Disclaimer:- We are sure when we know little. With knowledge, doubt increases.
Watch what you consume
It's a universal fact that we all need Food, Water, Air and Sunshine for our growth and survival. As a part of our living, we therefore consume all kind of food we are accustomed to, and its fancy derivatives of sweets and namkeens, as an add-on, AND all kind of drinks, like, tea, coffee, milk, shakes, cold drinks etc too as a matter of routine.
Excessive exposure, however, to such fancy sweets and namkeens reversed my feeling for such items I liked the most, and in fact turned repulsive to an extent that I have since stopped stacking such items in my house. Same is incidentally true for most of the things I like, and unwittingly, I tune into that more frequently than exploring uncharted territory. I believe same must be true for most of us.
Tongue-in-cheek, it is said, that our excessive indulgence/pleasures leads us to our grave faster. Be it what we eat and drink, indulge, or be it what we watch on media.
While introspecting my consumption habits, I observed that we also consume, subconsciously, what we read, we hear and what we watch and see. And most of these consumables come from Newspapers, Books & Magazines, Media, TV and YouTube. Our discretion to what is right and what is harmful consumption in this aspect is driven by our sensory liking and fascinations, which becomes our prejudices, and which then holds on to us tightly.
People talk about Air-pollution, Noise-pollution, Water-pollution , and researchers work endlessly to develop antidote for the same. How about Media-pollution? Are you watching News channels anymore, and are you staying with the channel, with over enthusiastic anchors blaring and coaxing participation from the guests?
No kidding, but if you are watching News channels beyond headlines, you have a serious problem and are somewhere hurting your psyche.
Same is true with some of the shows being aired on OTT channels, and some of our movies, with heroes taking pride in their unkempt beard , one or two cuts on the cheeks, blood drops trickling, guns in hands, and have hair style the earliest human beings who lived on this planet would envy. More blood on the floor than in the body. And Language…. unforgiving.
No matter whatever rating the show/movie might have been awarded, and no matter whatever have been the box-office collections, but then people are not taking it seriously, as most of it is akin to poison, and needs to be categorized as mind-polluting (not mind boggling) contents. Wonder, if any agency has started work on how to measure the level of media-pollution and how to cure the ills thereof.
I appreciate work of art, and I am not against that. But I fear that in the name of a macho hero image, the violence is taking precedence over entertainment, and unconsciously we all are breathing fire.
I am deeply worried about its exposure to young children, and I wish if I could have something like sun-screen, goggles and hat to save them from the menace these shows create and are capable of creating. I call this as media-pollution.
It's therefore not too late, for a healthy and stress-free living, we consciously need to work on eliminating/rejecting what is unhealthy, polluting, and disturbing to ears and eyes too, and which leaves a irreversible dent on our psyche.
A time has come now when we seriously initiate discussion on this issue, and explore ways and means to curb media-pollution.
We have become entertainment starved nation, and therefore fall for whatever is available easily. And a smart phone in your hands, we fall for the hype, and allow ourselves to be swayed with endless story telling on OTT and variety of material available on YouTube, Facebook etc.
Addiction is gaining invisible new players, beyond drugs and cocaine, and is catching up with all age-groups and across genders.
In the hindsight, there is huge scope for developing alternate entertainment channels. Participative entertainment, which takes people out of their houses, and bring them together, beyond malls and movies, and help them share time together.
A fresh breath of air, a new thought, a non-polluting collective entertainment regime is the need of hour.
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