Forwarding the forwarded

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Forwarding the Forwarded

There is much in praise of the ‘WhatsApp’. But equally long is the list of its inflictions.
WhatsApp has opened a new chapter in how to feel good by indulging in a completely wasteful pastime, which has also caused a major disease to millions of people. This is how it goes. When people get up every morning, the first thing they discover on their ‘WhatsApp’ is a large number of forwarded videos, TV interviews and Ted talks. The impact is so ever whelming that it makes them go into a state of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), which cannot be alleviated unless they forward each of these already forwarded videos to all the people on their own WhatsApp lists. The fresh recipients in turn fall into the same OCD trap and are compelled to seek the same remedy. This goes on endlessly and often one could receive the same recycled, re-forwarded video a dozen or so times from different ‘well wishers’.

So where lies the disaster in this harmless looking exercise of ‘forwarding the forwards’. First that it makes the sender indulge in a completely thoughtless, clerical, post-office like finger pushing. It is impossible for recipients to watch scores of ‘forwarded as received’ videos every day, unless they bid farewell to all other purposeful pursuits of life. The senders having forwarded the forwards clearly feel as if they have performed a favour to the rest of the humankind, brought new awareness and exposed new inventions – without any thought, input, research or effort of their own. Over a period of time, this has now created a generation of well-meaning, mindless ‘WhatsAppians’ , whose conscience will not rest till they have forwarded the ‘as received’ freight that has been forwarded to them from a source they have no clue about.