These seem to be the two most needed qualities in a responsible adult citizen that are not instilled in Indians from childhood. We grow up without developing the nose to smell rats intuitively, or the ability to spot fake news and detect lies. Unfortunately, our academic qualification, our social, financial, or employment status, our network of friends, our geographic location, nothing matters. We fall as easily for openly fake agenda-driven narratives and obviously false ‘news’ and ‘history’ presented as ‘facts’ as the poorest, most illiterate, the most uninformed citizen living in the most isolated corner of India. All our degrees and titles, our awards and published papers, our impressive CV and alma mater, our highfalutin words and pretentious LinkedIn posts don’t matter a whit. We are as naive and stupid as the next chap.
Aur humility ki to baat hi na karo to achha. Empathy, humility, sensitivity are words we read, hear, even write about, without imbibing a single iota of thier meaning into our lives and work. We are so full of ourselves that sometimes, even if we are curious and sceptical, any news or social media post or WhatsApp forward that plays to our biases has the potential of fooling us and exposing our stupidity.
Truly, we are a nation of the arrogant gullible. And it shows.
