With the advent of JIO, Internet has been made available to even the remote places of India. But with great Internet Connection comes great Free Time. Mukesh Ambani served us JIO on a silver platter and it greatly improved our lifestyle and our way of communication. It also gave people an edge to be offended about something or the other. It is like people (no matter what their age) stay up the whole night and scavenge the web to get offended and write about it.
No! We cannot mind our business. It is in our roots to be offended. And we cannot just suck it up and sit, we have to take actions. Otherwise, the pantheon that we worship might take off their invisibility cloak and shower their anger.
Let’s look at some of the incidents which have offended the people of India.
#1 Kolkata Girl abused for sitting with a boy
Not many people heard of this incident, thanks to the India news channels who only cover politics. But we have some great storytellers like The Quint who took this initiative of interviewing the victim and taking the message forward to the public.
#2 Couple Thrashed in Kolkata Metro
A couple was thrashed by commuters in a metro in Kolkata for hugging. Apparently, they were “being too close” and they created an uncomfortable environment for other co-passengers. So the solution was to thrash them and abuse them. They should be taught a lesson that we are the people, who gave the world Kamasutra, do not indulge in such activities. The incident happened at Tollygunge metro station, and later the youth of Kolkata protested against the misdeed of people by openly hugging in the public.
You can read the complete news of .
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#3 Mandira Bedi’s pic in the bikini on Instagram
Recently, Mandira Bedi, a famous personality uploaded a photo where she is seen wearing a blue bikini in a beach. A bikini in a Beach. Her followers went crazy. They bombarded her with criticism. How can a 46-year-old, mother of one wear a bikini that is “disgusting”, “disrespectful” and “Vulgar” as stated by some of the comments. Moreover, who wears a bikini to a beach?
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#4. Austrailian ad showing Lord Ganesha eating beef
Many Hindus were offended when some time back an Australian ad showed Lord Ganesha sitting among equals and having a good time. The Hindu community of Australia was offended because it showed Lord Ganesha eating beef. However many also commented that at no point in time in the ad it is shown that Lord Ganesha is eating beef. But we just had to get offended. Because that is what we are good at.
#5. Indians being accused as terrorists in Quantico
The latest episode of Quantico, “The Blood of Romeo” caused quite a commotion among the Indian nationals. The fictional series where Priyanka Chopra plays the role of Alex Parrish learns that a nuclear physics professor of the Hudson University has stolen Uranium 235 which can mean that a nuclear explosion is being planned. As the plot progresses and she and her team confronts the terrorist, she finds a Rudraksha chain on the neck of one of the terrorists. This leads her to conclude that it was planned by the Indian nationalists to frame Pakistan for the attack.
This particular fictional story could not be digested by some of the Patriots. Because to them, Hindus cannot be terrorists, Pakistan has the copyright to make and produce terrorist. Indians cannot be terrorists because whatever we do we do it to our own people and don’t cross seas for such kind of stuff. Who is going to go on so much trouble when you can drive over people, rape a small girl and people will defend you, lynch people, kill innocents for stealing cows etc. and get a free pass. Priyanka Chopra was lashed with some mean comments where people showed their social media face. ABC network apologized for that episode and defended Priyanka Chopra, Priyanka Chopra also apologized in a tweet.
I’m extremely saddened and sorry that some sentiments have been hurt by a recent episode of Quantico. That was not and would never be my intention. I sincerely apologise. I’m a proud Indian and that will never change.
— PRIYANKA (@priyankachopra) June 9, 2018
The very next day, Pooja Bhatt also tweeted in support of Priyank Chopra.
When Priyanka Chopra makes a mark for herself Internationally we claim her achievements as our own & then threaten to ban her films & make her apologise for a work of fiction that has been created by someone else. Can we please attempt to be larger than that?
— Pooja Bhatt (@PoojaB1972) June 11, 2018
There are numerous instances where people have been offended on trivial matters. One cannot just focus on one’s own life; one needs to know what is going on in others’ lives and how to fill up the ‘offended’ quota of the day. Knowing what is going on in other’s life is our life and none of their life.
One thing that strikes me is how fragile is our mindset that we are so easily offended. We are easily offended let it be any sphere, any topic, any meme, religion, article, photos, videos etc. and don’t even get me started on sex, talking about sex is taboo in India. Our population has skyrocketed because of the strokes and not because Indians are just too damn horny and too shy to buy a condom. The elders don’t want to talk about sex to their children and when the same children learn is from different sources and their parents find out they are thrashed and beaten and then the people in parliament sit for hours going from site to site banning websites. If we are not taught about sex then we will find a way to fulfill our curiosity and may kill our cat.
Religion is a broad term and a whole other planet to know what goes in it and how it functions. But one thing is certain that if someone offends our imaginary friends or its values and ethics we will divide the ocean to find out that person and kill him/her. Religion is not to be meddled about and it is certainly not something that one can and should joke around.
How do people have so much time? They should use that time to support the Indian Football team and not fight over the internet with a person that they may never meet and whose views have zero effect on their lives. The world is an amazing place, amazing things happen every day, amazing people are out there to share their experience. We keep our field of vision small and only see what we want to see. We need not limit ourselves and need to focus more on the good things and on ourselves.
Bottom line is that is how we live and that is how we feel alive.
Jo Godwin has rightly said,
“A truly great library contains something in it to offend everyone.”
