MUMBAI: RJ Naved from Radio Mirchi, is well known for his show ‘Mirchi Murga’, which is about pulling pranks on people. But with the Mirchi Murga communal harmony clip going viral across social networking websites, he has done a bit to contribute to the betterment of society. In this section of Rendezvous, we bring to you the RJ who not only tries to tickle the funny bone but also tries changing perception about sensitive issues like rape, communal harmony. In a candid interview with Radioandmusic.com’s Dhairya Ingle, RJ Naved narrates the incident and the role that social media plays in today’s society.
Recently, the RJ came across a post in which two men, a Hindu and a Muslim posted things that could trigger communal hatred. This is when he decided to get in touch with both of them.
Excerpts:
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Tell us about the incident and how you found out the details of these two people
Amidst elections fever soaring since a past few months, people posted their views on social networking websites and it reached such a level that even a few of my friends started criticising different communities. The Hindus wrote against Musilms and the Muslims wrote against Hindus, for which I felt bad and could not stand the opinions targeting communities. The worst part was that the comments below these posts generated a lot of negative opinions, which can turn a well educated person into a communalist. On one hand I could see Facebook being an interactive and a helpful medium, but on the other I saw this. I visited their profiles and dug out a little information about both of them from their friends and I asked their friends to not reveal anything to these guys. After gathering information about them I mustered courage to call them both up. However, after talking to them I found out that they had put up these posts under the influence of someone. I am happy that they understood and deleted their posts.
Do you think that social media is bad?
To me social media is not at all bad, but if only one knows how to use it. To me social media is a boon because I met my friend via Facebook after 12 years. On one hand you have people sharing their happiness on these social networking websites, and on the other you have people who play around with minds. You chat with your friends, stay connected to them via these social networking sites. You see so many comments for the post like blood needed and you could actually be of a great help. But at the same time it can be disastrous when a person plays around with people’s minds with posts like these. We need to clean our minds when it comes to sensitive issues.
Did you initially decide that this clip should not air?
I was thinking about doing something like this for a long time. I asked my seniors to permit me to put this up on air during my show, because my show is mostly about pulling pranks at people, but this was something serious. It was for the people to learn something. I am so grateful that people have shared the clip and the ones who shared it, will hopefully never publicise negative opinions again.
Do you endorse any social causes as an RJ?
No not anything directly, but there are times that making these calls for bringing a change in perception is necessary. It is normally said that girls are raped because they wear short clothes. So I recently called an elderly person from Ghaziabad, who had this mentality. I asked his views on why rapes happen, to which he blamed the girls for wearing short skirts and roaming at night alone. Then I asked him about his children and I spoke to his son and then his daughter. And I told the daughter, to meet me for a coffee and asked her not to reveal the same to her father. The daughter immediately abused me and told her father and he started abusing me. This was when I told him that I asked your daughter just for a coffee and you got so annoyed. Yet you say that the culprit should not be punished? Imagine the plight of the victim.
Since you touch upon these sensitive issues, you probably have a lot of haters. How do you react to them?
Well yes, I have a lot of haters, but according to me, if I am correct I do not need to fear anyone. If a person talks in favour of rapes, then I do not think that the person is normal. If I am wrong then I do not mind people correcting me, but if I am right I do not care about people talking. There are times that a few people threaten me on my official page itself, they write bad things about me. I pray for them; I pray that they understand the meaning of humanity before they are faced with any unfortunate incident.
Check the link for the full exchange of the incident.
