Tarsem Singh Deogan
Social media is a double edged sword. One of the worst things about social media is unreliable information or the spreading of rumors. Especially rumours about death. Former minister of Finance and corporate affairs Arun Jaitely was the recent victim of online rumors. Before his death people had started sharing the news on various social network media –including WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter, without realizing how it would affect the person still alive or his family. Mr Jaitely is now no more. May the departed soul rest in peace.
I can feel the pain of Mr Jaitely and his family, as I have gone through a similar disturbing situation. Though, news of my death was not an unfounded rumor, but a case of confusion and mistaken identity.
This is how it unfolded. I prefer to wake up late on the weekend as I write till late in the night. On February 24 (Sunday) I woke up around 8.30am. As I wanted to enjoy the privilege of a warm quilt I decided to stay in bed for a few more minutes.
Frequent ringing messages on my mobile, which I found hard to locate, grabbed my attention. After frantically searching the entire bed finally I found my bleeping phone under my pillow.
As I opened WhatsApp, I received the shock of my life. In a WhatsApp group of authors and writers to which I belong, news of my own death was flashing. Some had begun to post obituary messages. The news made me jump out of my bed.
When I logged in to Facebook, i found friends had written obituary messages on my wall. People who I met a day before, they posted in absolute shock. They wrote they met me few hours ago and had found me fit and fine. I received calls from some close friends and relatives after they came to know about ‘my death’- thanks to social networking sites. Everyone was traumatized. The news spread like wildfire and it caused shock and hurt.
I took the thing lightly till my immediate family took notice of it. After seeing my mother and wife in tears I started digging into the origin of the rumor. I found that a Dr S Tarsem, a prominent figure in Punjabi Literature did actually die of cardiac arrest. Someone shared news of his demise in a WhatsApp group with a message that writer and Author S Tarsem is no more. As I share my name with Dr S Tarsem and i also have a Punjabi book to my credit, people mistook me for the late author.
For conveying the message that I am indeed alive and in the pink of health I shared my latest photos on all my social media accounts to convince people that I was fine.
Well the grieving mourners deleted their obituary messages themselves that they posted on social networking sites ‘remembering me’. Half of the day was eaten up trying to convey news that I am alive.
Veteran Bollywood star Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachhan, Mumtaz, Hollywood actor Rowan Atkinson, (famous as Mr Bean), Megan Fox, all have suffered similar rumours. Before his death there were several rumors of Shashi Kapoor’s demise. The list is long.
Let us be more sensitive and verify such things before sharing it. We should only die once, in real life and in our virtual presence.
