Baby, baby, it’s a vile world!

financialexpress.com

Society wants us to believe that it is progressive. It gives the impression of being open to new ideas and radical changes. It uplifts us when we think outside the box and are bold enough to express the unthinkable. It encourages us to break unspoken societal barriers. In the modern era, where clicks and likes determine financial returns and the popularity of a social media channel, subscribers cheer and indirectly push the boundaries of what can be spoken and done. 

The presenter on the other end will be enveloped in the illusion that he is the most significant discovery since Columbus found the New World. This is what fame offers us: an inflated, infallible feeling that nothing can go awry. We believe that our entire fan base has our backs covered. Sadly, the opposite is true.

This, Ranbeer Allahwadia discovered the hard way. After ascending the ladder of fame through his informative podcasts and YouTube videos, he went as far as to receive national awards for being a role model to young people. His guests include high-ranking ministers, academics, and even figures of faith. 

Alongside this, he was also invited as a guest on other shows. In one reality show, Ranbeer thought he would try his hand at comedy. His choice of comedy, plagiarised from a Western sketch, turned out to be the worst decision of his career. The joke was deemed too vulgar for public consumption in India. His fall from grace was set in motion. The house of cards started crumbling. People who had initially piggybacked on his platform for public exposure and self-promotion became turncoats. They started a vile campaign against him. Left-leaning channels with opposing views to Allahbadia's revelled in the scandal. They even went so far as to dig up and analyse dirt of the past, even involving his parents. Allahabadia's parents, as gynaecologists, had an ovum donor die of Ovarian Hypersimulation Syndrome (OHSS). Suddenly, now it is a big issue to emphasise that the boy is of bad stock. No one talks about the good things he has done.

Now Ranveer stands alone out in the cold, despised by everyone, dropped by advertisers, facing interrogation and responding to legal notices. 

It is a cruel world. The very people who lift us onto the palanquin will be the same ones who lay us to rest. It merely reinforces the old adage, 'the higher the climb, the harder the fall.'

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