Disruptions, conversations, and lots of joy

With puzzling slang and new idols, this was a year that led parents to look at the world anew

- Avantika Bhuyan

Ask any parent, and they would tell you that 2025 has been a roller coaster ride. School schedules witnessed unprecedented disruptions, the kind that were last seen during the covid-19 pandemic years. Early on, the Indo-Pak conflict led to classes being suspended for some days, bringing with it a sense of uncertainty as well. Kids went back to hybrid classes several times this year-be it due to rain, storm or the never-ending smog. As WiFi networks groaned under the demand for increased bandwidth, parents scrambled around to fix their schedules to accommodate these changes, which often were announced at the last minute. Given the anxiety that news of conflicts and disasters brought, many urgent conversations took place to soothe worries. After this year, many parents plan to update their resumes with newly-acquired skills of “anytime anywhere counsellors” and manic multi-taskers.

2025 also saw new words being added to the Gen Alpha lingo. Parents, who had just about begun to level up, found themselves back to square one as tweens and teens updated their vocabulary with words like “bussin”, “gyatt”, “mewing”, and “fanum tax”. New trends such as Ghibli aesthetic and “67” went viral—I am yet to fully understand what the latter means.

2025 will also be remembered as the year the Swifties woke up from a trance as their idol's new album, The Life of a Showgirl, was not all they thought it would be. Some even shifted their allegiance to KPop Demon Hunters, which became a global phenomenon. Gen Z lost its head over Saiyaara, and later 1975's Sholay turned out to be a big bonding exercise for families, with three generations watching the classic on the big screen together. Kids got newer idols in the form of the Indian women’s cricket and squash teams, who showed a lot of grit.