2011: When We Took Our Lives And Placed Them On The Internet

As we stepped into the second decade of the 21^st century, many analysts predicted a change: a change in the way we'll lead our daily lives, a change in the way we'll spend our money, a change in our leadership and a change in our natural environment. Change was imminent. Now, as 2012 dawns upon us, we can safely pat those gloating analysts on their backs (or send them a Tweet, if that’s how the system works these days) and say, “Congratulations, ladies and gentlemen; Change we most certainly did.”

As I debated with myself what the most significant event of the year was, I logged on to my Facebook account to find a pop-up revealing their latest idea – the timeline. The introductory video that followed portrayed the life of one Andy Sparks, your average thirty-something American, right from his birth to his high school graduation, from his wedding day to the birth of his first child, neatly accompanied by his likes, places he’s visited, status updates and shared links. In short, they want your entire life, from your cradle to your coffin, to be documented online for your ‘friends’ to see.  The implications of this advent are yet unknown, but you can just imagine them, can’t you?

No one can doubt the major part social media played in the Arab Spring, arguably the most historic bit of this year’s timeline. A movement sparked by the self-immolation of a struggling shopkeeper in a corrupt Tunisia - that caused the spirit of protest against one’s government to rapidly spread across the Middle-East and North Africa. Egyptians rallied their protests from the vast legions of the internet to a massive revolt at Tahrir Square in order to terminate the 30-year-regime of President Hosni Mubarak, Libyan rebels fought tooth and nail against supporters of their tyrannous leader Moammar Gadhafi while similar uprisings took place in Syria, Bahrain and other parts of the region. People who shared a common interest in democracy built social networks to organize political action and spread their ideas – with a multitude of activity on Facebook, millions of opinionated Tweets and gigabytes of YouTube videos causing a viral fervour of uprising on the World Wide Web.

The same means were used for questionable ends in the United Kingdom, as viewers around the world were shocked by scenes of night-time rioting, looting and arson by hooded youth on the streets, causing politicians to furiously debate the feasibility of suspending the social media sites on which the disgruntled youth had coherently plotted their uprising. An inquiry into their motives brought to light the widening gap between the rich and the poor, an outcome of misguided capitalism. Capitalism took another crunching blow, this time across the Atlantic as protesters gathered for the Occupy Wall Street Movement against policies that favoured the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few amidst an ever-increasing debt situation. Economic woes were characteristic of 2011 as the eurozone crisis continues to drag on with no foreseeable solution to look forward to.

The year saw its fair share of natural disasters with earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and hurricanes hitting different parts of the world at various points in time. Japan suffered the most, as a 9.0-magnitude earthquake off its coast triggered the worst tsunami in years, destroying everything in its path and leading to widespread displacement and loss of life. To add to their woes, radiation leaked into the air and contaminated water spilt into the sea due to a meltdown of three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility, with scientists fearing grave consequences. The social media community could only upload innumerable ‘Save a Life with Just a Click’ campaigns leading to furious clicking the world over.

High-profile deaths were also a prominent feature in 2011 and internet communities paid elaborate tributes to some while heaved vocal sighs of relief at the demise of others. Somewhat opportunely, the first news of Osama bin Laden’s death was not via Barack Obama’s victorious announcement at the White House, but a Tweet from one of Bin Laden’s Pakistani neighbours, complaining irritably on Twitter about the presence of a US helicopter in his backyard. The joyous scenes outside the White House and across the United States were interpreted by many as a vile display of foolishness, sinking lower than the so-called terrorists themselves. The killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, an outspoken American citizen of Yemeni origin, by a US missile was disturbing, in the least. YouTube videos of the scholar allegedly propagating anti-American sentiments were sufficient cause for the US government to dispose off one of its own citizens without any substantial evidence or a fair trial? It highlighted the prevalent double standards within the US democracy. Another American, former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, received unending tributes online for the way he changed the digital world.

October brought with it the news of Moummar Gadhafi’s death by NATO forces resulting in a shift of power in Libya.  Two months later, American politicians struggled to hide their glee at the death of their long-standing foe, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, a man whose face hangs from portraits in the living rooms of millions of Korean households.  The announcement of his death, and the subsequent appointment of his inexperienced son Kim Jong Un as the “Supreme Leader” has lead to a mass influx of opinions by concerned bloggers, Tweeps and pseudo-analysts alike. Perhaps 2012 will bring with it some clarity in the sphere of politics, God only knows.

The News of the World phone-hacking scandal left many with a bitter taste in their mouth in 2011. A murky uncertainty about everything followed: people questioned who was viewing their personal information, people questioned their governments and their far-too-evident lack of honesty and people eventually questioned themselves, as to why the world has been caught in this tangle between truth, reality, violence and the role of the internet in all of this. Perhaps that is the hallmark of 2011, more than any particular event – the sheer scale of the impact that one event somewhere on the planet can have on everybody else, because its a smooth touch, some rapid typing or even an innocent click on the word ‘Like’ that can change everything.  ∎

Where Did We Get Lost Along The Way?

BBM broadcast - "We R burning d Sony factory @ 11pm, u lads in?"

We live in strange times, people.

We live in a world where Barack Obama, who promised to be the messiah that Americans were so eagerly anticipating, turned out to be just another sweet-talking illusion.

We live in a world where an entire government was turned on its head by the power of a mass revolution: Egypt – Cairo – Tahrir Square, to be precise.

In this mental world of ours, IMF chiefs turn out be rapists, IPL masterminds turn out to be criminal masterminds, everyday - countless politicians are proven to be serial liars – why can’t people just be who they claim to be, for once?

Everybody seems to be talking about corruption right now, in my country. Corruption here, corruption there, corruption bloody everywhere! ‘Corruption is a disease that we must cure’ they say. Cancer is a disease, but just by talking about cancer it isn’t going to go away now, is it?

Civil violence is another issue I would like to touch upon. Israel, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Algeria and even England– I daresay? It certainly seemed that way a few days ago. These uprisings may have been spread through Facebook and Twitter, but their effects were far from harmless. Rioting, looting, arson – there really ought to be better ways of showing your frustration towards your government? Britons are known for their tea, right? Drink some of that famed tea and calm down! Punch a pillow, if you’re really that angry! Ridiculous scenes, we witnessed on our TV screens. 

The world is getting smaller by the day. People in the Middle-East eat more Burger King than Americans these days and chicken tikka massala is the new fish ‘n chips in the UK. 

As we march along, unsteadily, towards the Last Day, this world of ours is just going to get even crazier. Wishful thinkers and space scientists can argue all they like, but we have no other place to go! These wars that are being fought over petrol will soon be fought over H2O! One thing we all agree upon is that it's all going to end one day. But have you ever stopped and asked yourself - where did we get lost along the way?

From the Clutches of Corruption.

I read an article in the newspaper recently that really got me thinking. It made me think about our society, our country and our future...or rather, re-think these things.

The article was a crime report. Sushil Kothari, a wealthy South Mumbai resident, was out celebrating the birth of his child at a five-star hotel and, having had a few drinks too many, was involved in a hit-and-run case on Marine Drive. His speeding car knocked two innocent men off their scooter, killing one and leaving the other critically injured. Boom. Just like that- two children were left fatherless, a lady widowed and a family’s life was marred forever. The reason: one drunk individual’s negligence.

After hearing about this incident, a similar case a few months earlier involving Noori Haveliwala immediately springs to mind. I realised that this is just another, in a series of incidents involving the so-called ‘educated upper-class’ of our society being found guilty of sheer negligence, primarily due to the influence of intoxicants. The bit that really angered me was that Mr. Kothari was allowed to walk free the following day as his lawyers simply paid-off the police to close the case. Often, incidents like these do not even reach the press as the media are handsomely paid by the guilty rich to refrain from reporting on their crimes in order to save their reputation!

You’re probably wondering where I am going with this rant? Well, the question I’m asking you to think about is- in an age where our Prime Minister, in every national address, never fails to mention the exceedingly important role of India’s youth in shaping our future, is the youth really equipped to take India in the right direction? Or are we just a disillusioned Westernized version of our parent’s generation? The shocking murder of 16-year-old Adnan Patrawala by his own ‘friends’ is still fresh in our memories. A classic example of how a large section of our society is vulnerable, and can be driven into committing crimes by gluttony and manipulation. What strikes me as unfortunate, is how the same individuals who so eloquently talk about a better future for India and simulate world leaders and our parliament at model-UN conferences, they don’t even think twice before breaking laws and drinking, smoking and driving underage. The issues of the youth can be addressed by a greater emphasis on values from an early stage. But I guess these problems are best addressed at home, under the careful supervision of one’s parents.

The broader issue to dwell upon here is that of corruption. In my opinion, corruption is what is holding India back. Holding India back from launching itself on the world stage as a major player economically, politically and socially. The most obvious and recent example of this is the massive saga that preceded the Commonwealth Games. As spectacular as the games eventually were, the preparations had their fair share of ups and downs. It revealed to the world, that deception, bureaucracy and corruption still exists at the highest level of Indian governance.

It is evident that our troubled neighbours suffer from the same problems. The spot-fixing scandal that rocked the Pakistan cricket team’s tour of England proves that sport in the subcontinent still has a long way to go in order to free itself from the clutches of corruption. These problems lie rooted in the high illiteracy levels of our countries.
Someone once told me the issue is location-specific. “Offer Indians and Pakistanis a quick and easy way to make money and they’ll bite your hand off for it,” he said. “It is in our genes, this lazy and devious character.”
Therein lies a major problem, dismissing our country’s problems as being “in our genes” is a sign of having a callous attitude. Not only must we recognise that corruption is a part of Indian society but also we must take appropriate steps to eradicate this disease.

And how does one eradicate corruption? Is stricter law enforcement the only solution? The truth is, no matter how strict the laws are in a country- there will be criminals and the law will be broken. It is the extent of the punishment that will go a long way towards decreasing or increasing corruption. For example, if a high-profile minister is found taking bribes and he is allowed to get away with it; in the future, other ministers will take it for granted that they can easily get away with the crime and wouldn’t think twice before taking bribes. Conversely, if the minister is severely punished and made an example, others will be deterred from involving themselves in corruption.

Corruption is one of the many areas where country’s who follow the Islamic sharia law benefit a great deal. For example, it is highly unlikely that a Suresh Kalmadi -style scandal could emerge in the build-up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup to be held in Qatar. The fear of the capital punishment serves as a highly effective deterrent. China, South Korea and most Islamic countries follow the system of a death penalty when it comes to corruption. The system could really work in India. Think about it.

At the most basic level, it is up to us eradicate or at least minimize corruption in our lives. From our tacit approval as the driver bribes a policeman to avoid the headache of dealing with the consequences of breaking a traffic signal, to bribing income tax officials in our businesses- it all boils down to us, the citizens of this great nation. As the saying goes, “The accomplice to the crime of corruption is frequently our own indifference.”