New Delhi: Millions of India's young may be shunning politics for more reasons than one, but the just ended India Social Forum showed very clearly that youth have not totally given up on social causes.

The commitment and determination to do larger good was more than evident from the way teenagers and those in their 20s and 30s took part in the many events at the five-day meet that drew thousands to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium grounds.

Be it assisting the organisers of the show that drew social, women and political activists and NGOs from all over India, or taking part in cultural shows or being in charge of the stalls and counters, young men and women were in plenty - full of energy.

"It would be totally cynical to say that Indian youth are detached from social issues," said Papiya Sarkar, a young woman who was one of those who played a key role at the India Social Forum, which is linked to the World Social Forum.

"Indeed, I see a resurgence of youth activism in the last five or six years," Papiya told IANS. "The volunteers we have here are all youths. So I wouldn't say that youths are moving away from (social) movements."

Mukul Sharma, director of Amnesty International's India chapter, readily agreed. "We saw a large number of youths taking part," said Sharma, one of the main organisers.

"Fifty to 60 percent of all those who came here were young women and men. They have taken part in a big way in programmes related to environment, health, culture and music."

Sharma also underlined that people often forgot that youth activism was not confined to only Indian metros. "There is also a lot of youth participation from small towns and tribal areas. This is very important."

Others IANS spoke to agreed that Indian youth of today were probably far removed from their counterpart of the 1970s, widely viewed as the decade of rebellion and revolution.

Down the years, as the Soviet Union and other communist countries in its neighbourhood collapsed and market economy slowly edged out socialism, a certain de-politicisation did take place around the world.

But it would be wrong to say it killed youthful activism, Papiya said.

Murugan, a young man from Tamil Nadu, said he and his friends had travelled all the way to New Delhi "because we believe things can be changed, because we believe a new India can be built, and because we want to meet others who think likewise".

Be it cities like Delhi and Bangalore or tribal states such as Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, or Manipur and Assam in the northeast, Gujarat and Maharashtra in the west, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar in the north, and Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the south, the young from all these places stood out.

Even critics of the India Social Forum included the young!

And as they debated and talked and danced and sang, it was apparent that at least two symbols of the 1970s had not gone away: Bhagat Singh and Che Guevara.

Che, the undying global icon, figured prominently on T-shirts, with Bhagat Singh - the Indian Che - coming a close second in popularity.

"I see very vibrant youth participation," said Amnesty's Sharma.

Added Vidya, a second-year college student: "Yes, we love cricket, Bollywood and music. But India comes on top. My hero is Bhagat Singh!"