Preparing, Waiting, Hoping: Rural Youth in Search of Stability

Every morning across villages and small towns of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, alarm clocks ring not for offices but for books. Young people wake up to the same routine they have followed for years: tea, notes, mock tests, and a calculation of age, attempts and vacancies. Their calendars are not marked by festivals or seasons, but by exam dates, result announcements and rumours of the next recruitment notification. In rooms where maps of India hang beside posters of government departments, hope is measured in cut-offs and roll numbers. We began the year by speaking with young people across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh to understand what they are hoping for in the year ahead. This took Khabar