Life in a digital news bubble

      Twenty years ago, while I was growing up in a small town in India, there used to be only one TV channel and a handful of news papers. Every day families waited for the news broadcasts at specific times on radio and television and the morning news paper. Now, there is a huge proliferation of news sources - dozens of TV channels, thousands of digital news sources and of course social media. One would naturally be bound to think that this would result in the general public getting more accurate news and diverse opinions, since there are countless ways to get news.

       But looking around, I see that this is not happening. In fact, the opposite is happening. People are becoming more and more extreme in their views. In any controversy, there are people who are only aware of one side of the story. In many cases, they believe that any view that is opposed to theirs is not true. This intrigued me until I realized  after scrutinizing my own news feeds and social media the bitter truth - We are all living in a digital news bubble. Here I am trying to take a hard look at  some of the common myths and misconceptions about news media in the digital age.

MYTH 1 : I choose what I read - Which means I'm well informed :

Almost all digital news feeds have intelligence built in which curates news articles to be of topics which it thinks you are interested. The end result is that unless it is breaking news of extreme importance, you would mostly see things which you are most interested in reading, which in my case turned out to be technology news and entertainment industry news, when my husband's laptop showed current affairs and sports. This is the boon and curse of curated news feeds. You should be aware that there is digital technology that chooses/ edits what becomes your top news. The good news is that if you read news once in a while by logging out of your social media and email accounts, you can still get a more general news source.

MYTH 2 :I get all my news from friends in social media - I get the most updated and relevant information.

Nothing could be farther from truth . A typical person "friends" like  minded people in social media. They "like" or "plus 1" news articles shared by their friends, have discussions, form groups and share. Social media platforms store this information and display or prioritize news articles that share the same view as you. This results in a broken feedback loop where a person hears the same opinions again and again which cements his/ her own convictions. The subject person is now more confident in his/her views because he/she has 50 more people who believe the same things as them. And they does not realize that the views of thousand other people who have different views on the subject that are hidden from them. Gradually their world view on the subject becomes polarized to the level that they think anything different from their opinion is falsehood or fake. We should realize that posts in social media are only a substitute for a  friendly discussion between friends or family largely having similar views. This should not be confused as "what the world thinks".

MYTH 3: A person in my friend list is sharing articles that I do not agree with at all . It is time to unfriend or unfollow.

This is the most dangerous consequence of choice. As we unfollow and prune our friend lists, we ultimately end up losing the diversity of views that we could be exposed to. Think of the social media as your neighborhood tea/coffee shop where the whole neighborhood is welcome and share their opinions on a wide range of topics over  cup of tea or coffee.Good debates happen when different perspectives are shared and people listen to them with an open mind. Arguments are made, which help in fostering diverse thought, even if they don't always win. If you unfollow people or news that you do not agree with now, you fore go your choice to see them at a later time to like or agree.

MYTH 4:There's lot of fake news around. Things that I haven't seen yet anywhere, must be fake or from bad sources.

Fake news is real and unfortunately we are all vulnerable to it. In the digital world that we live in, people are creating news websites and with zero integrity, they are publishing blatant untruths. Also to be careful for is the subtle camouflage of opinions as news items. People share them widely thinking that some one's personal opinion, which should be marked clearly as such by news sources, are authentic facts on the subject. People and institutions of influence try to muddy the waters further by paying people to publish articles in their favor, create social media support by generating fake accounts, and in the process succeed to an extent in garnering support of many more people, who become pawns in this giant mind game. News that you haven't seen shared in your circles need not be fake. What you have been shared with need not be true. Though Facebook and other social media platforms are actively trying to curb this menace, it is still a huge problem and only awareness can help people become more discerning in what they share as facts and perceive as the truth.


MYTH 5: TV and traditional media is all fake, biased, and bought : 

This is an idea that is being fed to the public by the same people who are trying to use digital media as a platform to manipulate the public. Even though there might be a grain of truth in this as media houses tend to broadly support certain political interests, there is still value in listening to them as they are not personalized- at least not yet. So we are likely to see a larger variety of news from these sources and  though the emphasis and style of presentation may be different and the bias of opinion may be different, because of more stringent journalistic integrity, the core facts presented are usually not false.

     So, before you decide that this rambling is too much for you and click the unfollow button, think for  moment, get out of your digital news bubble, follow people with diverse views, read articles from different news sources. Watch multiple news channels. Check for veracity before you share. Once in a while, log off from all your accounts and see digital news that is not personalized. I promise you it will be a refreshing change.

കേരള വനിത

 നീതിപാലകര്‍ , രാഷ്ട്ര നായകര്‍ ,പിന്നെ
മൂല്യ ശിക്ഷകര്‍ ദൈവത്തിന്‍ ദൂതന്മാര്‍
മത്സരിചീടുന്നു സ്ത്രീയെ തരാം താഴ്ത്താന്‍
പുരുഷന്റെ തെറ്റുകള്‍ മൂടി വെചീടുവാന്‍

കപട സദാചാര കണ്ണാടിയാല്‍ ജനം
പെണ്ണിന്‍റെ ചെയ്തിയെ തെറ്റെന്നു കാണുന്നു
മതവും , പുരാണ ഗ്രന്ഥഅങ്ങളും പോരാഞ്ഞു
ശാസ്ത്രത്തെയും വളച്ചൊടിചീടുന്നു

 ആകാശ-ബഹിരകാശത്തിന്‍  ഉയരങ്ങള്‍
പുരുഷനൊപ്പം കടന്നെതും വനിതയെ
അബലയായ്  വീട്ടിന്ടെ  കോണില്‍ തളച്ചീടാന്‍
വെമ്പല്‍ കൊള്ളൂ ന്നതെന്തിനീ അധമന്മാര്‍

കാമാര്‍ത്തരാം   മൃഗങ്ങള്‍ പതിയിരിക്കുന്നൊരു
നഗര വനത്തില്‍ വസിക്കും  മാന്‍ പേടയെ
ക്രൂരമായി വേട്ടയാടി ഭക്ഷിച്ചു രസിച്ചിട്ടു
ഒളിക്കാന്‍ കഴിയാത്തോളെ  പഴിക്കുന്നതോ ശരി ?

പണ്ടൊരു പര പുരുഷ ദൃഷ്ടി ദോഷം പെട്ട
പെണ്ണിന്‍ രക്തക്കറ  പുരണ്ടൊരു പരശുവിന്‍
വരദാനമാം മണ്ണില്‍ പെണ്ണായി പിറന്നോള്‍ക്ക്
നീതി കൊടുക്കുവാന്‍ നൂറ്റാണ്ടുകള്‍ക്കാകുമോ ?

More Catholic than the Pope

One day I happened to see two youngsters in the bus shelter I was at , swearing at each other at the top of their voices. The girl was wearing a skimpy dress leaving very less to imagination and the guy , a fashionably disgusting low waist apparel.They were having a really loud competition on who knew more swear words and didn't care that they were probably attracting miffed glares from minority of people who were not tuned into their smart phone head sets. I was unfortunately seated quite close to them and to avoid the embarrassment of having to listen to them, I hurriedly took out a bunch of leaflets of bus time tables that was the only thing I could find to pretend to read in a bus shelter. Just then , I felt a soft voice behind me
"Do you think we are stupid?".

I was about to blurt out that I wasn't pretending to read and that I actually needed to check out route #449, but was surprised to see an old lady behind me, equally miffed at the swearing game going on.

"Look at the state of our youth. Our children are just wasting away their valuable time for school and college and look what they have grown up into. You come from such a rich culture. Do you , like , look at us and think how stupid we are ?"

I was totally taken aback and had no I idea what to answer. I flashed a smile , nodded in negative and quickly made my way to my bus which thankfully had just arrived.

On the way home , I though long and hard.

Is Indian youth really any better than them? Do I have the moral right to point fingers  or look down upon the youth of the west , when ironically, the very same culture is revered by and imitated to exaggeration by the Yo generation of my very own country?

1. When I have never heard a swear word uttered in front of me in Minneapolis other than by the odd youngsters in the buses or bus shelters, but  facebook statuses and twitter updates of Indian youngsters I know without F*** word are rare ?
2. When rupee will not be called anything other than a buck though rupee was never made of buckskin like the dollar originally was? 
3. When a blog without faaying , frigging , sucking friiking and other similar words is just not good enough?
4. When my nephew living in a remote village in Kerala has the full music collection of Justin Beiber and knows all about Kim Kardahsian's divorce?
5. When people in India know more about all the sitcoms being aired in the US and most Indian TV programs other than the daily Soaps are cheap copies of hit American TV shows and having porn stars in reality TV shows has become acceptable?
6. When spelling my and moi  and ma is you and yua  and umma and muah is mandatory learning for every Indian teenager?
7. When pizza and McDonald's and KFC , the cheapest and unhealthiest foods available in US are considered as the height of posh and elegance in India?
8. When skirts are getting shorter, jeans are going lower, tops have glaring holes at conspicuous locations and dating and premarital sex are part of urban living?
9. When there is a marked difference between provocative dressing and stylish dressing , while in India , the former is equated with the latter?
10. While we take the slightest opportunity to make fun of foreigners in our land and stare at them like zoo animals , they show the dignity to treat us with respect in their land , even when we take their jobs away from them?
11. While we take all the liberty to become westernized, buy stylish vehicles , only to disregard traffic rules completely, talk like a F**** foreigner , but ogle at every woman in sight and in turn look down on the lower classes who talk the equivalent language in the local tongue(!), drink and go to discotheques, drive insanely , even kill a few, but bribe the police to get out of sticky situations?
12. When the world of Internet has opened a whole new window of westernization to this generation of role-model zapped youngsters , that has somehow zoomed in on the wild and the crude side of the American Pie ?
13. When India is getting more Americanized than America itself.?

I realise that the world is shrinking and we are all embracing the same global culture. But I do so wish , India would get the best out of both worlds, rather than the other way round, May be , I'm growing old, maybe the next time I see that lady, I should talk to her and tell her that there is nothing Indian about the youth in my country anymore. They are all part of the same global brotherhood brought up by the Internet.

P.S :No offence meant to anyone and the views are completely personal.

To Kill or To Keep

After reading Red Handed's vehement support of abortion , which she has explained with so much poise, I somehow felt that it had hit one nail on the head , but failed to touch the broader issue at hand.  This and some of the comments posted by readers , prompted me to think and I decided to answer to Red's PS and post my views here.

1) Abortion is probably the only reasonable path of action if either the foetus is not healthy or if the mother's health is in danger or in case of rape. I do not think many people disagree on that.

2)Abortion is also the path of least resistance for an unmarried girl who becomes pregnant  because of the harassment from the society that she will have to face if she had decided to raise the child on her own.

3)While I do agree with couples who decide to abort , when even after the best of  precautions taken, the girl still gets pregnant, I believe that while it is entirely possible , the probability of it happening is very low.(Come on guys and Gals, the egg is available only 24 hrs in a month).Neither  do I agree with the way abortion is becoming increasingly used as a method of contraception.(What if I get pregnant, We can always have an abortion na..).

4)Many people commented that they support abortion because it prevents unwanted and unloved babies from being born and it was actually a good thing to abort such babies anyway. Who are we to decide if that is what is good for the baby? Think for a moment , If Virgin Mary had decided to abort Jesus ,Christ? Or if Steve Jobs' parents had aborted him instead of giving him up for adoption ?

5) A lot of people said at the same time , that they supported all but gender based abortions. If the above point is valid(Which I question in the first place), how can this scenario be different? A prostitute aborts her girl child because she wants the kid to escape from the life that is awaiting her.A woman who has been harassed all her life by her in laws decides to abort a girl child so that her daughter does not have to go through the same ignominious life that she faced.

6) A lot of people seemed to think that the fetus is not a baby before 20 weeks. That is absolutely not true.The baby is very much alive at 12 weeks, I saw my son's ultrasound scan at 12 weeks and the baby had everything including an attitude.

What I wanted to convey is that doing it for the good of the baby is utter tosh. If you make this decision you are doing it for yourself.  You are just reiterating that your life is important to you and you are as any being in this universe , bound to even take a life , when your life or right to live is threatened. Ultimately it is a choice that you have to make for yourself  and love or hate yourself for it. Which is why I hope and pray I never have to take such a decision in my lifetime.


P.S : Red Handed is an amazing writer and I am a big fan and this post is not meant to insult her in any way. Just my personal opinions in the matter.

In the Path of Thorns (Posted in Darlings of Venus)

When this month's discussion topic was announced  and Maithili implored all of us to come out with our experience,I was sure that there would not be many entries.But was shocked beyond belief to read the revelations from my friends at DOV and after reading what each of them shared , my respect for these amazing ladies have increased a hundred fold.

An age old saying in my language goes like this "immaterial of whether a leaf falls on a thorn or the thorn falls on a leaf,the leaf gets damaged ". And from the moment a girl child is born ,these cliched lines are oft repeated to the parents and the girl alike.That being said,every girl at some point gets her share of prickly sex repressed male thorns.

Being in a close knit family with grand parents,uncles , aunts and cousins living almost on the same compound to look after me and by God's grace, I haven't had to encounter such bastards in my life.But just as a leaf on a rose bush cannot escape grazing through the thorns to fly in the wind, I too have fleeting memories of nameless and faceless parasites that refuse to go away that must be the part of memories of even the most ordinary Indian girl.

1)The hairy hand that made into my purple frock when I was standing in queue for darshan at one of the most famous temples in Kerala and how I with all my might pushed it back and somehow exchanged position with a fat old lady in front of me.

2)The pointed fingers that kept poking me through the gap between the seat and the back rest in the TNSRTC bus while the teacher was taking me and a friend for a science camp in Tamil Nadu. the frustration when the teacher asked us to ignore the constant pokes and the my friend's fiery outburst at the guy which finally resulted in him moving to a different seat.

3)The numerous times I have had to ask my friends (guys) or cousins to exchange seats with me at a movie theater because some dark hands were trying to grope me in the safe darkness of the movie hall.

4)The lecherous eyes of the random guy who stopped me mid road to ask if I wear clothes when I take bath (!!!!).

5)Those decently dressed men in the heavily crowded trains and buses , whose only aim in life is to bump on to you with each movement the vehicle makes and then look back with a false smile as if it was an accident.

6)The showmen who post themselves at strategic locations near girls hostels and embarrass the girls by showing off their strategic body areas.

7)The hands that always try to find their way towards a girl when you are sleeping in a second class sleeper compartment and how you always remembered to sleep with your feet in the direction of the corridor and keep them covered under a blanket.

8)The fake sleeping guy who tries to fall asleep on your shoulders as if by some horrible quirk of  fate you did not get a lady's seat in one of those overpriced overnight Volvo buses.

With time and experience , I learned that this was the way of life and there was nothing much a woman could do to avoid such people completely (unless of course I wanted to shut myself off in a nunnery, which after some second thoughts involving Sister Abhaya might not be that safe either )

But some of my favorite weapons that helped me are an umbrella and a safety pin. Of course having a fierce look helps and some martial arts would be amazing.

Here are a few small tips to stay safe in daily life , which I used to follow

1)The open umbrella is a savior while walking through crowded foot paths , in that it gives you a  little space and a much needed weapon from guys whose only intent is to bump you and touch your breast.

2) A closed umbrella is a good weapon to use against auto  or taxi drivers if you feel they are planning something for you. (Have always been told this , but haven't had to use it personally).

3)Safety pin is a good weapon to be used when the perpetrator is hiding in a crowded or dark place, like a bus or movie theater.I have successfully used it on the guy who tried to poke me in
the movie theater .(3 pricks and 20 min later that guy left the theater). Compass or other sharp instruments can be used too but for the difficulty of carrying it around.

4)Having one or more trusted people of the stronger sex , unfortunately is one of the most fool proof ways to keep yourself safe.

Musings on Independence Day

Celebration of a new dawn,
Midnight sixty years ago,
An epic battle won,
Freedom, the way to go!

Sixty years From then ,
That moment in history
Indian men and Women,
Let us celebrate our glory

Let us celebrate the bountiful crops,
Our large reserves and full coffers
Forget the Farmer suicides
and the raging monsoon floods

Let us celebrate liberalisation
The new purchasing power
In oblivion be the stravation
workers and the Urban poor

The power of women,
Let our new first lady speak
As billions and milions
remain harassed and meek.

Let praise be bestowed,
On our higher education,
Ignore the cries refusing to be cowed
'Money' and 'Reservation'
Our nuclear deals
with US we display,
What do millions care
Who have not a meal a day

World class hospitals,
medical tourism ,lets flaunt
What about those fever deaths,
Oh thats just a jealous taunt.

But what ever , the problems,
India's united and one,
Why then are there discordant voices,
states, vying not to be outdone

Thus we write in diamond shine
Our progress stories great,
Hiding the things not so fine
In the shadow of these feats

The single largest democracy,
We pride ourselves to say.
Though Politics and Beurocracy
both have gone astray

But its our home still,
our country dear,
which inspite of all odds,
Ahead we must steer.