Talks By The Firelight 2.7: Battle between Biases
Offering a quirky take on the social construct on various aspects, he has seen the highs and lows of the impact of mental health on the same.
His book “How To Travel Light: My Memories of Madness and Melancholia” provides an overview of being bipolar, eventually discussing how life is and how his life was looked upon. Shreevatsa Nevatia’s current chapter unfolds at India Today, after having worked as the Editor-in-Chief at National Geographic Traveller India.
As part of our Talks by the Firelight series, we gathered around to reflect upon issues of the mind and the heart, along with a healthy dose of people.
Q. As someone who has had their bright or mundane days on social media, do you find the current generation to be hyping up the depression train or are they being passengers on it?
Having used social media for over a decade, I strangely find myself somewhat exhausted by it now. I actually use my Twitter and Facebook feed to fall asleep. It has started boring me that much. There are several reasons for this saturation — solitude, repetition, apathy — but that does not mean that others should not use these platforms for self-expression. I think social media can lead to depression if one loses sight out of the world outside it, but it has its uses too. It keeps people connected, informed and engaged.
Q. Does travel help you in elevating your thinking? What affects you the most, the changing landscapes or the altering mindset of the people?
I don’t travel half as much as I once used to, but on the off-chance that I do leave home, I am affected by the change in my environment. I think travel allows us to look beyond the bubbles of our own narratives. It forces us to consider the fact that there was always an elsewhere, that there were always others with stories to tell that are vastly different from ours. Rather than ‘elevating’, I would call this thinking essential.
Q. How far do you think is mental health involved in deciding between certain political standpoints and eventually leading to electing the leaders of major important democracies?
The mental health of a collective, I find, is very different from the mental health of an individual. A person can be branded sane or insane, but it’s radical to suggest that the same can be said for societies. If ‘mental health’ is, say, considered synonymous to ‘inner life’, then I would say it affects elections significantly. We don’t just vote a certain way because of our beliefs, but we also vote a certain way because of the way we (are made to) feel. I think it’s high time that apart from illnesses, ‘mental health’ includes feelings too.
Q. Do you believe life in a fictional realm would be better than a realistic setting? Where do you believe the line exists, if there is one?
Fictions are great. They sometimes offer us an escape we sorely need, but if those fictions make us disregard those around us, if they steal us of our empathy, then I think we’ll be in need of a reality check.
Q. New age topics like contemporary feminism, neoliberalism and a vast range of sentiments are being spurred and used for a variety of causes. How far are they required and what is the depth of the requirement of this consistent questioning on the conventional line of thought?
We have ‘new sentiments’ because the times we live in are changing rather quickly. Much like feminism needs to be made contemporary, liberalism too needs to rediscover itself.
All these theories, essentially, try and make sense of the world we live in, and some of them even have a broader purpose — they don’t just want to make sense of the world, they want to better it. In the end, we choose whether we want to subscribe to a certain ideology or not, but it’s important that we have several ideologies to choose from.
Q. How far has social media offered means of allusion towards verity?
I think it’s too early to ask this question. The age of social media has only just begun. It will take us a while longer to gauge its real impact. We might feel it was all a mistake in the end, but it might also redeem us.
Q. As someone inside the media circle, how do you respond to allegations of bias in reporting sensitive issues?
There does, of course, exist a bias in the media. You can see that if you pick up a newspaper or if you surf through a dozen news channels. This is nothing new, though. For decades now, several news portals have chosen either to be conservative or liberal. As consumers, it’s up to us to decide whether the information we are being given is true or fake, credible or objectionable. If we’re not thinking, we can’t blame the media.
Q. The most important attribute of any journalist is reliability and credibility in his work. How do you make sure that your reliability is not compromised when you are plagued by an issue of the mind that isn’t related to your workspace?
My bipolarity, for the most part, doesn’t compromise my objectivity, and if it does, my editors and colleagues are there to make me see right from wrong. It’s important to remember that journalists work as a team.
Q. Do you wish to share any message to college students who have varying interests and are unable to decide on their career?
Choose a career that will impact your environment, but more importantly, ask — how will it impact you?
Through words of precision and clarity, his presence of mind reflected throughout his insights for these questions. Overcoming the stigma of the mental awareness conundrum, he went ahead on his journalistic journey and provided retrospective insights on touching issues. We look forward to reading more of his work that certainly enlightens us with a resolute picture.
This interview was taken in collaboration with Antony Terence, Abhishek Ramachandran and Festember’s Guest Lectures team.
