Nobel prize-winning writer Rudyard Kipling, globally famous as the creator of the Jungle Book comic series, once said: "Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet." It was his long years in India that made him say so.

It is now my turn to pun on the West and muse on Kanye West, much in the news of late. He has changed his name to simply Ye, made statements like African American slavery was a "choice" and has been suspended by Twitter for displaying a Swastika photo (a Nazi symbol) in the backdrop of his explicit expression of love for Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler -- the most controversial thing you could probably do in modern Europe or substantial parts of the United States.

Given that he also said stuff like “I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis," I am inclined to put it all down to the Showman Syndrome. Not being content with the fame that his rap music and cult following have given him, Ye wants to stay in the limelight. For compulsive show people, staying in the limelight is a permanent fix and if that requires frequently controversial statements, so be it.

The West (this time I speak of the part of the planet, not the rapper) has created this pandemic of a media disease called Fallingforitis, which in plain English means falling for publicity stunts and keenly reporting things said by dubious celebrities who utter some things for the heck of it to enjoy the consequent attention.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/hollywood/news-kanye-west-expresses-admiration-for-hitler-he-did-good-things-too-539321">Kanye West expresses admiration for Hitler: 'He did good things too'</a>

Here is where I want to take an Asian view of discrediting attention seekers by denying them the oxygen of dubious fame/notoriety that they so badly want. The Western world (much like their much-criticised Islamist counterparts) responds to red rags with the predictability of Spanish bulls. If anything is even seemingly disrespectful to Prophet Mohammed, there is a bunch waiting to pounce on whoever even half did it. The same goes for anti-Semitic utterances that create a predictable furore in Europe and America in the age of Hyper Wokeness.

I am afraid smarter Asians, by which I mostly mean Indians and Orientals to their east, have shed their ancient, tolerant or elegantly reticent liberalism for a Western-style Fallingforitis variant. I understand that incitement to violence and hate speech are not desirable and should in some way or the other be restricted or regulated. But walking into a publicity seeker's trap is a naive sort of thing to do.

It is good that Kanye West's account has been blocked on Twitter, given that there is a consistency in his irresponsible condoning of a hate icon, but then, this Ye guy persists in his love of public attention, in which he has found a fine sparring partner in Elon Musk, now Twitter's overarching boss-owner and by all accounts, a fellow attention seeker. The latest after Twitter blocked him is for Ye to take to Instagram and say: "Am I the only one who thinks Elon Musk could be half Chinese? Have you ever seen his pics as a child?" Er, this was presumably in response to Musk saying that he wanted to punch Kanye West in the face -- apparently because of West's Nazi-sympathetic tweet.

I am now taking a deep breath and asking myself: Why am I even tracking all this bilge?

Sadly this is because social media is powerful, and the West (the planetary one) is economically, technologically and ideologically significant. Musk remains important as the world's wealthiest man or thereabouts.

I want to take an old-fashioned Asian view and say from the land that gave you Kamasutra as a few-holds-barred sexual treatise that wisdom tells us to ignore the likes of both Musk and Ye. We are sadly letting their likes set the agenda for us, whether we like it or not.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/kanye-west-controveries-a-look-at-the-most-bizarre-funny-things-he-has-ever-done-454092">Kanye West controversies! A look at the most bizarre things he has done or said</a>

I would love to see more news on how to manage climate change, ending the Ukraine war, the increasing clout of blockchain technology, the medical use of drones, and what we could do to make the world a better place. Is there an Eastern room for an alternate worldview -- say one in which media conduct includes a responsible sidestepping of social media cockfights of the kind Musk and Ye seem to be engaging in?

Or is this a case of what Kipling famously said as East is East etc? Or, have the East and West met finally the wrong way but learned the wrong things from each other? The answer is blowing in the wind.

As India ambles into the G-20 presidency, I would not mind Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposing a new world media order in which he could come up with a vaccine to fight Fallingforitis -- the dreaded pandemic that causes social media-induced superficiality.

I am saying all this in a half-serious, half-jesting mood, lest I get rammed by both sides of the Woke Fence. I would be accused of blocking free speech if I call for media restraint and they will say I am encouraging hate speech if I allow social media dogfights by folks like Ye. For the record, Kanye West is the sort I would turn up my old-fashioned nose at as someone undeserving of civilised attention.

I am damned if I do, and damned if I don't. But you get my point: We need to end this trash journalism because celebrities who used to be created by the mainstream media with some defined criteria are now virtually gaming the mainstream media.

I started writing this column to point out that Asia needs to reclaim the Swastika as an ancient symbol of spirituality and prosperity, appropriated and twisted by Hitler. I even learned that there was in 2008 a Hindu-Jewish summit of sorts that formally recognised the positive history of the Swastika. But such details pale into insignificance when a Hitler-loving rapper sets the agenda. This is not the journalism I ordered.

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)&nbsp;

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Nobel prize-winning writer Rudyard Kipling, globally famous as the creator of the Jungle Book comic series, once said: "Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.

Nobel prize-winning writer Rudyard Kipling, globally famous as the creator of the Jungle Book comic series, once said: "Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet." It was his long years in India that made him say so. It is now my turn to pun on the West and muse on Kanye West, much in the news of late. He has changed his name to simply Ye, made statements like African American slavery was a "choice" and has been suspended by Twitter for displaying a Swastika photo (a Nazi symbol) in the backdrop of his explicit expression of love for Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler -- the most controversial thing you could probably do in modern Europe or substantial parts of the United States. Given that he also said stuff like “I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis," I am inclined to put it all down to the Showman Syndrome. Not being content with the fame that his rap music and cult following have given him, Ye wants to stay in the limelight. For compulsive show people, staying in the limelight is a permanent fix and if that requires frequently controversial statements, so be it. The West (this time I speak of the part of the planet, not the rapper) has created this pandemic of a media disease called Fallingforitis, which in plain English means falling for publicity stunts and keenly reporting things said by dubious celebrities who utter some things for the heck of it to enjoy the consequent attention. Also Read | Kanye West expresses admiration for Hitler: 'He did good things too' Here is where I want to take an Asian view of discrediting attention seekers by denying them the oxygen of dubious fame/notoriety that they so badly want. The Western world (much like their much-criticised Islamist counterparts) responds to red rags with the predictability of Spanish bulls. If anything is even seemingly disrespectful to Prophet Mohammed, there is a bunch waiting to pounce on whoever even half did it. The same goes for anti-Semitic utterances that create a predictable furore in Europe and America in the age of Hyper Wokeness. I am afraid smarter Asians, by which I mostly mean Indians and Orientals to their east, have shed their ancient, tolerant or elegantly reticent liberalism for a Western-style Fallingforitis variant. I understand that incitement to violence and hate speech are not desirable and should in some way or the other be restricted or regulated. But walking into a publicity seeker's trap is a naive sort of thing to do. It is good that Kanye West's account has been blocked on Twitter, given that there is a consistency in his irresponsible condoning of a hate icon, but then, this Ye guy persists in his love of public attention, in which he has found a fine sparring partner in Elon Musk, now Twitter's overarching boss-owner and by all accounts, a fellow attention seeker. The latest after Twitter blocked him is for Ye to take to Instagram and say: "Am I the only one who thinks Elon Musk could be half Chinese? Have you ever seen his pics as a child?" Er, this was presumably in response to Musk saying that he wanted to punch Kanye West in the face -- apparently because of West's Nazi-sympathetic tweet. I am now taking a deep breath and asking myself: Why am I even tracking all this bilge? Sadly this is because social media is powerful, and the West (the planetary one) is economically, technologically and ideologically significant. Musk remains important as the world's wealthiest man or thereabouts. I want to take an old-fashioned Asian view and say from the land that gave you Kamasutra as a few-holds-barred sexual treatise that wisdom tells us to ignore the likes of both Musk and Ye. We are sadly letting their likes set the agenda for us, whether we like it or not. Also Read | Kanye West controversies! A look at the most bizarre things he has done or said I would love to see more news on how to manage climate change, ending the Ukraine war, the increasing clout of blockchain technology, the medical use of drones, and what we could do to make the world a better place. Is there an Eastern room for an alternate worldview -- say one in which media conduct includes a responsible sidestepping of social media cockfights of the kind Musk and Ye seem to be engaging in? Or is this a case of what Kipling famously said as East is East etc? Or, have the East and West met finally the wrong way but learned the wrong things from each other? The answer is blowing in the wind. As India ambles into the G-20 presidency, I would not mind Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposing a new world media order in which he could come up with a vaccine to fight Fallingforitis -- the dreaded pandemic that causes social media-induced superficiality. I am saying all this in a half-serious, half-jesting mood, lest I get rammed by both sides of the Woke Fence. I would be accused of blocking free speech if I call for media restraint and they will say I am encouraging hate speech if I allow social media dogfights by folks like Ye. For the record, Kanye West is the sort I would turn up my old-fashioned nose at as someone undeserving of civilised attention. I am damned if I do, and damned if I don't. But you get my point: We need to end this trash journalism because celebrities who used to be created by the mainstream media with some defined criteria are now virtually gaming the mainstream media. I started writing this column to point out that Asia needs to reclaim the Swastika as an ancient symbol of spirituality and prosperity, appropriated and twisted by Hitler. I even learned that there was in 2008 a Hindu-Jewish summit of sorts that formally recognised the positive history of the Swastika. But such details pale into insignificance when a Hitler-loving rapper sets the agenda. This is not the journalism I ordered. (Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Can you skip the Kanye part? The West badly needs a dose of media restraint on publicity hunters

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kanye west-publicity-stunts

Can you skip the Kanye part? The West badly needs a dose of media restraint on publicity hunters