Outrage Nation
Mukesh Gupta, Chairman, Tourism Committee, PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry says, “I agree that gossip-worthy content is increasingly highlighted as headlines-worthy. Wide reach of social media often helps the trivia gain larger audience (not necessarily larger importance) over the serious news, discourse and concerns. But this is an expected hazard of newly found freedom of expression owing to the explosion of social media.” He further adds, “However, the headcount does not showcase the real picture. Roots of Indian culture and its sensibilities are deeper to withhold the onslaught of flippant outbursts. Further, ‘Public hai sab jaanti hai’ still holds true to a large extent. The country largely holds the values of tolerance, compassion and broad-mindedness supreme. Aberrations apart, we would not find the nation swept in the occasional, and sometimes rampart, outbreaks that violate core Indian sensibility. India’s cultural roots are deeper than others in the world. Meaningless public discourse can spoil the time of the nation, but cannot affect the spirit and ethos.” However, Shiv Vishwanathan believes that internet triggers it, it is not the politicians who do that online. “After creating outrage in field, they show outage online. But they have immaculate table manners online. It allows them to have a schizophrenic personality. For me a lot of it is that. So in real like a public space you do what you like but online you behave very well.”
PSYCHE BEHIND VITRIOLIC ATTACKS
Much hatred and venom is spewed incessantly, and people seem to derive malicious glee from attacking and maligning others, especially eminent public figures. On a psychological level, those riddled with insecurities are the quickest to lash out, and derive pleasure from demeaning, denigrating others. Psychoanalyst Arunava Banerjee explains, “Respect for another’s position depends on my ability to accept my lack. Human beings, fundamentally, do not understand each other. What matters is that we try to, or have the desire to, understand each other. If I cannot accept that I may lack an understanding of another person’s views, and I try to push through a forced understanding, that would result in aggression. Accepting that we lack, that we are fundamentally incomplete in our understanding of the world, followed by respect for the fact that other people may know something about us in turn, is the first step towards any meaningful dialogue. Outrage and offence are merely the expressions of an inability to accept our incompleteness, thus denying the possibility of any alternate position.”
IGNORANCE FUELS OUTCRY
Ignorance too plays a strong role in fuelling such outrage, as many react aggressively without being cognizant of all the facts, or seeing the full picture and then drawing a well-considered conclusion. Actor Harsh Mayar blames the ignorance of people who react vehemently without going into the depths of the issue. “While it’s essential to put forward your opinion, we Indians blindly follow the crowd — if someone says something, others follow. Just because the media highlights a particular person’s opinion or a comment or a video, it goes viral. Though there are people who raise critical issues, they are very limited in number and overshadowed by many who strive for those few seconds of fame. Now any kind of publicity seems to be considered good, and it results in a rise in followers. And this is a big reason for such cheap stunts.” Inputs by Angela Paljor
and Kavi Bhandari
After creating outrage in field, politicians show outage online. But they have immaculate table manners online.
— SHIV VISHWANATHAN , PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL