Don’t Be A Dick, NDTV
I usually like the journalistic decisions NDTV makes and it feels mostly responsible. However I came across this video, which I’m sure will go viral coz videos which allow people to laugh the other people down generally tend to go viral (Partly explaining the existence of Dhinchak Pooja, Roadies, Big Boss and Indian Idol)
In the video, an RSS thinker Desh Ratan Nigam proclaims that Taj Mahal was not built by Shah Jahan. Everybody laughs on him, including the host. And he continues egging him into revealing more details and Desh Ratan obliges. He tells he doesn’t believe that Red Fort was built by Shah Jahan either, inviting further ridicule.
I can identify with Vikram Chandra’s disbelief at Desh Ratan’s remarks. What I can’t identify with is everybody ridiculing the person for it. There will be people who’ll say ridicule is what you get for being ridiculous. Well, if that’s what you’re going for I’d urge you to watch this video.
If you want to convince a someone of something, ridiculing something they hold dear won’t make it easier. Even if you’re not looking to convince anyone, disagreeing someone shouldn’t need belittling them because if you disagree with someone while putting them down, your demand from people to disagree with you civilly loses credibility.
You may be right, but by ridiculing the person opposite to you, you’re also a dick. I like you NDTV. Please, don’t be a dick. Here’s a video to show how to not be one when you disagree with someone: