of people who believed that change is real and change is doable, and in the end, it is all figure-out-able. Three weeks later I was  back in my room reading Shakespeare’s play Coriolanus, Act III, Scene I: “What is the city but the people?

About the Author

Nandinee Singh

Nandinee, a native of Vadodara, is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in finance at Christ College. She has been passionate about writing since the age of 12 and continues to explore her love for storytelling and expression through her work.