Tag Archives: social media

THE LOOK-ALIKE VIDEO OF GURMEHER KAUR—exposes the dark side of Indian mindset

article, articles, column, short article, short article on tv debates, short story, snippet, story, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

 

     The look-alike video of Gurmeher Kaur has been making the rounds of social media for quite a few days now. I too, got a few copies from some of my whatsapp friends. Correspondingly, I too, sent out a few here and there. But, before sending it out, I keenly sat through it a couple of times. Where, I could happily reflect on my jaunty college days, nothing more and nothing less.

    But, as expected within minutes, some of my friends. On receiving the video reacted by saying—the girl I’m trying to troll. Is not the one who is in the video. The social media is only trying to malign Gurmeher Kaur by sending out this video. Which, I definitely don’t deny. But I have another point of view to highlight—towards, all the fracas or whatsaap jostle, as I would like to call it. That some of my friends tried to create about the whole issue.

    While, most of them, reacted to the video in a more conformist and derogatory manner, with of course, sympathies for Gurmeher. Where, they all tried to tell me. The video is indecent and should not be circulated. But, I had a more of a promethean point of view towards the whole issue. Because, I felt in certain ways. It only exposed the primitive mindset of my friends and that too in a glaring manner. As, I, would like to ask them? What was so obscene and vulgar about the video. That I shouldn’t have circulated? And, about which, you made such a brouhaha. If having a couple of drinks in the plush confines of a car with your close friends is an obscenity, so be it? Don’t women drink in India? Isn’t that a reality of our country? So where is the vulgarity in it? Come on, just let India grow up. Had a boy been drinking under the similar circumstances, would you have reacted in the same manner and called the video obscene and vulgar?

    That she was in shorts. So what? Aren’t women entitled to wear shorts in India? Then, she was with some of her male friends. Perhaps, they were her college friends. So, is that a big deal? That she was tipsy and entwining in the car listening to a love song. So what? Is that a crime? Most certainly not and above all, aren’t women supposed to enjoy as men do is the moot question. And by calling the video vulgar, aren’t we even exhibiting a sexual bias towards them?

    The short point that I’m trying to make is. There wasn’t anything vulgar or even obscene in the video. But, because, of our deep-seated dig and reactions. We made it look like it. For, any college child can enjoy in this manner in the company of his or her friends. Whether boy or a girl. We all have behaved like that in our college days. And, for a moment, even if the video was of Gurmeher. I wouldn’t have rated it in anyway vulgar and obscene. To, run her down. But yes, preferably, any man or a girl would have preferred to keep it as a private property.

    Last but not the least the video turned viral only because of the protagonist, who happened to be a girl. So to my friends—you told me not to circulate the video because it was vulgar. But I found no vulgarity in it and that only speaks of your polluted mindset.

    Sadly, I kept waiting for at least one person to tell me. You can circulate the video as there is nothing indecent about it. But I’m still waiting. Perhaps the wait will be much longer than what I had thought. India still has to grow up.

*****

 

POEM: DHAKA TERROR

poem, POETRY, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Copyright@shravancharitymission

 

You adventured to kill, but in the process, you too got killed,

And one wonders, who asked you to kill?

For if it wasn’t your teachers, and friends in college,

Your peers in places, your siblings and folks indoors,

And God in heaven,

Just who was it, who asked you to kill?

*

You shot so many in a bloody,

When someone had to shoot you in a scurry,

You stood for someone unknown,

Trusted him more than the known,

But was it for any holy throne?

*

To you sermons through social media mattered more,

And not the grace of Holy Text,

Nor the lineage of societal touch, that you chose to ignore,

You hallucinated, as if killing was the right path,

And the rest needed to be ignored.

*

And now when you’re gone,

Leaving behind a storm,

God says,

Son I had sent you there,

To conquer the storm, and not to create a storm.

*

Where the world was your oyster,

And so much was still there for you,

As you had hardly arrived,

To create capture and destroy,

*

But isn’t it sad my son,

That you only created the bloody killings,

Destroyed human values,

And, captured the Holy Grail.

*

And remember my son,

If all would start killing who will create,

And for you,

Without seeing the world,

Without feeling the world,

And without admiring the world,

You decided to slaughter the world,

So now remain unwept and unsung,

In your unrealized world,

While my slain sons and daughters shall rest with me in peace.

**

This is a tribute to all those killed in Dhaka terrorist attack. Most of the terrorists who struck here were young and from high families so then how did their values change so much in a short period of time that they created this mayhem?

*

By Kamlesh Tripathi

*

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

*

Share it if you like it

*

Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life threatening diseases. Should you wish to donate for the cause the bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

*

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

(Archived in 7 prestigious libraries of the US, including, Harvard University and Library of Congress. It can also be accessed in MIT through Worldcat.org. Besides, it is also available for reading in Libraries and archives of Canada and Cancer Aid and Research Foundation Mumbai)

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(Archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture)

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

(Launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival 2014)

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

(Co-published by Cankids–Kidscan, a pan India NGO and Shravan Charity Mission, that works for Child cancer in India. The book is endorsed by Ms Preetha Reddy, MD Apollo Hospitals Group. Book was launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival 2016)

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

Story of an Indian salesman who is lowly qualified but fights his ways through uncertainities to reach the top. A good read for all salesmen. Now available in Amazon.com

(CAN BE BOUGHT FROM ON LINE BOOK STORES OR WRITE TO US FOR COPIES)

*****

 

SHORT STORY: FTII- WHY DID KALCHAKRA HAVE TO PUNISH GAJENDRA SINGH CHAUHAN

short story, story, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Copyright@shravancharitymission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

goi gajendra chauhan kalchakra

Long time back I had read a story about a small sparrow; that goes as follows:

THE STORY OF THE SPARROW


On a beautiful winter day in Siberia, encouraged by the warm rays of the sun in a clear blue sky, a little sparrow left the security of his nest to fly and frolic in the air, but the 40o below zero temperature quickly overcame the imprudent bird who fell on the ground, frozen, and found himself buried in the snow where he would certainly have died in an instant. But by chance a cow trotted by at that moment, and at the very spot where the sparrow was struggling for his last breath, she dropped a large soft cow-dung on top of the bird. The warmth of this dung-bath resuscitated the moribund sparrow. He was so happy, he raised his head out of the cow-shit and started to twitter joyfully, which drew the attention of a wandering homeless cat who delicately pulled the sparrow out of the shit and devoured him.

The moral of this story: Your enemy is not necessarily the one who shits on your head. Your friend, however, is not necessarily the one who pulls you out of the shit. And besides, one should never twitter when one is buried in shit.

The recent controversy in FTII in which actor Gajendra Singh Chauhan got caught up reminded me of the above story, where for no fault of his, Gajendra is in the cross fire. Can we call it the wrath of Kalchakra?

For Gajendra too like the little sparrow was perched in his warm nest, quite away from the limelight doing small roles in movies and television serials, is when the GOI approached him as the warm rays of Siberia and Gajendra then dared to fly out of his nest, quite unaware of the Siberian winters—in this case being the sting of FTII- students.

The new job like the cow-dung covered Gajendra for a while when the wandering cats of Bollywood, Social Media, TV-channels and some Political Parties and so also the students union of FTII, who thought he did not have the tall stature, and moreover, he had committed the grevious crime of acting as Yudhistir in Mahabharat, thereby promoting Hinduism was definitely not suitable for the post. Because, in current day India even talking about Hinduism is considered non-secular by some.

While the wandering cats have so far not devoured the so called sparrow—Gajendra, but the Kalchakra has definitely crushed his film career. For Gajendra Singh Chauhan will now be known more for his poor stalk in Bollywood than the hard-work he has put in to make a career in Bollywood. And quite unknowingly and unintentionally he has antagonised and estranged many bigwigs of Bollywood and the social media; and has emerged as a full-fledged victim of Kalchakra.

    But what was his fault in all of this; that the electronic media almost stripped him naked as far as his career credentials went, that people who didn’t know about his average career also know about it now.

Kalchakra is not in the business of compensating losses and therefore won’t compensate Gajendra Singh Chauhan, for having torn apart his career and making him a laughing stock. I don’t know about GOI how they will view it. But the reality is,

    In life you often don’t get into problems because of your own doings, but it could also be the doing of others and in this case it was clearly the Kalchakra disguised as GOI.

For in life you really don’t know what will come and hit you, or who is friend and how distant is your enemy. But mind you Kalchakra spares no one, not even the wandering cats.

***

Glamour, showbiz, One-upmanship- the veiled face of Facebook

article, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Copyright@shravancharitymission

Kamlesh Tripathi

134

‘A steadfast and voracious facebooker’ – is what I called him, till I met this old friend of mine Harish, recently in Mumbai, is when I came to know he’s gone off Facebook. I swallowed what he told me with a pinch of salt as it sounded quite incredible. Did he? I reminisced. And asked why? He replied.

‘Because you brag without being asked to. For how does it matter where you’ve been for a holiday, which car you drive, in what kind of a house you stay, how well connected you are both professionally and socially. How many jobs you’ve changed, how exquisite your new office looks, how you look in that dress, how many promotions you’ve got, your career path or even your designation. Or how grand was your birthday party, how well groomed and aristocratic you look while standing in that plush lounge of Mumbai or John F Kennedy airport or in that swanky lobby of a five star; and the number of flights you may have undertaken last week to show how busy you are, or how big and pedigreed is your dog or for that matter the brand, colour and size of your underpants?’ As all of this is fairly bugging.

‘But then what is so wrong about bragging? One can only brag, if one is accomplished and has possessions and achievements to show around.’ I enumerated.

‘Definitely, but not by making a public announcements. It’s like inviting everyone to snoop into your worthy life. I value the privacy of my achievements and possessions and would like to limit it to my family, relatives and some close friends. But in the Facebook, I find most talk only about their newly acquired possessions and achievements of life, and that to just for some digital ‘likes’ and appreciative comments.

CULT OF FACEBOOK

Point made by Harish had rattled me for a moment, as there was a point in his point. Is Facebook taking us away from our vedic and ancient culture of sadgi (simplicity). And will Bapu, the strong supporter of non-violence and sadgi like and approve of this. I thought for an instant, as all websites have a domain culture; where members of Facebook appear to be drifting away from simplicity. Facebook, allows anyone above the age of 13 to open an account, and after registering the users can create a user profile, post status updates, pictures, share videos and receive notifications when others update their profiles. Also, users may join common-interest user groups, organized by workplace, school or college, or other characteristics and categories such as people from work or close friends. So the intent is very noble, exciting, knowledge building, innovative with perks of a global reach. But, I guess the gravity is moving towards mere showoff and showbiz. And, it is about time the members come up with something more mentally nourishing where Facebook can chart the way. Remember what our ancestors always said, ‘don’t brag and showoff- nazar lagti hai

IS BRAGGING … GRADUATING TO A REIGNING CULTURE IN FACEBOOK?

Yes as most notifications in Facebook, are about self aggrandizement and digital announcements of achievement and accomplishments. Perhaps the longing vent of modern day etiquette better understood in otherwise traditionally starved India; and that insinuates about Facebook’s gravitational pull towards newfound consumerism of India. I guess it is now a war of between two cultures; the ancient aging culture of India that teaches you sadgi versus the materialistic web-culture mobilized via Facebook. Sure enough the soft world is taking on the hard world and maybe reason enough for China to ban Facebook?

A converse point of view also describes the young emerging India through Facebook that brings along day to day transparency by digitally describing even minor activities through notifications, pictures and videos which at times might even put your spouse in trouble for those occasional furloughs. And, last but not the least.

Harish needs to get back to Facebook. But no one shall tell him when, as he will figure out for himself, the smart bloke he is. I know him well enough and he is not the sort to give up something so easily- and that too his first love, Facebook. For I know he will still login at broader intervals to see how the war of cultures is brewing and the day he feels the tangy slant of cultures has lessened he will write again, what’s in his mind. To once again bring cheer, laughter, knowledge, information and accomplishments to others and that too in abundance.