At the outset, I apolgise if this sounds like a tale of a spat in a kindergarten playground.
It was one of those kind of days. Morning was spent at the university looking at some terrible answer papers “radio is an electronic medium because it is made up of electronics” type of bad paper….
Post corrections, I had a meeting near Leelavati before heading out to TIFR (Colaba) and then Fort. Three things to remember –
a) it is as hot as hell. you cannot put your hands on the steering wheel without getting burnt.
b) I don’t like driving in town. too many one ways. not enough parking. too many pedestrians.
c) sometimes i operate on two gears – my eyes see and react to the traffic, but my mind is processing some information. One of the reasons i usually drive with music – I don’t like that lapse of concentration.
I finished my meeting at Bandra, took a wrong turn to the Sea Link and ended up in Sion. I ended up not travelling on a shorter route i knew, and ended up travelling the Eastern longer route, i didn’t know.
My meeting in TIFR was brilliant. Met my old friend, Dr.Vahia who is working on astronomy of the ancients. As he put it, he is not interested in anything that is 1000 BC+ … some very, very interesting work. Dr.Vahia, incidentally is part of the team that is working on the Indus Valley script
From TIFR was the journey to Fountain to meet Pervin Sanghvi. given my familiarity with the area, it took two full circles of South Mumbai before i found parking. No no parking signs – but in that part of town sure to be towed away. Right outside her office. On the main road. I went to meet her, fully confident that I would have to go and pay a fine to release a car that has been towed away.
I came out an hour later – after an interesting exchange of ideas – to find my car still there. Thoroughly exhausted from all the driving since morning, I went to a friend’s place to chill – the plan was drive home in the morning. And then, i logged on to twitter using my mobile 🙂
… and saw this. i saw red.
there were people attributing thoughts and views to me – but that is part of the discourse. What bugged me most was the tweet by @beinghindu that accused me of sleeping with Kalmadi – like what ?? In the last few weeks i have been called a concubine, some other crappy word and now this – usually I ignore, filter, ocassionally block. but this time i was mad…
Not angry enough to send out the first tweet i had typed out – which was far more sexist and offensive- but this, a milder version. One of the things that i was curious about was why ? why were they on my TL abusing me (curiosity more than anything else)
Apparently it was a response to a tweet i had made earlier
It was pointed out, very nicely, that this tweet was seen in defense of the UPA government.. And, if it was – so what ? do you go around accusing people of sleeping with Kalmadi because they disagree with you . And, would you accuse a man of that …. so it is not just bad behaviour, it is also misogyny .
The choice of words demonstrate only one thing – ideas and ideals are not strong enough to fight other ideas and ideals. . When this lot grows up they can come back to have a conversation. Till then, mere se toh nahin hoga.
To those who label this lot as Internet Hindus – please desist. you are abusing a lot of Hindus, including me, who are on the net, and would not dream of behaving like this. It hurts me – it really does – everytime that term is used as an epithet.
If you really want a label “Internet Lumpen” is a good one – this is not ideology driven. if it was, it wouldn’t be manifesting itself in this manner. This is insecurity. This is half information. This is the kind of behavior you will expect from Roadside Romeos outside colleges – courage in numbers to give gaalis and make people uncomfortable, but not to be relied on for a fight …
One last point, before this rant ends – those who abuse, if you think you are helping your cause, think again. does anyone want a party backed by thought police at the centre ?
Finally, I want to thank everyone – on the right, left and centre – who spoke up – really, really appreciate it. Thank you from the bottom of my heart …:)
Well mam, I don’t agree with your article. You should have mentioned only people who use abusive language. Apart from what, everything should be counted as discussion. If you don’t like someone replying your tweet then yo should kindly tell them not to tweet or block them.
thank you
i normally respond to all conversations. which is one of the reasons i have cut down twitter usage – it is eating too much into work time.:)
i took objection to the words, and it seemed unprovoked …
Mam, someone using your twit handle as a reference in a tweet message does not make a case of “unprovoked provocation”. It is just a part of discussion. It is very normal where tweeple use somebody else’s twit handle in their tweets as a reference.
You get what you deserve at least one day!.Newtons Third Law!.Barkha is a classical example for this.We have seen your cynicism on issues like lokpal,Modi or anything about hindutva.But when it comes to cong,upa and corruption your heart beats for them.I think you, barkha and other cynics on internet share the same dictionary!You cowards block people when you have no points to debate.These are all symptoms of a social activist.Bad luck India!
Indian, is the use of an exclamation instead of a period your way of dealing with not getting laid? How’s that working for you?
You seem to be appointed by gargy to look after comments on her post?Exclamation expalins the pathetic state of your society!
thank you for your comment 🙂
Welcome.But these are formalities evident from your smile.Once you joined barkha’s club,a good individuality is lost.Following barkha and standing by her,bashing modi,hindutva,soft on govt scams.. clearly shows you also support her mannerisms and her dalal job.All so called juornalists support her to save their own skin.I appreciate N.Ram and Arnab in this regard.This is a stingy business Indian Journos invloved.They are doing this shameless job professionally.
Harini, why do you even bother dignifying those comments with a blog post? They’re not worth the blood you boil over them. Technology penetration in India has increased tremendously and while that’s a good thing, the downside is that the roadside tapori now also has access it to. The web is a great equalizer and while that’s a good thing, the downside is that it opens the door for the lumpen proletariat to inflict their ill-bred personae on other folks. Save your energies for battles worth fighting for, I’d say!
I completely approve of you. But I think you need to get a bit classy about the whole class thing. Fret not, I shall help you.
Huh? Who me? Fret not, I am equally contemptuous of all classes!
🙂
You didnt publish the comment that criticized you.But published the message that praised you.Cant swallow criticism?You are deceiving yourself.Its ‘selectivity’ syndrome like tv anchors, bloggers who are driven by congress,leftist ideologies.You are 1 of them:)
all comments – from emails ids not recognised by the system go into moderation. unless someone is completely offensive – i haven’t blocked any message…
you should stop being so insecure 🙂
Why should I feel insecure?In fact you are feeling insecure and blocked many on twitter like barkha and came here thinking you can publish messages only praising you.But you know,even if you block comments,you will be exposed.Why should only you&barkha receive this treatment?There are many other ladies and gentleman in the media.
This is from a discussion on trolls I had with @ravages and @meenakshirv yesterday. On the one hand, it doesn’t help a specific debate or discourse when people resort to ad hominem name calling. At the lighter end, it’s the “you must be pseudosecular congresslover” and at the more offensive end, “you must be sleeping with X”. Clearly, ad hominem arguments come in two varieties. One is when the other chap really does not have a well-thought out argument to counter yours, thus the resorting to name calling. The second one, and I believe this is far more common on the internet, is strategic name calling to elicit a response or a reaction. You would have ignored the “pseudosecular” tag but clearly, “sleeping with Kalmadi” triggered this blogpost.
I’d simply avoid reacting to *any* argument that’s logically fallacious, no matter how offensive it is to me.
But when you think of how the internet evolved and how it works, and this might be a slightly controversial opinion, I think trolls are a necessary part of the web’s architecture. Ofcourse, I’m not saying that I endorse someone making violent threats or using offensive sexual metaphors. I’m looking at the big picture. I think the ability for anyone to respond and debate with anybody else online is a good thing. It keeps a large proportion of debates more honest than they might have been (and definitely more honest than what you see on TV or read in the newspaper). An unfortunate side-effect of this openness is the tendency for some to be offensive.
Long story short, I think it’s pointless to expect 100% civilized discourse online. Not going to happen. @Ravages pointed out that the best online ecosystems have a blogger-tweeter-troll balance, like a biosphere practically 🙂 If you try to get rid of trolls (by closed groups, approval etc) then the discourse is one-dimensional and can get all groupthinky. If it’s all trolls (like 4chan) you get good humour and great memes, but nothing concrete.
Why don’t you go and do some rage nonsense instead of pontificating on the sociological impact of trolling? At least bad humor is your area of expertise. Sociology, I suspect, isn’t even a self professed one.
Though, post-priori professions are a thing, too.
hey nilu, thanks for proving his point ya.
Hahaha. Well played
i wouldn’t for a moment call to ban trolls. they are, as you put it, part of the ecosystem.
I would have not reacted to the pseud-secular congi either — nor have i reacted to being called fascist (when i had issues with the JLP)
i have good, interesting, and civil conversations with all sides of the spectrum on twitter… this group has been an exception.
The problem is that there is a lot of sexual innuendo and name calling that some people resort to, especially with women. I feel, and i may be completely wrong on this, that i keep quiet on this basic stuff, it will escalate to cruder and cruder terms.
And, this was not the first time. a few weeks ago, someone in the same ecosystem called me a ‘concubine’. (since that time, the tweet has been deleted/taken down. i made my objections known)… now, if i was a man – would they have used that term ? so in a few weeks they have graduated from ‘concubine’ to ‘sleeping with’ – the more subtle to the more crude. i don’t want to find out the next fortnight’s term – hence the post 🙂
Thanks 🙂 Although I suspect this post will only feed the trolls.
If you dont stand up to these cowards you will end up losing self esteem. !! Even if you have a soft corner for congress and its “so called cronies” by virtue of your language that sounds different when you talk abt the opposition vis a vis BJP and/or Modi, I think the end point is its “your views” let the people reject or accept in similiar dignified way as they read them.
“To those who label this lot as Internet Hindus – please desist. you are abusing a lot of Hindus, including me, who are on the net, and would not dream of behaving like this. It hurts me – it really does – everytime that term is used as an epithet.”
i agree.
The term hindu fascists are way better…..
i dont’ think that being hindu has much to do with being whatever they do…
they would do it anyway. this is an excuse to behave badly. bit like those guys who break shops in the name of religion or culture or anything else – none of us do… they do, because they are predisposed to it 🙂
It a Shame on Hindus …. Bastards… Hindus think that Other in India are Vultures, but they are Biggest Cruel Animals …. I think u could have Answer a Whole Chain Link, Well either you could ask the Reason behind these directly a ScreenShot and Putting them on Blog, would lead to Cyber Violence
I hope you are making Others also Target, Whatever May be the Conditions i Hope that U try to get remove either you are making your Anti People become Followers of these Bastards !!!
Grow up some day dis Ppl :/
thank you for commenting.
that was seriously the most convoluted comment i have heard. could you try and make the same point without abuses – pleaes…..
i am a hindu – and i don’t think that. none in my family and amongst the other hindus i know do … unfair on us -don’t you think ?
Well, you have quoted my tweets totally out of context. Where is the abuse ? It was in a reply to BhaskarChat on a totally different topic.
“Whats wrong in taking a chance metality” meant for congress who always try things first even if it is anti national or criminal and then they get caught. For ex. appointment of CVC
Then I mentioned that you will definitely thank Supreme Court for its remarkable work
So where the hell is abuse ?
well its one’s choice… Following Truth or Supporting False… But i can see many being dragged over here. Exactly you have wrote the Blog from Two sides., nor to and fro… I could see @BhaskarChat much more tweets upon you asking on Kalmadi when i saw the rest tweets. he was pampering more on Sleeping word (not Kalamadi) but asking about the UPA party facts… Either i Would like to tell its just you are making Other people Famous, i can see 65 people already have tweeted these on Twitter, So better you be Out of these and remain Mum. Logo ko kaam hota hae Bolna, if u do Right and good things, people will talk more and against you. and if u do wrong, no one speaks but no one support also., as u can see to Kalmadi, he has no support from UPA as a Saviour.
I was laughing Out Loud when i was reading Tweets tagged to all people eachother @BeingHindu @BhaskarChat @Great_Gujarati and many other started Abusing Each other with @gsurya @talmukund @TRISH00L @jitengajaria If u also read tweets all the ScreenShot copies, Who was Giving Bad Words and Abuse to whom, is difficult to make out. which was merely started by @BhaskarChat who was much more aggressive on Sleeping Word… his tweets followed by other some tagged above were on Random.
Finally People are making stupid Issue’s as i can see some are commenting Against you only in Post., its better you get Out of these Rigidity World, rather making a much more big Web 2.0 Big Issue of the year. 😛
In my experience, while extremely difficult, I WANT to ignore but my self-righteous opinionated self speaks out.
Regardless of religion, caste or creed, I fail to see why no one can have an opinion anymore without having someone to oppose it. It’s an opinion, not an order. And we arent definitely shoving it down anyone’s throat.
Unfortunately, Twitter has lost it’s charm when it comes to having an opinion. And name-calling is an invisible trend.