Thiruvananthapuram: Writer VK Sreeraman said he was surprised by the rapidity that is happening across various fields. "The old generation will find it challenging to adapt and understand this generation. New trends are coming into food, clothing and lifestyle, and these movements cannot be tape-measured and evaluated," he said while speaking at the Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters.

The session 'Adipoli, Adich Poli' discussed changes in modern lifestyle. Writer OK Johnny also attended the discussion moderated by V Praveena.

There is no point in analysing the academic impact on our generation. The purpose of PhDs has become to get jobs, not to change anything, said Sreeraman.

In this digital era, we can access anything at the tip of our fingers, and life is effortless, OK Johnny. There is a problem where people think they are experts at everything by collecting data from Wikipedia and other sources, he added.

OK Johnny argued, "The concept of political correctness and social differences plays an important role as such factors mould an individual's perspective and lifestyle. Media influence also needs attention because it creates emotions and ideas in people. Many images of celebrities and politicians create different senses among audiences as aesthetics distort the primary mission of the individual." 

The 20th century showed the world through words, but the 21st century is all about visuals in the form of reels. The social media trend can be related to the rapid development in our community. The perspective of the content creator and audience are very different. The meaning or effort can be misunderstood. The speed of reels shows the rate of change, he said.