ROASTed Thoughts

So once again a new storm has been created by defendants of “Indian culture” aka “Bhartiya Sanskriti”. This time the poor fellows at All India Bakchod have somehow destroyed the moral fabric of the nation. Despite the fact that they explicitly mentioned that their “Roast” event was explicitly for adults and it was not even on TV some people somehow think it will damage the thinking of your youth. As if before this event nobody in India knew a single abusive word. If somebody associated with fellows who were roasted would have complained against it that would have made atleast some sense. But some random people who watch the complete show on YouTube despite the initial warnings they give before the start of the video somehow get offended by someone laughing at somebody else. Even if you get offended by it then it’s okay. Not everybody likes below the belt humor, but then simply don’t watch such shows again. What is this urge to let everybody agree with your point of view and deprive them of their freedom? I feel there can be only one reason for it, these are desperate people waiting to get some popularity who thinks they are the only flag-bearers of our culture. I can understand that this genre of comedy is new and not everybody is comfortable with but forcing it to shut down is not the way. That being said we have to look at it from another perspective also. It’s true that freedom of speech is absolutely important but one cannot force a society to be liberal overnight. Change takes time. Take for example romance in movies, we have moved from showing flowers cuddling to people actually kissing and making out in movies and now nobody raises any objection. Ever wondered why? It is because the change was gradual it from Saree clad women to Skirt wearing Bobby to modern day Bikini wearing actresses. The society changed over a period of time. Similarly one cannot expect a fairly traditional society to expect “Roast” genre overnight. Comedy too is evolving now families together watch Kapil Sharma saying “Babaji ka thullu” and no one bats an eye. Bollywood is now filled with movies full of vulgar slangs. Nobody would have imagined a “Delhi-Belly” releasing 10 years ago. We have slowly started to accept abuses as part of mainstream movies and I am pretty sure 10 years from now a “Roast” would also be accepted without much fuss. Add to that pseudo-liberals for whom Hindi gaaliyan are “cheap” and English slangs “cool” don’t help to the cause. Whatever the case may be whether you like a video or not banning or taking it down is never a solution. It gives moral boost to fringe elements and on the contrary it increases the popularity of the banned content. If you don’t like the “Roast” write against it, make a video criticizing making fun of roast ridicule the participants of the Roast in your blogs, videos do whatever you want. Just don’t force other people to agree with your point of view, don’t take away their right to watch what they want, forcefully.  Baaki to it’s a very subjective topic and nobody’s view is right or wrong here, since there never can be absolute freedom of speech and there is always a line. Where you draw the line is up to you and whose government is in power ;)