| To be 20 in Y2K, everyone has dreamt of it. All of us, born in the same generation, have grown with that symbol. And now? We realize it to be meaningless, but we all end up here sharing the same moment on the same little rock lost in the universe, watching the world change around us at the greatest speed, and wondering if we are all living this in the same way. Beyond the myth of economic world globalisation, the cultures remain and mould every one's dream... The history of each people leaves its mark in the aspirations of the new generations.  So we left to find answers to our questions. For example, to find out if there really is a "teenager" or "youth" status in other countries? What does this status mean? Is a young person defined by his proprension to consommation, is he considered a figure of hope and transformation, or of loss of traditions? Perhaps youth is simply not perceived as a well defined category. And many more question marks... We would have liked to travel around the world with our Safar (the Etincelle bus) to discover all these human beings that build the world for tomorrow. Finally, our itinerary is more restrained, but nevertheless enchanting and promising. Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India. Of course, the itinerary is not original, it has been done already. For example in 1973, for thosewho remember, around ten young people travelled by bus across the path from Paris to Rajpoutana (India), following approximately our same itinerary. It is almost also the famous path for silk...
But for us, they are before anything else nine countries with different cultures, with multiple contemporary issues, where the living conditions may greatly differ... And mainly, these represent people of our age of whom we know nothin' much, whose daily life we may have difficulty imagining.  How was the transition toward liberalism lived by the young of Eastern Europe? How can we understand with our Occidental eyes the very strong support given to Khatami by the young Iranians? Is the India-Pakistan rivality found among the young?... Those are examples of questions which we wished to answer. You will find in this chronicle various types of reports through which we try to define what it may significate to be 20 between Europe and Asia, if possible in the tone of "let me see life through your eyes". We would like for these articles and pictures to help us all to know each other a little more for a better common understanding.
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