Commonwealth…. And The Age of Hypocrisy

CWG are finally over. As an Indian, i MUST feel really proud and happy that after some ‘minor’ hiccups, games went smooth without further bridge-collapsing, dengue-outbreaking, bed-falling n snake-visiting…
I am glad. And Odd it may sound, hugely relieved! Because now, my hypocrite Facebook friends will have to find something else to fill their status messages and flood my timeline… Because for the last couple of weeks or so, there has been a shouting match going on between them as to who is more patriotic, more appalled (@ Kalmadi & Co.), more proud(of Indian athletes), and it has become a national duty to ‘Comment’, ‘Like’, ‘Superlike’, ‘Thumbs up’, every scrap that rests on your wall…

Sometimes I don’t really Get It! What do FB janta think before putting display of ‘Public Thrashing / Congratulations’ when they r aware that the subject of their Tirade / Praise is not in their friend-list or their friends’ friend-list (or even probably not on FB)? And everybody is so concern about their ‘Social (networking) Obligations’, that slowly but surely, we forget that we actually don’t give a damn about CWG! It reminds of a classic case of ‘Hanuman Chalisa – Email Chain – which we HAVE to forward to 40 people, or else…’ Or ask yourself otherwise – “Would u be willing to do this if your name doesn’t appear beside your ‘Comment’ or ‘Like’?”
If that were not the case, the games would not have been greeted with empty chairs (I know, because I’m a Delhiite.) Or say, how many of us can be honest, and admit to catching any sports action, barring hockey or sania or saina, at least on the TV? (Fireworks, Bollywood Dancers, ‘RangaRang Karyakram’, Fancy-Laser-Show: Do not count!)

This apathy, lamely disguised in the form of Facebook-directed love for CWG, makes a strong case for an evolving feature of the behavioural dynamics of modern India. CWG, for almost all of us, is just a statistic… like Sensex. A number, which we would like us to be informed of. Which Sport?, Who?, How? – Doesn’t Matter – Just give us the damn number! And Contrast this with cricket – We can’t stop gloating about how “Sachin, on 93, hit 2 consecutive 6s, over Long-on, to get to his 49th ton…” (So full of details!), because every time we say it, we reply n relive the moment.
But CWG? We keep track of CWG news, out of sorry compulsiveness. Here, we just want be kept updated just for the sack of being updated – In case the topic comes up in the all-important-office-conversation, we could throw some facts n score some points with colleagues! (much like ulterior motives housewives watching ‘Baas Bahus and Betis’ not for plain entertainment but for next day’s gossip…)

On the face of it, this behaviour looks mostly harmless. We find new things to ‘LIKE’ about & move on. But we leave behind the legacy of complacent administrators & incompetent athletes, who r thrown into oblivion for another 4 years… out of sight, out of mind. Have we ever considered that sometimes, ‘Moving on…’ is not a good thing?
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PS: If you r interested in the impact of social media and the ‘Revolution’ it’s going to cause in coming years, this piece by Malcolm Gladwell is a must for you.