Suicide. Is it a practice of the cowardly? Or is it the relief from the inhuman tortures and unearthly expectation of the people to that the person tries to confide into? Is it really easy escape from the death or is it the submission to the struggle and adversity of everyday? Is it really the end of depression Or is it because there is no one who is listening? Or if listening, no one really understands. Yes. Agreed. It really takes a number of balls and times of manning up to live your life in this concised and intervening society. But why the person who needs an escape from all this is called a coward and not those people who actually were busy decorating another hell on earth which actually driven that poor with no other choices left. Isn’t it another kind of murder. Yes. An unintended one. But it is what it is Well. You might be thinking. How can people be so cruel and inhuman that some decides to just quit it for life. But isn’t it what we are also part of if we analyze our actions bit by bit. How many times we actually ask someone who seems lonely and depressed enough? Good job. May be you did most of the times. But how many times that listening sessions turned out to be a really lecturing ones and you really gave that person a space to talk to?
How many times you really analyzed and introspected your daily actions? Did you insult or hurt someone? Did you made out a joke and tried to invade into their personal space? Did you just bitched about them cause you do not like the person they are. Or you just commented cause you are so good at judging and picking out on people.
How many times when you were roaming in your so-called-gang, you actually showed off your social skills but there might be someone who is just awaiting an invitation so that he doesn’t feel left out anymore.
How many times you taken people for granted or used them just for your personal matters.
How many times did you ask someone to live on your terms or tried to own them?
How many times you mocked someone for their looks or bad scores?
I am pretty sure we all have done more than one of what written above and are cool with the fact cause it seems pretty normal. Cause not to do such things is the definition of ideal world. But is there any definition for the normal world?
I guess it’s “An unlivable one”.
I am not justifying the suicidal acts nor I am trying to ignore it whole.
I am just waiting for that day when the people will mostly focusing and analyzing on the reasons rather than spreading out rumours and making it difficult for another life to live here.
So lately if you have been online lately, you must have seen such a big influx of Indians on the comment sections of literally everywhere, be it Instagram, Reddit, Facebook, Youtube, Forums. Isnt that supposed to be a good thing that we are representing India everywhere. My answer would ideally be yes, until it comes down to reality. Internet is too good for us. While Internet has given us a good channel for us to express, the usage that we had pre-Jio era was still pleasant. People used to do their things as per their priorities. They were searching for pieces of code, chatting with their friends and crushes, visiting cyber cafes for filling up forms or to check the results. That was a sweet era of the internet in India. After the Jio boom, everybody has internet, data that needs to be consumed and an opportunity to make our lives better. And what do we do with that?
Some improved their lives further, some played online mobile games, some started reading online articles, while some recieved the articles in their FB, Insta, Reddit feed. We are a pretty vocal lot. We started giving our opinions on stuffs. That is where this story starts. Now, I am not saying that people from other countries are not vocal. They are. But can you match the numbers that we have, do you have that active internet users that we have. India has an internet penetration of approximately 40%, which can overwhelm a discussion forum with the numbers. Now those numbers have a huge potential to do some real good: standing up for something, taking a stand, holding up an opinion. But sadly it has actually become a hornet’s nest. You can’t criticize and/or have discussion about something negative happening in India being an outsider. The crowd of online immature users will run you over. And that is not cool. Even Indians who criticize something are labelled left wing or right wingers. We have to understand not everyone who is criticizing has an agenda. Sure, most media houses are serving biased content these days, but being on the internet, we don’t have to subscribe to everything that they are serving. There used to be a time, the media houses and their editorials used to be a great source of gaining perspective. But these days since most of the news publications are being powered by one of the parties, they are not an apt source to gain information. Our best hope is to take the facts from their content and keep their biased opinions aside. Avoiding sharing content which is not verified.
Positives
Sure we had some wins given the united stands of our netizens. The most profilic of them being net-neutrality. When the news broke out that free internet might be in danger , we all took our stands and made sure nothing of that sort could endanger our freedom. That has been the most potent use of our powers as netizens. But aside from that, in most other cases, our power has been borderline annoying. Be it the case of T-Series against PewDiePie. It was never about India vs The World, but we made it seem like in our eyes and then eventually in front of the world. It was about an individual vs a corporation. But lets not get into the details. My point here is we took the diss track personally and launched online attacks on anyone who stood against the motion. In our mind, we were defending India, but in reality we were adding to that annoying factor. Another highlighted case was of a confusion in names of current PM and a former PM of Bhutan. Use the link to see the story. Now, when Sharapova(an individual) said that she doesn’t know Sachin, she was trolled massively. While here a media house, the people who are supposed to have the most researched stuffs, made this massive blunder. My point here is: first, Mr Lotay TShering, we are sorry on behalf of our news agencies and secondly, its okay if someone doesn’t comply to our views or opinions, just agree to disagree and carry on with your lives instead of thrusting your own opinion onto others.
What can we do?
So, that was the problem. What is the way ahead? My advice would be to just be calm and think before we outrage or just think if we would say the same thing if the person was infront of us. In most of the cases, we would probably retract our outrage. In this digital era of anonymity(well proxy-anonymity), it is so easy to get polarised in your views. I am pretty sure if I want you to agree with me on, lets say, on how Facebook is an evil organisation and your privacy means nothing to them, I would share few emotional articles which will touch a nerve and bam, the seeds are sown, which will bear the fruits eventually. Now, Facebook sure is turning to the dark side and that’s no propaganda(I will talk about it some other time, maybe next). News is not news these days, everything has become an editorial, with the presentor forcing their thoughts onto their readers/viewers. And I am not saying that other countries dont have this problem, they sure do, but its not as magnified as us, because of our huge internet user base. Now, talking to people who already subsribe to above views, I recently did an experiment with positive results and wish to propagate the same. The experiment is to talk to people outraging and calm them down. During the recent Zomato controversy, where a guy refused to take an order from a Muslim delivery boy. I went to Instagram and tried talking to a person outraging in some comment section. Ofcourse I was abused pretty colorfully initially, but after a round of one-to-one logical talk, I was able to pacify him. Now, he may or may not outrage again, but I would like to believe that he will let logic be his driver rather than anger in his conversations ahead. We really need tolerance in our online opinions these days. So, my advice again, would be to talk to people spreading hate or colorful opinions over the internet and we might be able to change the tone into a more positive one, one person at a time.
Long gone the days of Ekta Kapoor’s “K-Series-Drama-Soaps”. This is the era of web series. Those were the days when we were compelled to stare at the idiot box cause all our housewife mothers used to love the daily soaps. But now the entertainment has got easier and and a lot familiar, thanks to the web series those are really focusing on the world that we can easily relate to. From depicting the daily depression of an IT Employee to the shenanigans of college students, they are totally covering our ebb and flow of experiences.
But don’t you feel a little show-off progression in those series? Or maybe a forced attempt to sound like “21st Generation” by overuse of derogatory words and meaningless discussion of private parts. At its inception, it seemed to us as an all different taste, but now some of the depiction are hard to gulp in and some are giving way to the evolution of an all new stereotype.
1. Sex chat with Parents “Kahan hai aise maa-baap?” Well it is important that we should feel free with any sort of sexual discussion with our parents. But I feel, “bachche k pocket se condom nikla toh pehle chappal hi ayegi”. “Ghanta koi baith kr baat karta h yahan.” I literally can not tell them if there is some guy that I am sleeping with. I can not even tell them if there is one guy. And if you can. My dear. You are the blessed one.
2. We have Vagina Well what is it with the discussion of our reproductive organs in every other second. When we meet our folks, we don’t do that right. Why do we need to make an announcement to the world that we have a vagina and it just refrains to come without a shout-out.
3. Language Well it seems a trending business in web series that more innovative gaalis will hit more likes and subscribes. Does it have to be that way? We all are accustomed to cursing. But that doesn’t not mean you have to forcibly include it at the end of every sentence. This looks more childish than happening.
4. Dream Different Judge me all you want. My dream was to work on a 9-5 job and I am not ashamed of the fact. But the way these channels are spreading another stereotype of “must-have-passion-that-is-different” is mockishly blasphemous. Well if you are working in an organisation that does not mean you are a “collared-kutta”. Stop spreading hatred towards the employments.
5. Daaru. Daaru. Sex. Sex So every other day after office, we have a happening booze party plan. There we meet some stranger with whom I could connect just like that. And voila! Next day I wake up next to him. “Yeh kaun se desh me hota hai? Bhai! Tu India me hai. India. Teri Mumbai bhi India me h.” Here just to speak up to a stranger we need another kind of guts. It never happens “just like that” until it is an arranged marriage.
In case you found the article outrageous enough, cheers! Because it was meant to be. In case you find more points that force you to think and kindle disagreement in your mind too, please do share.
Yes. The dreamiest day of the year is here. You and your bae in red will soon be having a romantic time of the year. While you would enjoy the coziest moment of yours, isn’t it a little mysterious that this day is losing its lovely significance? I bet you have already identified the affected species, thanks to the memes in WhatsApp statuses and Insta stories. But why does this have to happen? Are Single people readily jealous about the fact that they are turned down by the luck and have no one to celebrate with the day of love? What causes the rush of anger in the furious “Bajrang Dal”?
From a person, who just had a transition from “being
single” to “being happily with someone” , these could be some creepiest things that the
couple should give an ear on and avoid to perform.
1.From creepy to crappy
Babu, Shona, Baby, Thana Thaya… We can laugh our hearts aloud when it comes to these type of flooded memes. Please stop this shit in public. Please stop it among friends. It’s way too much creepier than you think. Seriously. Even our mother never showered us with this kind of love. Stop sugar-spooning your love. Show Ingenuity.
2. She is mine. He is mine.
Well it could still seem a little tough for you to accept
the relationship status of yours. But we all know about it. So stop declaring
to us. Stay committed without shouting. And don’t keep changing relationship
status just because you had a fight for two days. We don’t want to know you
have broken up until its final. Getting to know of a fight through ‘Its
Complicated’ status is the most annoying thing the singles have to go through.
We are there for you, but not on social media, but a phone call/WhatsApp ping
away.
3. Table for Two
Cafes or Restaurants are just there cause the owners really
need to earn some money out of it. Do not waste time cuddling there. Place your
order. Leave after you eat.
4.Innovation in Repetition
It could be your small favourite hobby to count days and
remember every fucking first thing ever happened in your relationship. But the
whole world need not know. Keep this shittiest days of celebrations to
yourself. We really need a break here.
5. Break up song
These are the losers who really stay committed for the sake
of bringing a plus one in every wedding she has to attend. Stop boring your
single friends about “Kaash ab tak break up kar liya hota”. We really
do not understand this situation. And we do not want to.
6.Last but not the least: The days
It’s just too many days for something that is too cheesy. As if the V-Day pressure isn’t enough, its spread across the whole week. And some of them don’t make sense, like what the heck is Propose day on 8th Feb. You cant expect someone to be your valentine, if you are proposing them 6 days before Valentine’s day. Valentine’s day should be 6+365 days away from Propose day ideally. They shouldn’t fall in the same year.
So please couples. The day is all yours. Please celebrate the day of love with a lil attention to all the singles around. We will keep the Bajrang Dal away. We swear on it.
In the end, just to make you happy, use this cheesy one on
your significant other, on-the-house:
“I give you this Rose to Propose with this Chocolate and Teddy and promise you hugs and kisses for life if you become my Valentine.”
