I have a very few convictions about very few matters. I don't make sweeping statements easily. I criticize and analyze all aspects of the matter objectively before being convinced. And yet, from time to time, my convictions are rendered incorrect.
Let's talk about them.
1. GenZ is lazy.
I did believe that all that the GenZ wanted was more money from less effort. I did not have high hopes on them. I even declared it once that this generation deserves to be replaced by AI because of their lack of commitment and dedication.
Boy, was I wrong! I did meet some brilliant GenZ this year in my team who believe in commitment, dedication and hard-work. I can now retire peacefully knowing my process is in safe hands. I was proven wrong and I was extremely happy about it.
On top of that, the GenZ protest shattered the 12-year long self-inflicted inertia of millennials. I realized that as a generation, we are spineless. I was legitimately depressed and hopeless about the state of my country but I didn't do anything about it. I will always be grateful to GenZ for bringing so much hope and joy in my life.
The country that had forgotten the meaning of the word accountability, GenZ made it fashionable again.
2. All my friends believe in the same idealogy as me.
I have not been able to make new friends for the last decade. I met my old friends in the US after a decade this year and I came back traumatized from that meeting.
I was convinced that none of my friends can be an andhbhakt. I could not be more wrong. I thought only the old people believed in this propaganda of hate but even a lot of millennials are blinded by ignorance.
They say that we know that the current government is full of gundas and is not doing anything about education and employment but we need these gundas to protect Hindu and Hindu dharma from Muslims.
One more thing I learned this year was you cannot convince an andhbhakt with logic and facts. They blindly believe in their own truth. They do not want to consider for a moment that they might be wrong.
It is scary.
3. Poor people are responsible for their poverty.
Yes. I used to believe this with utmost conviction. I am ashamed of myself. I had bad experiences from gigworkers, electricians, plumbers, Uber drivers. I also resent being the 1% of citizens who pay 30% income tax, 12.5% LTCG tax, 10% surcharge and 4% education cess. I got to know from my cousin who is a teacher in a government school that kids do not attend school and their parents do not care about their education. All of these made me convinced that poor people have all the resources they need to educate themselves and find employment but they don't want to work hard.
Now I realize that the taxes I pay don't reach these people who need it the most. The condition of the education system is dire. So many kids study hard, work hard but fail to find a decent job. So many poor people work hard but fail to meet basic necessities of life. They are exploited and oppressed.
I now know that this is a governance failure. It is not poor people's fault that they are poor.
4. If you make a good film, people will watch it.
I used to think that if I like or dislike a certain movie, it means that majority of people would also have the same opinion about the movie. How idiotic!
I have realized that my movie choices are far from what most people like. When I watched the Dhurandhar trailer, I made a sweeping declaration that no one's going to watch this much violence, especially when people are fed up of this Pakistan-induced patriotism.
Animal and Dhurandhar have been an eye-opener for me. These movies have made me realize that the masses want to watch violence, anti-muslim, antifeministic movies with toxic masculinity. Even women believe in all the bullshit lies that are shown in Dhurandhar.
Sensible cinema like Homebound goes unnoticed by mainstream media. It took Laila Majnu 6 years to be understood and appreciated by masses. I wonder how many good movies go unnoticed every year. Alas!
I accept that I was wrong and I do not understand Indian audiences.
So yes. These are the four major convictions I had which are proven wrong this year.
It is strange that I feel so good to be proven wrong about these things. I wondered why I felt so free and liberated to be proven wrong, and then I remembered this:
सा विद्या या विमुक्तये|
True knowledge liberates you.
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