I DO NOT BOYCOTT NEPOTISM AND ALL THINGS CHINESE.

I don’t boycott them for the sake of it. I don’t boycott them just because they are trending. I don’t boycott them because it is the ‘in-thing’. 

Didn’t we all get emotional, similarly, for Nirbhaya, Pulwama, India losing in the Cricket World Cup Finals, some Sharmaji-ka-beta during results time, the elephant in Kerala, the #blacklivesmatter movement in the US, farmers’ suicides, cyclones’ and floods’ and droughts’ victims, the Greta Thunberg’s How Dare You, the Vegan Movement, and the list goes on! It is just a hashtag for us to stay mentally occupied for a few days. Till the next ‘trending today’ shows up! 

How many petitions have you signed till now?

How many have you signed before somebody was actually harmed? I do get affected by all of this. Don’t get me wrong. I am not a die-hard TikTok fan! But, getting random signatures from anybody and everybody....? These are just people like you and me, who will jump from one hot topic to another...! It is just too shallow. Nothing will change with ONLY SIGNING, if we don’t DO ANYTHING about it.

Of late, almost everyday we are introduced to a new Signature Campaign. Some do it out of courtesy. Some do it to ‘fit in’. Few do it because they believe in the cause. And then, we move on to the next incident that moves us. How much do we actually contribute towards the cause, between two signature campaigns? They are a great way to garner attention towards a cause.... but how much the cause will actually be benefitted depends on our own actions.

This doesn’t mean that we cannot bring about a change. We can. ONLY WE CAN. Start at your own level. Make changes. You. Make the changes. Not everything has to be highlighted on social media. (Like Charity during the Corona Crisis can be done without flaunting it on your FB profiles. Don’t forget to pay your domestic help, too, without any resentment.) 

Social Media is a wonderful platform to bring about a change. Speak up... when you or your acquaintances/friends/family face any injustice. Speak up.... while there is time. Speak up... to avoid such events. Shouting loudly from rooftops after an event...? So futile! Signature campaigns are mostly like post-event damage control. Bringing about a change in your day-to-day approach will make a lot more difference. Whatever you can connect with, whatever you can relate to, whatever hurts your insides more, whatever triggers you emotionally... Act. Don’t React.

BOYCOTT CHINESE?

I don’t think so. I think a more sustainable and non-violent approach will be ‘BE INDIAN, BUY INDIAN.’ Look for indigenous alternatives starting from simple things in your grocery list to the bigger electronics and then the much bigger automobiles, and so on. Go Slow, but Steady! History does repeat itself. Time again for a ‘Swadeshi Movement’. 

All global economies should do this. Save your local economy. This change won’t happen overnight. But we can start somewhere. Not by signatures, merely. But by actually walking the talk. Not by loudly claiming things online from your Chinese phones! Act. Then talk. The next thing that you shop for... think wisely. And then keep going. 

As Sonam Wangchuk mentioned: Telling Jains that Jain food is impractical didn’t discourage them. Instead, due to their firm belief, today we have scores of Jain restaurants. The consumer will drive the market. You and me will drive the market.

Last, but not the least: NEPOTISM.

Favouritism has existed in our rich culture, from times immemorial. It was known as The Varna System. Raja ka beta Raja, Pandit ka beta Pandit, Government jobs, Private Conglomerates, Film Industry, Educational Institutes, Politics... you see them everywhere! 

It has become the current hashtag because someone has taken the extreme step and made us all sit up and take notice. Isn’t it? We all have seen this in our own lives, too. Favouritism. The fair girl getting the lead role in the school play, the teacher’s niece getting higher internal marks, THE son getting chosen over the more-qualified daughter to reign the dad’s empire, the inefficient heir leading a political party while the other evidently superior colleagues taking a backseat. 

Nepotism and Cronyism are just forms of Favouritism. I feel we all are over-reacting here! Weren’t we already feeling insulted by the nonsensical Dabangg series, the pukishly-fake culture of the K clan, the outrageous insanity of the Balaji Mills??? Why wait for some tragedy? Say No when you feel like your intelligence has been challenged and not when someone else unfortunately becomes a scapegoat.

Sushant Singh Rajput... an unfortunate loss of an immensely talented star. However, we will remember him for a few days, until the next breaking news hits us. But what was truly sickeningly unfortunate was the invasion of privacy of his family, during such an emotional crisis. We could see pictures of his dead-body, his father crying inconsolably, his dog’s video crying with his photo on his paws; being floating around on WhatsApp and Facebook! I mean what is wrong with us? Media behaved so irresponsibly, as if they owned the ‘event’. 

How insensitive have we become?! His untimely death triggered a steep rise in the number of his Instagram followers. Suddenly his hidden video clips have surfaced. Where was all this while he was alive? There lies the problem. We have always failed to acknowledge and appreciate a person while he is alive. We give them their due credit only when it is too late! 

We need to stop sensationalising anything and everything. Get a life. A real one. Stand in support of the causes you truly believe in. Stand only if you are ready to be a part of the change. Not by just signing online. But by changing your thoughts. By asserting your opinions when they matter. By streamlining your actions.

#jaihind #ripsushant #washyourhands #beindianbuyindian