As a rule I have always found myself deleting numerous “forwards” that people send to my inbox. Sometimes I do read them. But the circumstance has to be special and the forward itself, amazingly tempting. I do not wish to say “visually tempting” if you are getting my drift. That stuff gets you spyware !! I do not know by experience, but by “word of mouth” publicity 
.
Having said that, some of the “forwards” do deserve consideration. Just the other day I got an email which had images which shocked and made me angry. The image showed Nirmala Devi who incidentally looks my friend’s mother is seen with the Indian flag at her feet. That is just downright unacceptable. Some action needs to be taken. The incident is quite old I must say, but then again, it was also quite widely talked about, and even figures in her Wiki entry!! This sucks. What sucks more, is that you get an email, in fact a forward, and you don’t even give it an ounce of your attention. I am going to find out what action, if at all, was taken against this self proclaimed “mataji” (mother) of the Indian common man.
I thought that Robin Williams in her recent movie “Man of the year” (2006) dealt with this issue amazingly well. In the movie a comedian/talk show host decides to contest in the presidential elections in the USA and wins due a glitch in the automated voting system. When he is invited to participate in the debate before the election, he brings facts to the fore. One of them being that “should someone be tried and punished for defaming our national flag?….Yes, we should….but then stop making thongs and underwear which sport the nation colours!!” It is one of the most appealing scene of the movie. I suggest you go watch it if you haven’t.
This brings me back to the point of discussion. Normally we do not even care about these forwards, if people really want other to take notice, they should find a better way of doing it. A few years ago, there were two forwards that were circulating around. One of them being about the Indian soldiers who laid down their lives in the Kargil war and did not get “space” in the media, whilst a leading actor who was rushed to a hospital, fearing heartache, later diagnosed for indigestion, was seen eating “kachori” the next day, was front page stuff. The other one, doing the rounds then, was “forward this to all your friends, as every time this email gets forwarded, an ailing baby will get 10 cents (US) which will help her, as she needed to be operated”. I don’t know if that can even work, hits on a blog I can understand. This I don’t…other thing is, who knows if the baby was actually a 18 yr old kid, and is now a billionaire with that scam !! The ones that I hate the most are those which prey on your conscience….”forward this to 10 friends or more in the next 4 minutes or your love life will suck”…”If you want your mother to live…forward this to a 100 people” or “if you don’t send this back to me, then you are not my friend”…I mean what is all that ?? Retarded…thats what I call it. To be honest, my love life….will suck if it has been sucking anyways….would be great….even if I didn’t forward that email….it has got nothing to do with it at all….everyone wants their mom to live…I mean…asking people to keep sending things to and fro is just strange, someone has to be at the receiving end of it….why help them? I say a little prayer…I remember my loved ones in them…its not to some God or Almighty….its like me writing something on my blog….thats all…And mate..if YOU send me this stuff…clearly..you are not my friend !! Why do you need someone to prove himself/herself…and that too by sending a forward, or a rose ???
I think part of the problem lies in the fact that very few people are entirely happy with their lives. Everyone has something that bothers them and they wish or pray that it goes away. The struggle is what makes victory sweeter….and those who quit…will never taste it. In times when you are most vulnerable, these things prey on your conscience. You start to wonder…”what the harm in doing it?”…or even worse…”did I break up with my long lasting girl friend because of that ?”…..Thats the time to pull the plug….sadly…predominantly the population in India…can’t or don’t do that…and become superstitious and even blind followers of scam artists like these “babas” and “matas”. Even as I was writing this post, I got a forward saying Microsoft is paying people….forward it..and you will get x amount of money….I don’t know why people even buy it. May be they will get it..who knows….I don’t believe in the other ones….it would be hypocritical of me to believe in this one !!
Yesterday, a friend of mine and a good friend of mine…who believes in “not forwarding emails” and is quite true to his word (well…most of the times ) sent me a forward. It read “Chetan Bhagat’s speech at Symbiosis College Pune“. All three things in the subject line seemed fascinating. Chetan Bhagat , an IITian and also an IIM-ite (Indian Institute of Technology, top technical school in India and Indian Institute of Management IIM-Ahmedabad is THE top B school in India), became a novelist and now has written the screenplay for his first film, was everybody’s favourite author in India, when his first book “Five point Someone” hit the book stalls. I loved that book and its simplicity is what made everyone relate to it…and for me…even meant that writing honest, real stuff about you, no matter who you are, can be interesting for someone else to read….hence the blog….not the only reason … but one of them. Second was Symbiosis College…is one of the top B schools in India. And Pune…is where I am from!! I decided to give the speech a go.
In this whole mess of forwards, there was one…which I read…and liked. Especially since I am going through the “four storms” (viz. disappointment, frustration, feeling of being unfairly treated and loneliness) that he talks about, as I have been job hunting. He talks about “sparks” which every human being has as a kid and those which are lost over the years as we grow older and mature. He also proposes a mantra which will help young ones like those he addressed that day, nurture the spark, which is “set reasonable goals, achieve a balance/strive for balance and don’t take anything, especially life, seriously”
The speech, like his book, is simple, real, well directed and I am sure it was very well received. The speech is something which I think you should have a look at. The speech can be found at: chetan-bhagat-at-symbiosis.
I thank my friend for bringing this to my notice. I am sure he must have forwarded, unless he himself read it and liked it and to add to that, he only forwarded it to people, who he thought will like it…not to “everyone is my address book”. Thanks bruv. Good on ya !!
