We had one of our regular town hall meetings at work. And our wellness consultant mentioned a session on Sober-Curious. My mind tucked that word away for more research – Lo and Behold next day, an article on Sober Curious shows up on bbc.com. The best definition of Sober curious was – ‘You Do You, and I respect your choices without pressurizing or disrespect’ when it comes to drinking alcohol. This term is related to Gen Z – the next wave after the Millenials. Gen Z seems more sorted – for one, they obviously don’t believe in bingeing one night and then regretting it the next day. They are more health conscious and don’t like to make fools of themselves in front of their peers. It means that you can show up in a bar or a club and have soda water with no taboo. One of my colleagues mentioned the concept of dry bars, which serve non-alcoholic drinks now. It made me wonder, with every generation, there is a change. We had the famous Avocado Toast with Millenials and now Sober-curious with Gen Z.

But things also change in small unique ways. Growing up, I never thought autos (auto rickshaws or tuk-tuks) were cool – I mean, they were better than travelling in a bus but less cool than cars. To be honest, autos never figured in my mind chatter. And then when I married my husband Adam, who visited India – he wanted to travel in an auto. He found them fascinating. A fascination shared by my two nieces and a nephew who are all ABCDs – first-generation India in Australia and Toronto. My nieces call them the ‘pom-pom’ car because of their horns, and my nephew’s comment when he saw the auto was – ‘what, no doors?’. My husband and the kids are in a completely different generation, but autos brought the same reaction.

Regardless of your generation, there is something to be said about diversity and inclusion. DnI theme is a critical skill needed if humanity has to survive on this planet. That’s why the line – ‘You do You, and I respect Your Choices’ is so cool. It gives each individual the complete freedom to express who they are. With great power comes great responsibility, so each of us needs to be responsible for our choices, especially in a society with built-in rules on how we should operate. Like, if you go to a bar, you have to drink. If you want to have a social life – drinking is a must – for the longest time, this was the social norm, and if you did not follow this norm, you were a pariah in some form, either at college or work. Now, things seem to be shifting with Gen Z.

My question is, why wait for Gen Z or the next generation to bring out common-sense changes when each of us can tap into our inner integrity and be one with humanity? What difference will you bring to include more of humankind in you?