Opinions Overdrive

Before I start, I should warn you that this piece is utterly pointless. Of all my ramblings, this is the only one that’s truly random. The only reason I’m writing this is because I haven’t written in a long time. The excuse that I’ve been giving myself is that I can’t zero in on a topic. Between you and me, that’s bullshit!

The reason why I haven’t been writing is because I have been too busy living my life vicariously, living my life through my facebook news feed. Why write, when you can read the most “entertaining” debates without making much of an effort. Do note the stress on the word “entertaining”. That’s because these so called debates are nothing more than that. Half-baked facts, emotional outbursts and personal attacks, they’re all these “debates” rely on. One might ask that if they are so bad, why do I still go through them. Honestly, I have no idea. I’m inclined to say that it’s because if you go through all that garbage, you are bound to find at least a few sound arguments. But that’s not the real reason. The real reason is that it has become a guilty pleasure. Somewhere in my brain, there’s always a teeny little voice saying, “Stop wasting time! Read something else, anything else! Read a book for God’s sake!” But that voice is more often than not, subdued by the loud claps and whistles of the basest section of the brain, that demands nothing but entertainment. 

I cannot talk about debates and facebook without bringing up the Indian social media’s fascination with politics. I mean, what’s up with that! Today, everyone on social media is a political pundit. When did we become so aware? If I remember correctly, this wasn’t the case two years back. What happened? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I’m all for a politically aware society. It just perplexes me to no end. With everyone having an opinion on everything, I am bombarded with opinions every day. It does not leave much scope for me to form my own opinion. It leaves me confused. I’m confused about the prospects of AAP, which I, like every well-meaning Indian, hope replicates the “Nayak” story. I’m confused about BJP, which, for some reason has chronic self-destructive tendencies. Don’t even get me started on Modi, who for some people, is the only viable solution, while for others, is the angel of death in the garb of a PM candidate. The only thing that I’m not confused about is that I don’t like Congress, not one bit. And that the Rahul dude is surprisingly daft.

I may be wrong, but I feel that if I spend a lot of time reading up on various related topics from good, credible sources, I’ll be able to do away with most of my confusions. But by then, it won’t matter. The Lok Sabha elections would have had taken place, and there would be new issues up for debate. So what are my options? When I think about it, I feel being confused is not such a bad thing. It’s a thousand times better than being a hardliner, or having an opinion based on the Facebook debates. I can stay confused till the very end, until I absolutely have to take a stand, when I can finally decide based on the cumulative information acquired till that point of time. I don’t have to be a political pundit to be of service to my nation. All I need to be is a responsible and an aware citizen. That’s not too much to ask for, is it?