Monday, March 27, 2017

Socially conscious

I have always been very socially conscious as everyone who has had to shove cotton into his ears when in my vicinity can certify. Why, I can wax eloquent about animal rights, greening of the environment or whatever for hours on end or till someone knocks me out with a scientific blow to my occiput.

The thing, though, is that people do not seem to accept that as a sign of a strong social conscience. Talking nineteen to a dozen about a subject is not enough, apparently, unless you fly business class to exotic locations and do it to a lot of other people who have also traveled in order to do the same to you. Now, THAT is beyond me nor, indeed, am I well-versed in the jargon of the area, so...

(As an aside, I am really vexed with the way jargon spoils everything for me. It is not enough that you SAY the same things that the acknowledged experts say. You need to say it in the same special words that they use to say it or they laugh you out of court if you claim to be an expert. Quite spoils my chances of being considered an expert in anything because my memory is jigged to remember only the concept and not those keywords.)

Given that the talking option was getting me nowhere, the only other possibility was the doing option. Therein lies the nub of the problem. I mean, when I think of having to bestir myself, walking out in the hot sun, actually doing something to clean the environment, or care for stray dogs or whatever...well, you know this enthusiasm for being known to have a social conscience sort of seems rather silly and not worth all that effort.

And, as usual, Social Media came to the rescue. Like take my recent venture at showing my social consciousness. I just posted on Facebook that Cancer was a deadly disease - a priceless piece of information that no doubt upped the information quotient of everyone who saw it - and then went on to say a lot of things about how cancer awareness was important and how my real friends would copy-paste and post this so that all those people in their circles, who thought Cancer was just a nice excuse for claiming Sick Leave, were informed otherwise. There, now, I have raised cancer awareness.

And, of course, I can always sign a few petitions on Change.org asking the Government to be nice to stray dogs and things like that. Nowadays, I am feeling quite noble about how socially conscious I am.

Well, there are always those who would say that, important though all this may be, more is needed from socially conscious people. Greedy pigs, that is what they are, who are never satisfied with what I do for Society!

16 comments:

  1. Your nobility is so misunderstood :(

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  2. This was seriously, satirically funny! Good Samaritans aren't appreciated, and it Hurts! This is just an aside--we grew up being told ad nauseam that silence is golden, but these days wherever you go, especially job interviews--"learn to express yourself, communicate, be an extrovert, mingle and then and only then you will tingle!! No fair!! Thanks Suresh, had a blast reading this one, been sometime...

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  3. Sarcasm beautifully expressed Suresh.... Have you seen the ones in Tamil? An actress picture gets a thousand likes.... Why not this one? followed by the picture of some social worker... And by liking or sharing it we have done our part of being good citizens unaffected by the glitz and glamour around....

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    1. Of course :) What I never got is that sharing an inane thing like 'Cancer is a deadly disease' is supposed to be creating awareness? I mean exactly who do you have on your timeline who is going to be enlightened by that?

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  4. You didn't mention that anyone who is not a psychopath should prove they are not by commenting on your post and further prove that they are actually decent human beings by sharing it.

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    1. Hahaha! Missed a bet, didn't I? :)

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    2. Not a psychopath, here to register myself to the National Not Psychopath Registry.

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  5. The thing I like best about your writing is that even if one has read a particular piece before, reading it again does not take in any way lessen the enjoyment one feels. Such is your flair as a skilled storyteller.

    It is either that, or my memory has degraded to an extent I didn't think was possible so soon.

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  6. What? We are supposed to do more than pay lip service to social causes? On social media, copy paste or entering into lofty arguments suffices. Enjoyed the post, Suresh.

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    1. I know, right? These chaps really expect too much by way of social consciousness :)

      Thanks Rachna

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  7. Hehe. Nice ! Socially conscious had become fashionable.. At least for flaunting. Hope at least half of them convert to "doers"

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