General Election is coming in India and we see war of words
thanks to “Open” social media. I see all people are bashing someone or supporting
someone now. The quite ones sometime start feeling the “peer pressure” and bend
to start giving opinions without really meaning it.
Having an opinion is good. This makes you and other feel that
you are thinking and you are “socially accepted”. So for person like me, who do
not drink, it would help me to be part of discussion when someone is talking
about class of whiskey or wine. This leads to a state where people want to have
an opinion about the current hot topic. As
a country of hard working people, it is possible that, we do not find much time
to have extensive research to have an opinion. So we try to find a source where
opinions are “ready to use”. To support them, there are few statements which
could be handy while discussing this. So I find so many people read media like “TOI”
or “First Post” or others who is readily giving an opinion (for free) with or
without any factual base.
This is fine till the time we want to hide our ignorant
face. But after sometime, some of us try to take it to a next level where we use
them into discussions/debates over those shallow opinions. I could see so many
people just argue over an issue which neither of them have substantial ground
level knowledge. “Modi vs. Kejriwal” and “Khobraghade case” are the recent
examples. And during the debate, if someone challenges the other person to state
the facts, they do not have it. And this leads to personal remark and then a
big show.
Generally, we take our opinions personally. That’s perfectly
understandable if not ideal. But incidentally, now I see so many people get
offended by someone else’s opinion. If A wants to support Modi/Kejriwal and B
is not in favour, B acts like A has created a big crime or he is the biggest
fool of the time. You may also find there are few who come in rescue of either A
or B and start debating. And after that, there is an interesting scene for
others for few minutes! People fight till the end and someone will emerge as a “winner
of the battle”!
I think we all can have opinion as it is a free
country. Other may also have it. But that doesn’t mean all have to have same
one. One thing which we really need to become develop is respect other’s
opinion. If there are differences, you can discuss. Keep the open mind and do
not take it to a personal level. It’s not about winning or losing. After all,
we are friends here and it is just about expressing our view.
