NORMALISING THE ABNORMAL IN OUR DAILY LIVES

With a stream of over-the-top content rushing at us, we are normalising things such as gore, corruption and civic decrepitude. Rural India is part of this transformation too

- HARISH BIJOOR

WHAT'S news? The classic definition I heard as a kid still resonates in my mind: "When a dog bites a man, that's not news. But if a man bites a dog, it is." This sure is a loaded definition. But whoever said it, said it right.

News is that which is different from the normal. The rarer or less predictable the event, the bigger the news. But does that mean the media are there to just present the bizarre or the unreal? Not really, right? The new society we live in loves it all the way it is. Today, the modern influences on our lives are focusing on normalising the abnormal. Even glorifying it. In many ways, the modern man, woman and child are brought up on a diet of the abnormal.

The new normal is normalising the abnormal. Gourmandising it. Living in it vicariously.

Let me take you through a path of this thinking we find in abundance in our midst, starting with the most modern of mediums: social media. Take Instagram. I have just emerged from an exploration of a swathe of rural and deep-rural markets in India. The study is still on, but let me throw up some early numbers. The biggest single medium in our rural markets today is Instagram. (It used to be TikTok, till it was told to walk.)

The Insta posts that attract traction in our rural markets are the totally bizarre ones. Posts and Reels in particular that showcase the modern urban Indian are loved the most. Rural and deep-rural folks love to look at the urban Indian as if they are peering into an aquarium. They love to see gym videos. They are aspirational. Many actually use them along with YouTube videos to fashion their own regimen of workout.