Good people gone Bad!

Lately I’ve been feeling a lot like a commentator in as many lives as my brain can conceptualize. Mostly my own, but a lot of times it tends to leak into the entirety of humankind in general. And I know how absurd that sounds! I'm just a human in her 20s, what do I even know about anything, especially someone who is a champion at procrastination. So, I'm fully aware that I can only speak through the lens that I've been served with, and that's as authentic as it can get.

I used to get so annoyed at idiotic and shallow comments made by celebrities earlier, I probably still do, but I'm beginning to realise that it is not any different from me projecting certain characteristics on some faces that doesn't stick, because they are real humans. There is a difference between doing their job right and what their personal opinions are. I am starting to understand that there are different kind of ways to respect the same people, for their work or/and for themselves. I love my parents, but not all their ideologies. I like Shahrukh Khan, but not his work. I like Micheal Jackson's music, hate his guts, even though nothing is proved but still. And so on. And of course, there are exceptions where this doesn't apply, but what I mean is it's a little more complicated than just good or bad…there are tonnes of shades in between that carry their pros and cons.

I am no different. I don't love Every part about myself, but I'm definitely most loyal to myself. Just as I am loyal to my parents and my biases. It may be impossible to look at every human being and accept their every shade, I know. But that doesn't mean that a person who is known to have done some bad deeds has done ONLY BAD DEEDS in their lives, do you know what I mean? Trump is a horrible person, but a really good businessman. Same for Ambani. Or J K Rowling who is such a good writer, or even Modi who is a terrific politician but they are questionable human beings. But just because somebody is predominantly known for being on a certain side of the scale, doesn't mean that is all that they have ever done. They may be known for being a certain type, sure, but they are not alien to other faucets of human psyche. 

I honestly believe that it is next to impossible in this day and age to be known for being explicitly good or bad. If Buddha was from this era, I'm pretty sure he would have had a reputation for something or the other. See this is the age of information. The legends that we are used to worshipping aren't from the era of accountability. So, if they were into any “funny business”, that part of the story probably never got propagated.

And I get it. If we can really defeat patriarchy, our instinct might be to not propagate that at a certain point in time one gender was assumed to be more important than the other. May be not erase completely but it's probably something that's going to be talked about by history enthusiasts, and that's it. Because for the rest of the world, that is all it is: history!  Or look at 'swastika'. Nobody (apart from Indian subcontinent) thinks of good health and prosperity when they think of it, do they? (oh yeah, I am personally invested in this one!)

Point is, there is selective propagation of truth through generations/regions/beliefs. Truth gets translated in whichever form serves the era or the people in power or both. And that is where the complications arise in this millennium. How we write history defines our future to a large extent.

Nowadays there is accountability for most actions, it's more difficult to bury evidences that don't serve the people in power. So now we see some of the worst scandals surrounding the most "enlightened humans". The skeletons in our closets are out for display and everybody can pass their judgements on it. We have evolved into nuanced problems now like gender equality and sexuality and mental health and what not! What a world, can you believe it?

I feel amused when people talk about the atrocities faced by Sita or Draupadi or Buddha's sexism or whatever. You best believe that they had some messed-up ideologies in today's standards. I mean sure they are sacred and all, but they are also tales from thousands of years ago! If we try to dissect these citations through the ethical and social lens of 2020, you better believe that they are not woke enough! If they did, then shame on us because that would mean that we have legitimately not progressed as much as we should have in thousands of years. But that doesn’t invalidate everything that they have tried to teach through their words though! Also, it is next to impossible to dig up the truth in some of these scripts as they are so old. So why not just take what is worth taking out of them and try to see if we can apply them in our lifestyle somehow. This is why history is SO important. So that we can learn from the past, study them and make new mistakes, so we can come up with new solutions. That is how the society evolves, through mutation of ideologies.

This is why it is almost prerogative to propagate what you believe you need more of in this world. Because the ideals that don't gain momentum, eventually fades away.

I am sure all of this is part of the process though. We are still infants in this era of information. I'm a witness to that shift in my very own lifetime. There is a sudden influx of information on everybody's hands and now it's the phase of chaos! May be the mental health issues that have cropped up as a result is also a process of elimination for the survival of the fittest for the era that is about to unfold!

But hey, what do I know?

I like the objectivity in the entire view, like I'm part of it but also can't help but find it funny in an ironic way! I am so curious as to where else this species evolves into!

Until next time, live a little :(: