Pet peeves 3: Armchair activists

… And, by that, I don’t just mean all those people who want you to sign a petition online to save the world from a zombie apocalypse (some of these petitions actually work, I’m told), but I’m particularly targetting these self-proclaimed experts and self-righteous people on social media and the real world who hide their flakiness behind well-articulated world views just so they appear intelligent. These slacktivists obviously do nothing constructive but would like you to believe that their views alone are revolutionary and can miraculously heal the world. But of course, they wouldn’t be ‘doing’ anything, because it’s well, beneath them, and most importantly, it will involve them leaving their armchair. Also, deep down, they are quite shallow. (See what I did there?)

So, you call yourself a communist? Pray tell me how much did you pay for that branded Che Guevara tee shirt you are wearing? I’m sure you picked it at an expensive shopping mall in Milan, where you went jet skiing, stayed at a fancy resort and complained about the thread-count in your pillow. Basically, everything Che stood against. You never miss an opportunity to talk about how strongly you feel for your local tea seller who is losing business to bigger cafes and hotels; but why are you always ‘checking in’ from fancy five-star hotels and posting pictures of dishes that have unpronounceable names such as kasknopfle?

Why say things you don’t mean? I have real respect for people who actually walk the talk. Or people who are unapologetic about who they are and what their views are, because at least they are being honest. I would trust them. But all these pretentious folks who wax eloquent about social media killing real human interactions, all the while ignoring the person sitting next to them because they were too busy typing out their thoughts on social media; or the ones who write poetry about the death of their mother tongue (in English, mind you), and how we must all be taught in our local language, when the said person is clearly from a privileged background who is making money simply because he/she is well-versed in English. Is it supposed to be ironical? Am I missing the sarcasm here? Because people, I don’t get you. And I don’t get why everyone is gushing over your ‘works’. I’m not jealous, just plain confused, because you are giving me mixed signals here and I don’t really understand what you stand for.

I’m a simple person. And I have opinions. But like I mentioned in a previous post, I am a doer. I am the kind of person who says what she means; and would actually make an attempt to ‘do’ something, and not just ‘talk’. For instance, to use an example I have already used in a previous blog (it’s a subject I feel strongly about;)), I wouldn’t normally brag about how great my culinary skills are or how good a host I am. But if you come visit me, I’ll ensure I make you good food and take good care of you. And you may not even compliment me for doing that because you are insecure, but that’s okay, because deep down I know I’m good; I’ve tasted your food, I’ve been at your parties, and I’m sorry, they are not as great as you make them out to be. I’m telling you this because another pet peeve of mine is people who clearly possess no cooking or hosting skills bragging about how amazing their food is and how everyone loves their parties. It’s all so negative I don’t even want to write about it! It makes me whiny and rambly – qualities I’m trying to get rid of.

Well, anyway, what can I say. Fakers gonna fake, but good old fashioned honesty always wins. So, dear armchair activists, kindly shut up and ‘do’ something; if you want to brag, do something awesome and then tell me about it. I would listen without judging you, I’d respect you more. But your empty talks and tall claims make no sense to me.

I’m summing up my thoughts with a quote by Amy Poehler, my hero:

“To some people, not caring is supposed to be cool, commenting is more interesting than doing and everything is judged and then disposed of in, like, five minutes. I’m not interested in those kinds of people. I like the person who commits and goes all in and takes big swings and then maybe fails or looks stupid; who jumps and falls down, rather than the person who points at the person who fell and laughs.”

Pet peeves – I: Travellin’

It’s okay if you choose not to take the road

Since when did ‘travelling’ become a cool thing to do? It has suddenly become the panacea to all problems. Stuck in a boring job? Oh, you must quit and travel. Ran out of milk? Why don’t you travel? I’m sure travelling is great, but you can’t be all self-righteous about it and preach about the virtues of travelling to people who have no inclination to travel. Or worse still, bragging about how much you love travelling and – this is the worst – putting up a Tripadvisor map marking all the countries/cities you’ve been to, AND proclaiming to the whole world that you have visited 99 countries this year and are planning to visit the 100th in a few months. These people deserve a special kind of hell.

Now, I have nothing against travelling – I quite enjoy it, in fact. But what puts me off is people being all preachy and show-off-y bout it. In essence, travelling is supposed to make you more humble, open you up to new people and experiences. So I suspect that a lot of ‘I-love-travelling’ folks are doing it because it has become fashionable, and are perhaps not tied up with responsibilities – financially and family-wise.

A practical aspect of travelling that these folks fail to take into account is that it is expensive. Granted, you could find cheap deals on tickets, hotels, etc, but it is still going to pinch your pocket at the end of the month, especially if you are not making enough money to begin with, not saving enough, have a fat rent or EMI to pay, or have medical and emergency expenses. So if you tell a guy who has lost his job and has a loan to pay off to travel, he is going to ask you to fuck off. If you like to travel, well, great, good for you. But spare the rest of humanity. Not every one HAS to travel.

Also, it seems like only certain kinds of places can earn you bragging rights as a traveller. If you go to a popular touristy place like say, Shimla or Jaipur, you will be scorned at, by these ‘elitist’ traveler types – you ought to be doing something more quirky, like go to a tiny village in the Himalayas and learn pottery or milk a yak.

That brings me to another point: travelling need not always be about going to offbeat places and doing forcefully ‘quirky’ things. Even among genuine travellers, there are those who still prefer going to regular, familiar places, irrespective of whether they are touristy or not. Because there are several reasons why people travel. Some need a break from their busy lives and might stay in a plush resort by the beach; while some just need to quench their wanderlust and would prefer staying in a cheap dorm with strangers. And it’s stupid to judge either of these people.

Ultimately it all boils down to what you really want to do, and what you can afford to do. And whether you are interested in travelling at all. Trust me, all this shit about travelling making you a better person does not always hold true; some of the best people I know are those who haven’t stepped out of their own towns or cities for whatever reason, while I do know people who travel extensively and they put me off with their ‘look-at-me-i’m-so-cool’ attitude and arrogance. It’s not a generalisation but the bottomline really is: travel if you want to; it’s perfectly normal if you don’t want to.