The Misconstrued Patriots: The Everyday Changing Definition of Patriotism

Patriotism, like religion, is a phenomenon that harbours on the highest order of conviction of the practitioner. However, like religion, it has started deriving its belief not from convictions but from conveniences. While they may sound similar, their connotation is as different as chalk and cheese. One derives its strength from unshakable belief while the other does it from opportunism. One goes beyond a person’s physical being while the other is very much confined to physical and mental conditioning. One hardly ever changes while the other can be as fickle as the weather.

 

We, the Tolerant; Now Lets Crucify the Fellow for Sharing his Opinion

We live in an amazing country. Even before one controversy is brought to its logical conclusion , thanks to our media, we are engulfed into another one, the latter being as ridiculous, if not more, as the former.

Even before the controversy surrounding Lalu’s 9th pass son making it to the post of deputy CM of Bihar or his 12th pass son being made a cabinet minister could  die its natural death, the media took one statement out of almost an half an hour long interview of Aamir Khan (the irony being that it was at an award function meant to felicitate outstanding practices in journalism), ran it as their headlines 24×7 and managed to make it into a national issue. This, at a time, when majority of Tamil Nadu is engulfed in floods, farmer suicide is on the rise and major parts of the world are on red alert. So much for the journalistic ethos!

 

How Mainstream Media Is Misleading The People

Few days ago, a huge furor was made in the social media after Deepika Padukone, a leading film actress, responded to an article by one of the biggest media house in the country, The Times of India, which shared a video on its twitter feed titled ‘OMG!! Deepika’s Clevage Show.’

Similar kind of articles have become endemic in mainstream media, who are willing to sell their ethos if that were to ensure a few more readers. This isn’t an isolated incident and what we have been consuming in the name of news in the past decade has left a lot to be desired. The only reason this particular news got coverage was because the actress in question chose to respond to the news by saying what she did with her life and body was her personal business. From objectifying women, to highlighting wardrobe malfunctions to wanting to be in the bedrooms of celebrities, we have seen it all in this age of digital media.

 

The Drug Named ‘Social Media’

How would you feel if you were to have an overtly passionate lover, who just can’t get enough of you even if you stay in front of him 24×7? At first, you might find it very loving and cute, but in time, you will realise that this kind of addiction has detrimental effects on the relationship.

It goes beyond saying that when something like love can become intolerable when engulfed by addiction, then there is absolutely nothing in this world that can escape its wrath.

One of the biggest technological advancement made in the past decade has been in the field of digital media, social media in particular. Facebook, Twitter, Orkut have brought this world closer like never before. But like every other phenomenon, even they haven’t been able to escape from the clutches of addiction.