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[mythoughtsandotherthings]

“Amidst all the commotion, there is one constant, always in bliss and that is what we call Nature”

[mythoughtsandotherthings]

[mythoughtsandotherthings]

The misuse of Social Media Platforms & Dissemination of Fake News, Causing Violence

The internet space is vastly different from the physical space, in the kind of anonymity it offers to users. The internet cloud is virtual and borderless and does not recognize man-made physical borders or boundaries.  A consequence of this is that cyber-attacks can be launched from anywhere in the world with terrifying effects. The widespread usage of social media platforms and applications by the vast multitude of the public has led to the misuse of technology to perpetrate crime and fraud on ordinary people. 

In the present day, social media platforms have become prominent virtual meeting places. They facilitate, seamless, anonymous, electronic communication and information exchange. Users are identified by profiles created by themselves. They have to share minimal personal information for this purpose, with little identity check or verification. There are crores of Indian users who are active users of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp and other such platforms. As is the case with other public utilities, widespread usage of social platforms has bought its share of challenges, relating to criminal misuse and abuse of public media platforms. This has posed a serious dilemma for the government administration of striking a balance between freedom of speech and expression enshrined in the constitution and the responsibility of citizens to be accountable and prudent so that social media platforms do not turn into dens of drug smuggling, human trafficking, vehicles to promote terrorism, communalism and conduits of money laundering.

Fake news may be understood as a type of false propaganda that consists of purposeful incorrect and fictitious information, mostly propagated through novel social media platforms with the sole intention of misleading common citizenry, causing damage to an entity or person, accruing wrongful political or financial gain, create civic disturbance and unrest. Such fake news shamelessly, indulges in sensationalism, dishonesty, and deceit and is unverified and goes viral swiftly. Taking note of the risk and danger posed by the propagation of such fake news, the government swiftly acted and introduced due legislation intended to make large media platforms, accountable and comply with the rule of the land. The platforms are obliged to frame policies and introduce strict foolproof processes to regulate, verify, validate and assume responsibility for content posted by their users.

An illustration of extensive damage caused by the dissemination of fake news, relates to a series of incidents, relating to misuse of social media, where mob lynchings were reported in various parts of the country, consequent to the circulation of wild rumours on Whatsapp, as a result of which innocent people lost their lives. Investigations showed that most of the terrible incidents were preceded by the viral circulation of false rumours on the platform. In response to a notice from the government in this regard, Whatsapp initiated multiple corrective steps and introduced new regulations and processes to prevent misuse of its platform.

The widely used social media platform, TikTok was banned by the government, based on information received that the platform posed a threat to national security and was being misused by vested interests to spread fake news and spread communal unrest in the country.

Facebook was issued notice by the government, regarding news relating to the breach of data of its users and the company was forced to streamline its internal processes w.r.t. the handling of personal data of users.

In conclusion, social media platforms must be properly regulated as online intermediaries, under the law of the land. The platforms are required to assume the complete obligation to ensure that their enterprise is not misused by miscreants with intentions. To continue to target Indian users, all such platform owners are required to necessarily implement appropriate remedial measures to curtail and prevent the spread of malicious fake news and information. It is the lawful responsibility of social media platforms that users misusing their platforms to provoke and commit crime, terrorism and violence are swiftly identified and brought to face justice.

Additionally, to address the scourge of fake news, the government has taken several initiatives to increase awareness among citizens to become adept in identifying any instance of fake news and to avoid becoming a party to the viral circulation of such news. Various stakeholders such as educational institutions, professional and industrial associations, social welfare departments of government etc. have been roped in to launch campaigns to prevent and curtail the circulation of fake news.

[mythoughtsandotherthings]

Embracing Simplicity

Nowadays, most tabloids focus on stating facts and statistics, which may get sensationalised, completely barring the personal experience or interest factor of its readers.  There is more to stories when we try to analyse the deep-rooted factors, at an in-depth level towards the Human-interest narratives which captivate, engage the audience and influence public opinion. 

I was thrilled to have been given the chance to explore this specific genre. I interviewed my PG or co-living space cook, “Laxmi didi”. She did not know to speak Hindi or English

hence; I asked one of my Kannada-speaking friends to translate our conversation. 

Shifting to Bangalore from a city that never sleeps my hometown, Mumbai, I experienced a series of major life events, basic factors which were not a problem for me back at home, such as food, shelter and allowance was now the major determinants of my stay in Bangalore. The lack of home-cooked meals was a concerning factor for me, and due to this, I met the “Laxmi didi”, our cook. Didi only knew Kannada whereas my flatmates and I knew only Hindi, but it did not stop us from communicating, google Translate audio notes helped me out all the way not only to understand her but for her to understand me too. In the span of 2 months, Laxmi didi became a parental figure for all of us, coming every evening and providing us with hot food, in case either of us was sick, she would make hot soup and take care of us just like a caretaker. 

Having the opportunity to interview her and gaining a perspective of life from her eyes, made me realise, and recognise various things and situations about individuals. Being from a simple background she spoke with pride, about her birth village which was located in the valley of the Vedavati river. About her family, she lives in a nuclear unit, comprising of her husband who works in a textile factory and her 2 children, she strongly hopes and is desirous of her children to be happy and well-educated in the future, along with becoming something big in life.

 Laxmi didi believes in a simple motto “one has to work to earn, and to eat with the earned money and that is all life is about”, gaining this perspective from her taught me how various factors hold a sense of importance differently for each other along with understanding the difference in thought processes of each although we live in the same society, we have a number of conflicting opinions. Her reason for becoming a cook was mainly for her family, the timings of her children going to school did not match with the work hours offered by factories, etc, therefore she chose this occupation. Laxmi didi is a self-taught cook, who understands technology she treats Youtube as her bible, although, in one of the houses where she initially worked, the owner taught her how to cook certain items or dishes and Biryani was her favourite to cook. 

Laxmi didi works in several places, each house carries her different experiences or story. The fact that she observes everything and everyone silently is proven when she elaborated on the story of a house that she works in, the husband comes home every day drunk and beats or troubles the wife, he does not provide money to the family for their basic needs, Laxmi didi being an almost single-earning member of her house, silently just completes her chores and leaves.

Owing to time constraints I could not ask her any more questions, but just learned the fact that how sometimes we tend to be oblivious to the other person's reality, we need to stand together and empathise with each other since we are completely distant from knowing what the other person has been through in the recent past. Everyone needs to be kind and try to understand each other. 

Laxmi didi never feels bad about her work even when she washes the vessels that soil her clothes or her back and knees hurt when bent for too long to work. Her passion to educate her children is what keeps her going. 

Audio Code

[mythoughtsandotherthings]

“Unnecessary Incompetence”

Through the esteemed columns of your newspaper, I wish to bring to the attention of Bangalore Municipal authorities, the bad condition of the roads of Bangalore. As honest citizens, of a metropolitan city, we deserve basic infrastructure and facilities from the government. The roads in the city have not been repaired for the last three years.

There are pitfalls and breakages on the roads which have resulted in tragic road accidents, every other day. The large potholes on the roads have caused several deaths of two-wheeler riders. The repair work undertaken by the agencies is shoddy and does not last for more than a few weeks. Because of the deplorable conditions of the roads, there are frequent traffic – jams, which lead to unnecessary, long travel time.

The pothole menace also results in the constant break – down of vehicles leading to avoidable, expensive repair expenses. The problem has also compounded dangerous and risky instances of road rage. The concerned authorities seem to be indifferent and hapless to the plight of ordinary citizens. I demand an explanation from the government, why should the common citizen be made to suffer for no fault of theirs? The Resident welfare associations have made a number of representations to the governing bodies but no concrete action has been initiated. The authorities should take necessary measures on a war footing to get the roads repaired as early as possible.

The issue needs to be addressed with full seriousness, as it deserves, before results any more loss of life and limb by road users. May this letter stir the authorities from their long and deep slumber.

Yours truly,

 Divya Chibber

[mythoughtsandotherthings]

Should Media Platforms be Regulated?

The obvious answer to the question is a resounding YES; However, the difficulty is in articulating, how it should be done, given the plethora of platforms originating in different forms, continuously. Concerns about the regulation of social media or rather lack of it,  first originated, after news of such platforms being fraudulently misused by adversaries to influence the outcome of elections and referendums, around the world, emerged in 2015 - 16.

Governments around the world woke up to the danger and risks posed by platforms at the hands of fraudsters,  extremists, miscreants and criminals. Subsequent events include the US presidential elections, the Brexit referendum in the UK, Facebook data leakage in India, a Chinese government crackdown on dissent, Fake news propaganda on Rohingyas by Pakistan, Interference of Russian / Chinese governments in elections of other countries, bought to the fore, ills affecting social media and showed the platforms in the worst possible light. There was a chorus around the world for effective regulations and governance of all social media platforms to prevent their criminal misuse.

Social media platforms are business models that create an electronic marketplace to match different parties with complementary interests. The platforms connect consumers with digital content creators and typically monetize their interactions through advertising revenue. The platforms do not create their content and contend that they are not responsible for what users produce and are thus not libellous and subject to the regulations and laws that usually govern traditional media like newspapers, television etc. The claim though correct is that they do not create their content. It is however incorrect to claim that they do not exercise any editorial control over the content. The platforms can identify who the user is from the profile and then target pointedly relevant content,  as per user preference, based upon browsing behaviour etc.

It is not even the case that social media cannot be regulated.   Remembering, the early days of YouTube, when they allowed users to post anything they desired; only after legal threats relating to copyright infringement arose, the platform immediately introduced restrictions and a policy framework to regulate uploads.

The problem lies in the platform’s preference to choose content that maximises user time on their respective site. For this purpose, they resort to carrying sensationalist, violent and scandalous content which provokes more user emotions and provides more eyeballs and viewership.

A greater concern about social media is that by collecting so much demographic and behavioural data of users, they can create a precise and accurate image of who we are. They can then sell this information and data about users without explicit consent or knowledge of the user. This is completely unacceptable and illegitimate and should be prohibited with the introduction is suitable personal data protection laws and regulations.

To illustrate the point, Just like a chemical company is subjected to law of the land to prevent loss of lives and compliance with social norms, the social cost associated with social media platforms should be controlled to prevent worse effects.

Hence, Like many other industries, there are undesirable consequences if social media is left ungoverned and given free rein. There needs to be serious thought and debate on how Social platforms should be regulated with the balance to minimize their social costs but at the same time maintaining enough space for a free, fair and democratic exchange of views.

[mythoughtsandotherthings]

The Alchemist

The alchemist written by Paulo Coelho, stands as a recipient of numerous prestigious international awards, standing upon economic forums and throughout the world. The book emphasises the importance and critically reflects on the themes of hope, faith and spirituality, through implications and various literary devices. Paulo Coelho is a world renounced Brazilian poet, very skillfully he has reflected and metaphors his journey of spiritual awakening through the hardships he faced along with deviation which serves as an inspiration for his books. 

The story of the shepherd named Santiago serves as a symbolic representation of nature, he is a love-struck young boy who dreams of meeting the merchant’s daughter he had met earlier and could not stop thinking of her since then. 

Paulo Coelho has skillfully with his fluency encompassed the book with hopeful quotes such as “It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”. The setting and themes of the story are simple yet it is impossible for the reader to unfold the next series of events. The Alchemist serves as one of the "more self-help than literature." kind of life advice books, through Santiago one understands and gains answers to life crisis crucial questions the quote "when you want something to happen, the whole universe will conspire so that your wish comes true", stands as one of my personal favourites with the core of interesting themes in the story. 

After reading this book this 131-page book either one will work towards getting their life in place, or start on their journey of self-love and finding oneself. That is the magic in the writing of Paulo Coelho's “Alchemist.”

[mythoughtsandotherthings]

The Humble Khichdi

‘Khichdi’, is one Indian dish that is quite underrated but has a rich history to it. The term is probably derived from the Sanskrit word ‘khiccha’ meaning a dish prepared with rice and legumes. Largely, khichdi is made with rice and lentils, but some regional variants are prepared with Bajra and Moong too. In the Hindu culture, it is the first solid food fed to babies. The mention of Khichdi is found in the Hindu Mahabharatarta, as a light and nutritious meal. It is said that Lord Krishna’s poor friend Sudama too carried some Khichdi for his rich friend when he went to meet him in his palace at Dwarka.

Ancient foreign travellers save made detailed descriptions of this Indian dish in their travelogues, too. From writings during the Mughal empire, it is known that Mughal emperors like Akbar, Jehangir, and others were fond of the dish. Interestingly, during British rule, the humble dish made its way to Britain under the name ‘Kedgeree’, where queen Victoria liked the ‘Masoor-ki-Dal’ khichdi and enjoyed it in the form of soup.  Presently, every region of the country has its version of the dish and it is the comfort food of a multitude of Indians. The dish is known as ‘Huggi’ in Karnataka, ‘Pongal’ in Tamil Nadu and ‘Pulagam’ in Andhra. From being a baby food, it also serves as a nutritious meal for a sick person.

All over, India, ‘Palak ‘Khichdi and ‘Masala’ Khichdi are all too popular. Interestingly, many people enjoy a bowl of Khichdi with an assorted platter of fish and vegetables in Bengal. In its modern avatar, there is the proliferation of ‘khichdi parlours’  in cities to beat competition from its non-vegetarian cousin ‘Biriyani’. The parlours serve a variety of khichdi dishes, including Moong dal khichdi, Bajre ki Khichdi, Sabudana Khichdi, Ayurvedic tri-doshic Khichdi and others, catering to all taste palates. To conclude, Khichdi is the singular go-to comfort dish of all Indian households. This power-packed dish, full of carbs, proteins and vitamins, is the most affordable, nutritious, wholesome and healing food for the poor and rich.

[mythoughtsandotherthings]

Kashmir Files

The Kashmir files is an emotionally triggering, docudrama that tracks the tragic exodus of Kashmiri pandits from the state of Jammu & Kashmir, their homeland in the 1980s. The writer and director of the film Vivek Agnihotri attempt to provide an alternate view and narrative about the long-festering Kashmir issue. The film is based on testimonies of the people scarred for generations by the insurgency in the state. The Director presents the unfortunate exodus as a full-scale genocide of Kashmiri Pandits akin to the Jew holocaust and the massacre of partition at the time of India’s independence. It is the Director’s grouse that the previous governments and left-leaning intellectual lobby deliberately kept away the genocide away from the public on account of political, vested interests.

The film contains some compelling performances delivered by  Anupam Kher(AK), Pallavi Joshi(PJ), Darshan Kumar (DK), Mithun Chakraborthy (MC) and others. Here, Krishna (DK) a Pandit and student of a JNU kind of university have been tutored by the leftist liberal teacher Radhika (PJ) into believing that secessionist movement like freedom of India. It is only when he visits the valley upon the death of his grandfather, Pushkar Nath (AK) that he is revealed the ‘real’ story of religious terrorism in Kashmir and the sufferings of the Pandits, who were left to die at the hands of the Kashmiri terrorists by the state and central governments.

Based on documented reports, the film shows the brutality faced by Pandits because of their religion.  The camera work is excellent and successfully captures the dark brooding shades of the troubled valley in graphic detail. Agnihotri seems to have looked at the past from the prism of present circumstances. Vivek Agnihotri may be accused of opening old wounds. He gets the Kashmir militancy and partisan politics to the forefront. Reopening old wounds may not offer a solution but then healing can only happen once the trauma is accepted.                                                                 

[mythoughtsandotherthings]

“Saccha Paisa”

“Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.” - Franklin D. Roosevelt. Passion is a drive or force in individuals that not only keeps them dedicated to doing something but also having a sort of devotion to it. On meeting Ram Prasad, a mundane man, who is a florist by occupation and loves his life. He spent most of his life in the state of Uttar Pradesh, in a small city called Unnao and shifted to the city of Banglore 8 years ago to further continue his passion for plants, he came to a big city to learn more about botany and enhance his knowledge about plants which was passed to him by his father. Ram Prasad owns a small plant shop at the side of the road near the Peenya metro station in a secluded lane.

Belonging to the unorganised sector, since he sells his plant without any government recognition hence, he pointed out and expanded on the fact of feeling a sort of competition or pressure from developed chains such as IKEA which is near Nagasandra metro station. This threw some light on the deliberate dilemma, a sort of perspective which is not spoken about much regarding the problems faced by the unorganised sectors against developed markets. Ram Prasad is a modest florist, who treats his plants as his children, he considers them as living beings, who need nurturing against the fact that large scale industries just look at this as a profit-making business and nothing more whereas, for Ram selling plants is his dedication and not a sort of survival do or die occupation he does not do this out of compulsion to work but treats it as his “Jaan”, (life), not much exists in the world except his son, plants and dog called “Moti” of the seven seas, which he found wounded on the roadside 2 years ago and that is when he decided to adopt it. This do expand on the simplicity factor, how his life revolves around a few aspects and what expects from his customers, as a seller, to treat and nurture the plants in the same way as he does, indicating the simplicity and dedication he has in him.

On being asked about his family, he proudly mentioned his son who was fulfilling his dream by educating himself as Ram had only attended school till 2nd grade and presently, his son was pursuing a degree in the Bachelor of Business Administration from a reputed institute, he furthermore narrated on the life story concerning his son’s education mentioning how he offered him the option of either continuing the legacy of selling plants or educate himself for a better livelihood, the son chose the second option and promised his father to accomplish his dreams of converting the small business into a legal one, to gain the various remittances or benefits possible for a comfortable old age.

Ram Prasad leads a simple life in today’s world, a world which is extremely commercialised, it is very rare to find individuals who actually love their occupation and honestly do it, Ram it is not the money that he earns that makes him happy, but the smile on his customers face when they purchase an item from him, he called this “Saccha Paisa” or Real money.

[mythoughtsandotherthings]

“The Consensus of Media”

Mark Duffett, the author of the book titled, ‘’Understanding Fandom’’, undertakes a deep study of the modern-day, media fan culture, Fandom is a sociocultural phenomenon, largely associated with modern capitalist societies, electronic media, mass culture and public performance. The term fan first appeared in late seventeenth-century England, where it was a common abbreviation for “fanatic”. It became significant in the United States a century afterwards, where it was used by journalists to describe the passion of baseball lovers and spectators. The term was later adopted to describe dedicated audiences for films and music. Later, during the nineteenth century, the advent of photography, sound recording and airwave broadcasting laid the foundations for the electronic media business that supported vast audiences and fan phenomena that dominated much of the twentieth century. As sociologists, Ferris and Harris explained “there would be no fame if there were no fans and there would be no fans if there were no media”. It is widely believed and accepted that fans' demands have helped shape much of Hollywood and the other film industries worldwide to a large extent. Similarly, the comic book genre, which began as a supplement to newspapers, contributed to the fan-following traditions. As young people began to be a recognised population segment, fandom gradually became more identified as a youth phenomenon.

Over decades, actors, dramatists, singers, comedians, politicians, authors and other celebrated personalities of the day have carefully cultivated young people as their fans, who constituted a prominent demographic and often the most visible section of the media audience. The Beatles, Blues, James Bond films, Rock-n-roll group, Star Trek sci-fi movie series, Alfred Hitchcock suspense movies and Comic-Con are a few examples of old iconic music, songs, films and television series and comics, which have inspired fans from each succeeding generation of listeners, viewers and readers. In the late 1990s, with the advent of non-linear media platforms like video games, fans began to expect a different entertainment experience, giving rise to the trend of narrating the same story to fans, through different electronic media. This gave rise to the commercial exploitation in a systemic manner of fan following, leading large corporations to offer frenzied fans, their favourite subject of following in extended versions and genres spanning movies, music, games, television, merchandising outlets and lifestyle brands. Computers had been a domestic fixture for over two decades by the end of the twentieth century and they were already integrated into the entertainment industry. A large mass of fans used the internet since its earliest days, playing interactive theme-based games in multi-user fan groups or debating their favourite singer, film, musician, actor, politician, author, television show, game etc on bulletin boards, chat rooms and other electronic fora. The fandoms created fan pages, posted fan fiction and set up virtual fan tours and shrines of their favourite celebrity personality.

Alongside accessing news and information, many computer users also began to upload, stream and share video files in the new era of the internet. This led to the turning point of the development of fandom as a shared social experience. Video uploading sites such as YouTube, which gained mass popularity since the mid-2000s, allowed free instant access to vast archives of uploaded footage that included clips, old footage and amateur productions by a multitude of fans, giving further boost and momentum to nostalgic fandoms. This also gave rise to amateur producers and prominent fans who developed their troops of fans. In the new In era of digital extravaganza, novel cultural forms blossomed. For example, ‘bloggers’ and ‘new age influencers ‘ have claimed their own space as citizen journalists and commentators and command a loyal army of fans.

 Fandom has become more visible, prominent, mainstream, normal, respectable and importantly formidable today. In this environment, fans today wield considerable influence in all spheres of life and dictate policy formation, country and local politics, intellectual consensus, consumer preferences, legal and business practices and all economic and commercial activities. Challenging the old stereotype, fans have emerged as thoughtful, productive and powerful creative people.