A Question to 'Freedom of Speech' And AIB Roast Supporters

I have just returned from a long awaited trip to North India. I witnessed the Kila Raipur Rural Olympics, visited the Golden Temple, Wagah border, Akshardham and saw many other places in Delhi and Punjab. I drove more than 500 miles in 5 days but barely felt exhausted because the weather was so damn good.

In Delhi, I caught up with a friend - Anmol Ahuja a.k.a. The Preachy Professor. A graphics designer by passion, he has moved up the ranks to become a manager. Anmol has always come across as a balanced and mature bloke. When we met a few days ago, being social media enthusiasts, we discussed a topic which has angered many people - the takedown of the AIB roast video. Anmol has an amazing perspective on things, backed by facts. “You’re a very wise guy. You have a mind way more mature than that of a 27 year old” I said. “I’m 23”, he corrected. Anmol is truly unique.

But I’ll shower praises on Anmol in another post (maybe). This one is addressed to the people who are furious at AIB allegedly being asked to take down their 'Roast' video. Allegedly. I love that word.

I saw the below image on Facebook with a status update which implied that abusing in real life is okay, so it should be allowed in reel life too. Well, we’re okay with having sex in real life too, right? So what’s your demand going to be? A fully blown and legal porn industry? “No. There is a huge difference in porn and profanity”, you say. But going by the above logic, because it is okay to have sex in real life (and enjoyable too), it should be okay to upload videos of consenting adults in the act watched by consenting people too. So we can make porn legal in India too and not be offended when people watch it in public places. And our culture can continue to go to hell.

We like picking outrageous things from the west. It makes us feel cool. I mean, AIB couldn’t even come up with a new name. They had to rip the one used in USA. But why ‘be inspired’ by only the bullshit? Why don’t we pick the good stuff? Like learning to respect each other the way they do, especially the lesser fortunate people who serve us at hotels and other places. Or following proper etiquette while driving. Or not littering? Why don’t we allow people to pursue different interests instead of making them choose only engineering or medicine? Why don’t we see more responsible single fathers? Why don't we see a balance of household work between men and women? Why don’t we force organizations to be more sensitive to their employees’ needs?

We know how ‘sensible’ the young parents of today are. They care more about their smartphones and tabs than about their toddlers. Imagine them watching these videos on full blast in front of 3-4 year olds. And one day, when they walk home, they are welcomed with ‘Behenchod’ by their child. They might laugh and feel proud - after all a 3 year old calling his father a ‘sister-fucker’ is funny, right? Or is it? Or imagine your mother browsing through YouTube, an AIB video filled with choicest profanity comes up in the suggestions and she innocently clicks on it. Will you laugh if she walks up to and says that she was disturbed by what she saw? (By the way, when my mom went to see Delhi Belly because it was an Aamir Khan movie, she left within 10 minutes and came home almost in tears).

Anmol made a great point.”You don’t need profanity to promote good content”, he said. “And if you are using something controversial, it was your intent to court controversy all along.” Mind you, AIB knew exactly what they were doing. And they did it to evoke these responses from you which further adds to their publicity. They don’t give a rat’s ass about what you really think. They know that they aren’t talented enough. So they resort to toilet humor and cheap antics like this to create a wave of sympathy to suck you in.

It’s time you stop paying attention to this nonsense and channelize your energy into fruitful and constructive things. Even if you protests, make sure it is for the right things, not those which probably shame your parents and your children.