“But something else awaited me and humanity,” started a visibly perturbed Shah Rukh Khan who had otherwise been throwing his signature wit and humour six minutes down his much-loved speech at TED talks in Vancouver last month. He was sharing his intricately beautiful thoughts on love, fame, and humanity in the video which is regarded as the best and most inspirational talks of all times. But as soon as he starts talking about the impact the advent of internet has had on his life, a certain worry line appeared on his face.
“Everything I said, took a new meaning. Everything I did—good, bad, and ugly—was there for the world to comment upon and judge. As a matter of fact, everything I didn’t say or do also, met with the same fate,” he said emphasising on his constant face-off with the controversies that haunted him each time he expressed, or opined on several matters, including faith. “We had expected an expansion of ideas and dreams; we had not bargained for the enclosure of judgement.”
Shah Rukh Khan was talking about a certain section of the thin-skinned social media users who often complain and define the limits of a good or bad opinion. To them, he had a message—a simple sweet note: “Mankind will never be wiser about its future unless it is coupled with a sense of love and compassion for their fellow beings.”
While the world is high on emotions, experiencing an amazing sensory pleasure stirred by the smooth and subtle speech delivered by the first ever Indian actor, there are this odd bunch of social media users who only have nasty comments to make.
Why is Shah Rukh Khan’s speech at the TED Talks getting some utterly unnecessary hate? The reasons are beyond appalling and tell us exactly why Shah Rukh Khan is so right in saying that the internet is not a free space, but a closed one, where people judge you for your opinions and actions without knowing anything about you.
Here are the reasons why the lovable SRK is getting so much hate for his TED Talk:
Reason 1: Many speculate he couldn’t have given a speech as enlightening and nicely worded as that without the help of a speechwriter.
Well, dear folks, Shah Rukh Khan is undoubtedly one of the most articulate people in India. Perhaps, they haven’t seen him delivering speeches at other international platforms, like this at an Ivy League institution.
Reason 2: He didn’t adopt a kid, he chose to have a baby through surrogacy.
We know how the trolls behave—they hound you, shame you, tread on to your personal space, and keep bullying until you give in.
Reason 3: Some mistook him for Salman Khan.
Ummm… Guys, keep up with news, will ya’, please? And stop judging people without getting their facts right. Huh!
Reason 4: And, of course, some people are having a hard time believing how did a ‘brown’ man get entry into the ‘prestigious’ TED club
Reason 5: And some absolute nutcases out there are attacking him on religious ground.
Reason 6: Some question his patriotism, hah! What they don’t realise that before doing anything for your country, one needs to be a decent human being.
This, when his message on using your power and religion was loud and clear.
But many did get his message right:
What do these reactions tell us? The restriction on thoughts, the constant lurking fear of expression is horrifying. It keeps you awake all night, wondering whether to keep calm or burst out loud. It’s confusing, disturbing, and all the more harrowing.
Shah Rukh Khan narrating a personal incident when the social media blatantly and falsely accused his youngest child AbRam of being his elder son Aryan’s illegitimate child is downright infuriating.
That a star of his stature is so vulnerable because the internet can spread lies about him is a sad story. It’s not that only rich and famous fall prey to such online vindictiveness. Ordinary people are facing new age problems of online bullying, revenge porn and online stalking. So, instead of empathising with the fact over how such a lie could have affected his children, we start judging for not adopting an Indian kid but opting for a surrogate child.
Read more about the story here: ‘AbRam was Aryan’s love child’: Shah Rukh Khan referred to this fake story in his TED talk to bring home how crass the internet can get
Intruding someone’s space is cruel, let alone accusing him on false grounds. You know you’ve committed an unforgivable sin, one that is unjustifiable by any means.
But then, one can always be saved. Amid all the tech and science and no matter how far one moves ahead in life, Khan maintains, humanity will truly evolve only if it goes back to its root and to the purest emotion of love.
“I want humanity to be an ageing movie star: a self-obsessed lover. Completely and apologetically in love with itself,” said SRK.
About love he said:
And indeed, many people around the globe discovered him through this TED talk and those who were already his fans, fell in love with him all over again. Then there were many who also defended SRK against the vile attack for no justifiable reason. For they saw, what he had spoken in his TED Talk about anonymous faces judging you was indeed true going by the hateful reactions to it on social media platforms.
Read this perfect response to the haters.
Watch the complete video here:
