Trying to glean scraps of reality from hunks of false news which hits one's WhatsApp account is a task for those with ample curiosity and a huge chunk of time at their disposal. Even though over the years I have become quite apt at separating the one from the other, the need to be corroborated by those whose full-time job is precisely that remains acute. By and by, I have succeeded in narrowing down a couple of trustworthy fact-check engines which claim to have their professional research teams dedicated to such matters of no importance. Lately however, it is AI who has been jostling to be the first responder to most of my Google quests. One such reel doing the WhatsApp rounds revolved around an artist called Madhav hailing from a poor village in Odisha. By the stroke of his brush and latent passion Madhav achieved the impossible: he turned his sleepy depressed village into a vibrant stretch of unique artworks, attracting thousands of tourists. In no time, tourism brought prosperity into people's lives and the poor village flourished...etc...etc...
Mechanically, I touched the ❤️ icon for a like even though the video looked and felt blatantly fake.
Later, as though haunted by the inordinately happy face of Madhav, I googled, "Is the video of the Odiya artist called Madhav fake?" A vehement NO is spitted out by an over-enthusiastic AI, sounding almost indignant at such a supposition. It goes on to recount the story I had just watched on the reel. The only difference being that it actually gives me the name of the village: Raghurajpur.
I google Raghurajpur, and am relieved to find that indeed such a place exists, and what's more, it is a village in Odisha. The village established as a heritage site in 2010 is dedicated to the local artists and various artforms the place is famous for. However, there is no mention whatsoever of a certain Madhav, who, single-handedly brought about the change, as portrayed by the inspirational reel which reads,
"One man, one vision, one revolution
The change begins with one bold stroke"
Trying to test the limits of AI, I google again, but word my query a bit differently: "Why is the reel about Madhav, the artist from Odisha fake?"
This time AI seems more poised and does manage to cull out a few pointers to indicate the unreasonableness of the story. For example, may be it took more than one person to paint the village...May be the reel is created to impell people to test their limits etc...etc...It is after all posted by indiamotivationals.
By the time a triumphant smile succeeds in manifesting itself on my overwrought face, this exercise of proving an inspirational video fake has devoured up a huge bite of my hallowed morning. I have missed out on the busy sunbird going in and out of its suspended nest, on the gravelly sound of the spotted doves as they sit patiently watching over the clutch...on the tiny shower instigated by a couple of crows bouncing over the upper canopy of the cashew tree, and letting the early dew slide into and through the lacunae...My rendez-vous with the morning and myself has long departed never to return. Yet again!
How many of such precious moments are lost trying to determine right from wrong, separate real from fake! But why? Do I even dare to fathom my own depths to separate the real me from the fake one? Sift out the quintessential, unique 'me' from the one wrapped in borrowed notions, inherited rituals, and schooled behavioral patterns?
Meow, meeeooowwww....
The whiner is here: the nameless male cat, an unwanted new entrant in our neighborhood! I scowl at the fat face flaunting a greenish hue and two slits for eyes. It whines louder. Shh...index finger on the lips accompany my angry expressions. A louder, longer whine responds. Sensing the challenge, the mind is urged to think faster.
'Change in strategy,' it says.
Roger that.
I muster up a quasi smile and request the uninvited beast to please leave. It opens its eyes a tad wider and seeing my begging face, decides to oblige and saunters off magnanimously. I go back to finding the truth with a scowl on my face, forgetting that it was a smile that had done the trick.
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