ye facebook pe aaya hua hai...

We hire a certain 'cab driver' whenever we have to go out with late night return schedule. Unlike most cabbies this guy is a chatty fellow, very enthusiastic, wanting to grow on his own and probably seeking approval form our kind of people. Since we have been witness to many of his chatter we know that he is just a 26 year old kid who came form a village of Punjab to Delhi when his father died and the family was rendered without a place to live and any income to survive. He was 16 year old then and took the onus on himself to bring up two of his younger brothers and to take care of the mother. He cleaned cars in the morning and sold odd stuff on the streets to meet ends, learned driving later and started working as a cab driver. Now he owns a flat in west Delhi and 8 cars of all sizes and caters to a wide variety of dilliwalas. I find it immensely impressive and often complement him for making so big in life even after being in such huge adversity. He is a grounded person and drives all his cabs randomly to keep check on the condition of cars and probably to keep himself busy too. After all he knows nothing better.

Yesterday we were going out for a party and he looked very upbeat, started blabbering as soon as we settled down in the car. His brother had got a job in a big construction company, he had just passed out of an engineering college. Big news it was and the 'cabbie' was very happy. Two years ago his second brother who was also studying engineering had died in a tragic car accident and that had left the whole family into a second wave of grief. Now is the time when they were all feeling proud of their own karma once again as the youngest of the brothers had got a nice job, white collar and all.

The 'cabbie' said he feels proud to have his mother by his side, his brother now employed well and her 4 year old daughter studying in DPS (a good school he means). It is heartwarming to see such family bonding, the pride in his voice and the quiver in his throat was unmistakable. I complemented him and told him this is because he has decided to do hard work and earn money and because he has stayed away form crime and muck which attracts such youngsters in distress so easily. He looks and sounds really content.

But this is not all what I wanted to tell you today. The blabbermouth this 'cabbie' is, you can understand how he would turn to the general state of affairs in the country, the hullabaloo over the recent horrendous rape case in the city and then how the politicians live a protected life and see the countrymen as keede makode (worms crawling in muck).

Then he said something that left me stunned for one minute and then burst with laughter the next. He was talking about someone who used to wash utensils at someone's place and that's how she was given the highest office (a politician of course) just because of this unique service she did. As we both were laughing at this claim he went on to say Ye solah anne sachh hai ji aur ye toh facebook pe aya hua hai.. imagine this line with a typical punjabi accent and I can see yourself laughing out loud in your desk. (He said this is absolutely true and has been on facebook as well, giving facebook the credibility of reporting the truth).

It left me wondering how facebook affects people who don't even understand what it is and how much the facebook activism can affect such gullible people, in what way and by whom? Even the hate mongers could get credibility by just having a presence on facebook?

Facebook activism I have never been a believer of. The refined language of the 'enlightened' activists, the loud outrage of  'protected' individuals on an online medium would hardly reach where it is needed the most.

What do you think?

PS : this 'cabbie' wants me to make a facebook page for his 'travel agency' and help promote him :-)