Just two
days. I was off Facebook for just two days. The next day, though, when I
checked Facebook, my “news” feed was almost filled with just one single post.
Every alternate post that I saw was just about this one video. Now that I have
mentioned a “video”, I’m sure you can already guess which video I’m talking
about. But if you haven’t, here’s the answer- I’m talking about Deepika
Padukone’s video called “My Choice”.
Well, I do
not intend to give any more attention to the video by expressing my views and
opinions about it and the issue that the video deals with. It has already
received enough unnecessary attention from people. Here, I just want to ask a
few questions, to all the “feminists”, “misogynists” and the “equalitarian”
people out there on Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, Instagram,
and what not! And every time I came across the video, these questions just kept
coming in my mind:
Why does some Deepika Padukone need to tell
you what feminism is or what women empowerment is? Or why does she need to remind
you that depression is an illness? Didn’t we already know that?
Why do these videos bother people so much
that just within two to three days of this video going "viral", there’s another
response video going equally "viral"? Do these videos really deserve the kind of
attention that they’ve been attracting?
Why is it necessary for almost everyone to
share these videos with a caption which is like a “pick-up” line from the video
itself followed by a few hash tags?
Do people really believe that sharing these
videos is actually going to make this “world” a better place?
Do people believe that the “world” is on
the Internet?
To all those people who believe so, just a
reminder: THE WORLD IS NOT ON THE INTERNET!
There is a
world beyond the internet. And only when we’ll be willing to explore this world
beyond the internet, we’ll be able to decide whether the “real” world is a much
better place to live in or not. Only then will we realize that the “real”
problems, that this world beyond the internet is facing, are not just women
empowerment and a need for gender equality, but something much bigger than
these.
And we,
being the “educated” people should be willing to take the responsibility of
helping the “real” world face their problems. If only we’re willing to take
some time off the internet and contribute in the least possible way to make
this “real” world a really good place to live in, because certainly, just sharing
a few videos and hitting the like button may only change the virtual world that
we’re living in.
Well, that only keeps me wondering whether the
internet and the technology IS doing us any good or not? Or maybe, the
technology is not to be blamed! It’s probably just us who’re unable to handle
the big responsibility that the social media is! But we need to know our limits;
we need to mark a boundary. We need to make a wiser use of the social media.
Let the internet not manipulate us. Let it be the other way round.
