Wow India! You Officially Snapped Because of a Face Swap

Prime time debates were built around a 2-minute Snapchat video, instead of discussing more pressing issues at hand.

Tanmay Bhat’s two-minute Snapchat led to a two-day outrage. (Photo: The Quint)

No one is sure when India awoke to life and freedom, if at all. What one can be sure of, however, is that as of 30 May 2016, it has woken up to the wonders of Snapchat.

Sad as it may be, thanks are in order to the directionless outrage that India’s jobless, pseudo-nationalistic hordes with internet connections exuded, because a comedian decided to use a face swap filter while trying to do something all comics do time and again – poke fun at people who are more famous than they’ll ever be.

Who else was he supposed to make fun of? Malnourished street children? Slum dwellers? Daily wage labourers? Or India’s infamous “Urban Poor”?

In a country where close to 100 major reservoirs are below 19% capacity, and the issue of drought looms so large that it threatens to overshadow 56-inch chests, Tanmay Bhat was the top trending topic for two days.

To top that, the cadre of Maharashtra’s political parties (Shiv Sena, MNS, NCP), normally seen beating each other up, rose up against Bhat in a show of unity only seen when their MLAs get 73% salary hikes or want iPads because no hike was forthcoming owing to that drought situation mentioned earlier.

The comedian came under fire for face-swapping and making fun of Lata Mangeshkar and Sachin Tendulkar. (Photo: The Quint)

The Mumbai Police, under pressure from the sheer extent of the outrage, and the liberty-taking prowess of fans who took offence instead of the legends themselves, put resources behind trying to ban a video posted by someone who is a borderline troll, one of the few with a blue tick.

But that’s not what this is about; enough has already been said and broadcast on prime time news to boot. And this writer has no wish join those august ranks.

Who Will Tell The Parents About Snapchat?

All across the country inquisitive and tech-knowledge-hungry parents who find it hard to grapple with WhatsApp and Facebook now suddenly want to know what Snapchat is.

Who is going to explain to them that twenty-five years after the advent of the World Wide Web, the ‘Information Age’ that non-millennials grew up in, is now slowly and steadily coming to an end.

For those of you in this predicament, The Nation’s voice came to the rescue last night.

Why Must Revered Aunty Jis & Uncle Jis Know About Snapchat?

Firstly, because its awesome.

Secondly, because honestly its great if what our parents post disappears in 10 seconds, unlike that embarrassing wall post that Aunty Ji left on your timeline which your friends saw and took screenshots of before you could delete it.

Thirdly, because it is the future and it is your duty to prepare the folks for it, they bought you your first smartphone after all.

Lastly, the US Presidential Election is being fought and covered via Snapchat, Facebook Lives and Periscope.

Yes, she joked about a controversy and wove Snapchat into it. Imagine what controversy-riddled Indian politicians will do once they get a hold of it.

Also, it is highly likely that our revered Pradhan Mantri Ji’s next medium of outreach will be Snapchat, because, well, he loves the selfie camera. And once he finds out he can buy custom filters and fight elections with them, god knows how much tax money will go to Snapchat for developing them for the 2019 General Elections, or even the 2017 Assembly Elections, who knows. Maybe he’s already got someone working on strategy for these new toys he’s learnt about on his trips abroad.

Hence, humour Aunty Jis and Uncle Jis, tell them about the world of Snapchat, so that the next time a Snap story edit makes it to primetime news. they are prepared to better soak in the blow-by-blow accounts of the “developing story” our revered media outlets – ranging from “respectable”, “main-stream”, “click-baity” to “vernacular” – will keep them well fed on, both on air and online.

And then, your parents will also be in a position to ask the question that this tweet is asking:

Why would they do something like that?

Because India officially snapped yesterday owing to a face swap, that’s why.

(The writer is a social worker and is the Executive Producer at Breakthrough India, a human rights organisation and a Hack-at-Large at The Quint.)