Narratives

“Good Morning Mr. Mandela” is the name of the Book I have started to read couple of days back…..

I have a habit of doing a small research about the book before I start reading it…..

It was a little bit of surprise for me to know that the Author Zelda La Grange is a “White” woman…..

Why ?????

Because Mr. Mandela was an Anti Apartheid champion and so it comes naturally to our mind that he will be an anti white person also…..

So what has a white woman to do with Mr. Mandela…..

Much of it comes from the narratives which are built about people, issues and events…..

Few glaring examples of perceptions built because of narratives are below. Few of these perceptions have changed over a period of time. Much of these changes in perception have come from building alternative narratives…..

A. India is a land of Snake Charmers…..

B. Religious Text of other religions (than practised by you) advocate supremacy over other religions…..

C. Being Positive always keeps you happy…..

D. Being Educated means being learned…..

and so on…..

Our lives revolve around the narratives which are built around us…..

Over a period of time, these narratives become beliefs and over a longer period of time, perhaps a part of folklore…..

However one needs to be careful about the narrative he/she choses to believe…..

More so in the age of social media…..

Because narratives can manipulate the thinking process…..

Which can then influence choices…..

Narratives which are built to influence choices are, more often than not, fake…..

So fake narratives lead to fake beliefs and fake beliefs then lead to wrong choices…..

So it is important to have a 360 degrees view of a narrative before going on to place your much valued belief upon it…..

Before you place your belief, classify the narrative in front of you in two broad categories…..

Gossip or Fact…..

The simplest test is that whilst gossip will have alternative versions, fact will have singular version…..

So then the choice becomes much easier…..

Let not fake narratives manipulate your thinking process…..