#SonamGuptaBewafaHai: ‘Stop This Nonsensical Naming & Shaming’

No, my name is not Sonam Gupta!

Still I stand in support of all those girls lives of whom have suddenly become miserable .

Actually, I am thanking my stars and my parents of course for giving me a different name. Otherwise, along with several other girls known by this name, I would also have been trolled on the internet among family & friends.

Just because of having the name! ..and yes because of a stupid social post having utterly zero value not even worth Rs. 10 note on which an idiotic, pea-brained majnu  had written his even more idiotic rant.

But what should I say to the rest of the people out there who have access to the internet and have nothing better to do than sharing forwarded jokes, memes & videos with hashtags like #SonamGuptaBewafaHai & #SonamGupta on social websites and WhatsApp groups?

Laughing on somebody unknown is the easiest way out to show off smartness to the world, isn’t it?

Picture Of The Day #SonamBewafa #sonamguptabewafahai pic.twitter.com/n03TJoXBPC

— Ajay Seetha (@ajay_seetha) November 15, 2016

Men alone are not the ones to be blamed for this, even some women engrossed in chat-post-like activities are all LoLs’ & ROFLs’ about this #SonamGuptaBewafaHai issue.

 

Who's More Bewafa?

RT – #ArvindKejriwal
FAV – #SonamGupta#SonamGuptaBewafaHai #अबकी_दफा_केजरी_बेवफा

— Sir Jadeja fan (@SirJadeja) November 20, 2016

Celebrities too have indulged in this sort of careless naming & shaming on their social handles out of which Twitter is most popular. It is a big let down on society’s part to be so ruthlessly negligent about this kind of  naming & shaming going on in the name of fun. 

As per one of the leading newspapers of India, many girls with the name Sonam Gupta are facing a lot of harassment because of this whole episode. Imagine friends in schools & colleges in fact even colleagues at workplace laughing at you? This cannot be funny, right! To add to their woes are the suspicious family members and relatives who want to know whether or not their girl is connected with this viral gone rant mentioned on the modest Rs. 10 note. Even memes featuring the newly introduced 2000 Rs. note have also surfaced on the internet.

Inflation of#SonamGupta's bewaafi has grown tremendously 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/wT4G4pJL5q

— Gitanjali D.S🇮🇳 (@Gitanjali_DS) November 13, 2016

“My FB profile & Whatsapp has suddenly got flooded with messages from known-unknown people who want to mock at me. Cause they know if the same type of mockery they would have done in person with me, they would get bashed up.” says one of the Sonam Gupta who is a friend of mine.

Won’t this be frustrating for us if the same thing happened to any one of us?

Adding further she says, “Not only messages but daily I am getting poked too on Facebook.”

 

Talking in terms of social media analytics, the hashtags #SonamGuptaBewafaHai & #SonamGupta have some shocking revelations for the world to know bout us. #SonamGuptaBewafaHai hashtag according to ritetag.com has a reach of 5830 exposure per hour while the latter hashtag has an exposure rate of 4710 per hour.

 

 

Apart from this, there are innumerable jokes being forwarded every moment on Whatsapp and memes being floated on the internet. The extent of this irresponsible attitude is that some big & small Youtube channels have come up with comedy videos which literally belittle every girl named Sonam Gupta. 

According to a report published in the web edition of Indian Express in November last year, ‘Trolling’ was among the top five most annoying internet habits in India. Astonishingly the habit that topped this list was ‘Spreading False Rumors’. These facts reveal how we rely on scapegoat-ism mentality for the sake of deriving sadistic pleasure.

Outside the internet world, all over India, #SonamGupta issue has taken a different shape courtesy the opportunist business owners trying to bank upon this viral fever. From reputed F&B brands like Beer Cafe and Keventers to many wannabe restaurants have launched ‘sympathetic’ discount deals for girls named ‘Sonam Gupta’.

 

 

A simple question from me to such ‘feel-good’ scheme makers,

“Dude, do you want these girls to emerge from the pain of being a #SonamGuptaBewafaHai victim by drinking your free beers, milkshakes & discounted food?” 

As a media person myself, I feel, it is very easy to defame a person on the internet. By adding a comic angle and with few supporting friends making the post viral is also extremely easy. But the impact of the same can be much bigger and nastier than worst of our imaginations. I would classify acts like this as virtually bullying a person and ragging. Certainly, it doesn’t show one in good light but reveals the coward hidden within the self. Do these girls really deserves such public humiliation is a thing we need to decide.

I guess it is not funny anymore so let’s STOP THIS right away!