It’s been a long time since I last featured a spoken word poetry. Nothing heart-touching, interesting, or entertaining came up to be very honest. Few days ago, this video dropped on YouTube and after ages, we got a heart-wrenching and thought-provoking piece.
If you have ever heard Rehman Khan speak, you know that he is a no-nonsense guy. Even if his stand-up is a comedy, you get to sit there and listen to him, seriously. There is food for thought for everyone.
Online Hatred Ke Offline Effects is less about trollers and more about the long-lasting impact that the changing social media content has had on our ‘personal’ lives. No, it’s not about lynching videos or the dead bodies being circulated in the name of news.
It’s about a breakup that hurts the most, a breakup that scars you for life – it’s about breaking up with a friend – a friend who was a piece of your heart regardless of his/her religion, caste, colour, and belief systems. But in recent times, we have started using our brains more and our hearts less. Friendships also need validation at times. Whether we stay friends or not depend on whether our political opinions match or not. Happy times that we spent together, the long drives, and never-ending conversations that we have been having since childhood, being there for each other through thick and thin – everything is right after one political view doesn’t match.
Relationships are being ruined and this, unfortunately, is not yet a clear red flag for people who are blindly supporting the hatred.
If you have stopped all communication with someone you dearly miss, Rehman Khan’s online hatred ke offline effects will make your heart bleed. It will also make you think – think about a world where friends wouldn’t be labelled orange or green.