We do need some education!

Despite all its artistic neatness, the elegantly encapsulated technological sophistication and the very many ways it has twisted the very fabric of our society- changing the way we live our lives- I could never develop much affinity towards the concept of social networking. I think it is deceptive and misleading in the way it is most commonly used, especially in this part of the world. This does not mean that I in any way despise the idea of a digital global society that has made the world so much smaller. On the contrary, I am in utter awe of how well within a decade, a handful of visionaries went on to have an impact on human knowledge that is exceeded perhaps only by the advent of the printing press. What bothers me, however, is the way it is increasingly being used to defeat this very purpose. 

I was lazily spread across a chair in my classroom, sleep deprived, uninterested and aimlessly waiting for the professor to arrive for the next lecture when I came across a post on my Facebook feed-

Despite all my senses forcing me to scroll past it like dozens of other updates, something about this did not allow me to do so. The message on the right seemed like a typically worded pro-Modi sentiment that has swept across mainstream media, especially social networks which have been a major instrument in the BJP success story. The image on the left is in reference to an incident that took place at the recent ASEAN summit where it was alleged that the Prime Minister could not notice the national flag erroneously turned upside down. This Facebook handle lashes out at the faction of the media that brought this to public notice (possibly being referred to as 'they' in the pic) with the justification that the PM had also, allegedly, corrected the flag right side up and asked the photographers to take the picture all over again.

Now I do not know whether that actually happened, for he would also have had to urge his Japanese counterpart to repeat the customary handshake against diplomatic protocol. But what is actually disconcerting is how you have been made to believe something that isn't even overtly right in the first place!

Notice the striking difference in the color of the suit worn by Shinzo Abe in the two pics (some alleged it is because of the flash, but judging by the difference it made to the one worn by Modi, I find it hard to believe). The light intensity in the first pic makes it look like day time. The absolute lack of same in the second affirms it is past sunset. Above all, the bottom left pocket on the Japanese statesman's suit which is visible on the lower pic is absent on the one in the top which is conclusive evidence that the two images are from the same place but at two very different times!

Note that the post has been shared nearly three times as much as the number of 'likes' on it. So you can estimate the number of people it might have eventually reached. Thousands of casual, unsuspecting users like you and me have now been effortlessly force-fed an idea by someone who none of us will ever know. And this is perhaps just one among millions of such propaganda posts endlessly doing rounds on every social media there is, painting, twisting, bending and forming "popular opinions" on everything under the sun- from the Paris attacks and barbarism of the Islamic State to the Dadri lynching and claims of rising intolerance in India.

A 'political enthusiast' on Quora offers the same justification. 60k views, 4.5k upvotes and counting!

It is disturbing to realise how conveniently mainstream media can forge and destroy popular opinions. And it is appalling to see how almost anything that suits some whims can be passed of as "news". Our ever decreasing attention spans and diminishing will to reason will only make it easier for such people to build a world where the very notion of fact and truth is a myth.

Belief, it seems, is a luxury we can no longer afford!

I have the political opinions of a 7 year old who recites the national anthem every morning in his school assembly ground. But such an "Orwellian nightmare" still seems like a genuine possibility. Seeing how uselessly we have cruised past pressing issues like corruption, women safety, bans, beef and now intolerance, all in the past 1 year, it only seems fair to assume we are mere puppets and the strings are wound around the fingers of those who care as much about us as we actually do about these issues.

Another instance of how mainstream media reported one comment taken utterly out of context just to generate a flashy news bite-

And here's what had actually happened. A reporter had asked Priyanka about a solitaire ring she had been wearing recently, to which she had replied- "They (media) made a big deal out of it, but I buy my own diamonds. I don't need someone to buy them for me. When a guy comes into my life it will not be for diamonds, it will be not for cars, it will be nor for homes. A guy will be in my life only when I'm wholly crazily in love. I don't need a guy for anything except a children. Don't jump to conclusions because of my jewellery”

At times I sincerely miss those days when I could trust what I would hear and believe what I would see. The vagaries of life have long deprived me of that innocence and luxury. They have made me suspecting of everything and everyone. But then there are times like these which make me wonder that perhaps it is an enormous virtue which, apparently, many of us are deprived of.

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.