Page 18 - Seniorstoday February 2022 Issue
P. 18
Alaimentary
Life is sugandhim
pushtivardanam
Grandstanding and hardstanding of opinions on WhatsApp group have
divvied up people, writes Nagesh Alai
An old ‘Shammi Kapoor Unplugged’ cow, boar, politics, polemics, languages,
video from the turn of this millennium uniforms, dress codes. You name it, there
popped up out of the blue recently in one is someone waiting to pounce and pound
of my WhatsApp (WA) groups. In that posts and riposte.
one can hear the late famous actor gyrator The other day, in a WA group, there
talk about the role that internet played was a post relating to the topical ‘hijab’
in his life and how it reconnected him to controversy-in the-making (who does not
a long separated old school friend from love a controversy – be it a protagonist or
pre-partition days. For the uninitiated, an antagonist), communicating a point of
Shammi Kapoor was known for being one view. By the way, the meaning of ‘group’ is
of the earliest to espouse the internet, from a set of people having some homogeneity
the name and fame club. Great enabler or shared interests or similar backgrounds.
indeed, this net, cast wide and deep. Since All this definition went out of the window
then so many interfaces and social apps the moment that post hit the group. The
have proliferated that it has redefined and knights-in-the-shining armour came out
reshaped our behaviours and interactions daggers drawn, the self-righteous became
with people, near and far, nationally and indignant with colourful vocabulary, the
internationally. ‘post’er suddenly was denounced as an
As much as facilitators, the social media im’poster’ by some, a chorus of ayes and
platforms have also become despoilers nays followed, a few promptly existed the
of sort, going by the rage and hate being group and some threatened to exit soon.
spewed on posts and facets – be it religion, So, everything other than a healthy
culture, caste, beliefs, history, geography, debate happened and it was soon a free
love, marriage, live-in relations, LGBTQs, for all. The proud and famed ‘debating
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