Dear Internet, learn to mind your own business

The internet is a wonderful place to be in. It takes you to places, teaches you new words, makes you learn new skills and brings you closer to people who you admire and idolise. But as the world shrinks into your palmtop, and becomes an integral part of your daily life, it also gives you an abnormal power to meddle and snoop in. The ever-booming world of the internet also draws a lot of unwarranted attention.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Take the recent cases of Milind Soman and Deepika Padukone. Two absolutely gorgeous, talented and successful people - they enjoy an enormous fan following. And as the trend is these days, they never shy away from spreading joy among their fans and connect with them through their personal accounts on social media. Which is where the problem also begins. Because as they, like many other celebrities open up about their lives and their work - they not only get a lot of love and adulation but also a lot of unnecessary opinions that perhaps they can do without.

On his 52nd birthday, Milind Soman posted a selfie with his 23-year-old girlfriend Ankita Konwar. While most showered the couple with love and wishes, there were some who questioned the couple's massive age gap and mocked the pair. Some called her his daughter, some simply questioned God a 'why' and others just asked Soman point blank about how it was okay for him to date someone so young. And then, of course, there were some who just resorted to abuses in the comment box.

On the same day, a photo of Deepika Padukone surfaced on the internet. Now for the uninitiated, Deepika threw a bash at her place for her industry friends which had a lot of prominent names of Bollywood in attendance. One photo from that party had Deepika flanked by Aadar and Armaan Jain, who happen to Deepika's ex-boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor's cousin. One photo had Aadar planting a peck on DP's cheek and other had them smiling for the camera.

At a time when technology has advanced leaps and bounds, and mankind has evolved - Deepika Padukone was trolled for posing with her ex's cousin. An Instagram user said, "Didn't like it at all..it looks vulgar to me." Some called her desperate, others declared she was drunk and some even predicted that she was posing with the two actors because she wanted to get back with her former boyfriend. A logic that surpasses all logic, clearly.

It didn't matter to these people that in a free country, the actress had the right to be drunk and pose with whoever she wanted to at her own party. She did not break a law, neither were the images unpleasant to the eyes- yet some people felt it was their duty to comment on her photos. Similarly, Milind Soman posted a happy photo on his birthday for his fans. Nowhere in the caption did it say, that he needed people's opinion on what they felt about him and his girlfriend. Yet the comments flowed in abundance.

This isn't the first time that celebrities have been trolled unnecessarily on social media. Earlier actresses like Sana Fatima Sheikh, Esha Gupta, Sonam Kapoor - all have been asked to dress up properly or reminded of their culture and morals.

The internet has definitely brought the world closer.But along with it, it has brought a license for a lot of unsolicited advice. We now have armchair activists, armchair moral police and armchair thinkers- who may not have the courage to speak out in person but definitely, use their keyboard to express whatever they wish to. Internet now serves as a platform to meddle in other's businesses, comment on it and draw a judgement.

It may not be the most accurate of the pieces of advice, it may be uncalled for - but since no one is there to reprimand - it is easy to slip by after writing abuses. Which is why the Internet is also hazardous. Where one really doesn't know what impact a comment can make in one's life. It is a great thing that most celebrities wear an invisible cloak of nonchalance when it comes to internet trolls - but these trolls also point out a very alarming fact. That a lot of us draw a great amount of satisfaction in maligning others in the garb of anonymity. That as a race, we are lonely, frustrated and crave for attention. Because why would anyone in their right mind express such toxic things on a celebrity's photo if he was not wishing to get noticed?