India, Aug. 2 -- What began as a student movement over alleged examination irregularities evolved into something larger: an unlikely meeting point where two generations, often caricatured as opposites, found common ground in a shared cause.

The student-led protest at Jantar Mantar over alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG examination became more than a demand for political accountability. It also became an unexpected meeting point for two generations that had long defined themselves by their differences.

For years, millennials criticised Gen Z as overly sensitive, detached and deeply rooted in their digital lives. Meanwhile, Gen Z mocked millennials for making work their identity and clinging to more traditional, reserved ways of think...