When I was in school “Kala Bandar” was a piece of news that everyone, in those days, wanted to consume. There were many news reports and police reports about it. Then there was this “Teen Mundi” Ghost which stalked the areas of Navi Mumbai. And last year it was some barber ghost which was after Chotis of innocent women sitting in the dark.

 

 

I was quite young when I realized that I have irrational fears. As a kid, I feared my Social-Science teacher. I feared that while invigilating he will turn his ass on my face. I feared Lucy Gray because my elder told me how she died and what she seeks from the kids like me, and NO, it was not like the way Mr. Wordsworth did. I also feared going out in my village because according to my grandmother there were bloodthirsty Chudails all over our village, in ponds, on pipal trees, under khatyias, inside wells.

I was a timid child growing up but then one day while turning pages I stumbled upon Lucy Gray and my fear got converted into anger. I got furious about Lucy’s father’s decision. I mean Mr. Gray it was probably United Kingdom’s weather and were you dumb enough to not realize that it sucks.

Well, this incident did something wonderful. I started looking for logical reasons behind the superstitious things that people said to me and I started looking for their reasons of saying such things to me. I became Littlefinger and showed my middle finger to my fears. The only fear or rather image that stuck with me was of the aforementioned ass.

But when I came over this hindrance of irrational fear, which is so deeply rooted in our society, I realized that people do not make informed choices. I mean they do when it comes to purchasing a car or going to some salon but in case of news, they believe whatever comes to them first.

The period I was referring to was before the time when these colony gossips and collective stupidity became a national thing. After the late-dawn of the internet, WhatsApp knocked down the collective conscience of our great humble nation.

Now we are in an era where the “fake news” has been named the word of the year. Favoritism has become a part of the propaganda. And the universal adult suffrage is turned into universal propaganda consumerism.

Matlab, Is it ethical for them to do so is a question for some other day. For now, we will have to become cautious about the news that we consume. We’ll have to become vigilant and not like my social science teacher, it’s not cool to put your ass on other’s face. And in the same way, it is not cool to consume only those facts that you pertain to. It is also important to know the other side of the story.

Or as smart people have said, don’t react but respond.

More on this later…