Dear Serial Gossip-mongers: Open Letter

The other day I was at a social gathering full of friends, acquaintances and a couple of vaguely familiar faces. At first glance it seemed like a lovely group of persons mingling away, jovial camaraderie on their merry, happy faces. Then I overheard a conversation, wish I hadn’t, I was simply shocked at how one minute people would just come up to each other and speak with carefully orchestrated fake-polite smiles only to immediately start badmouthing each other the next moment. 

I am tired of people gossiping rather viciously about each other. Harmless gossip is always going to make the rounds but this was a whole new type of backbiting and belittling that simply reflects upon the pettiness we breed in our hearts and minds. If this is how we treat people we claim are our friends then it’s a shame! 

Life is so uncertain. One can never really know what tomorrow will bring for us all. When we can live life peacefully, share all that is good in this world with each other we choose instead to see the bad in everyone and everything. Would it kill us to offer a modicum of kindness, compassion, appreciation and goodwill to each other?

It may feel like a rant, oh well it is a rant! This is my open letter to people who will stop at nothing to hurt others.  

Dear Serial Gossipmonger,

It’s funny how you think everyone else’s life is open to scrutiny and then proceed to dissect and analyze every bit of it. This continuously puzzles and perplexes me; I cannot come to terms with how you simply act as if it were your birthright to find out what other people seem to be doing with their lives. I mean isn’t just your own life annoying enough to deal with? How do you have time or the amount of interest required to peep and pry into other people’s affairs? More importantly, why are you so interested in what others around you are upto? I mean we are all just mere mortals living our same old boring lives.

Do you think it’s funny to make fun of people’s misfortune? Do you think it’s very nice to revel in others misery? You certainly make it seem that way.

I am no saint myself and in all honesty everyone gossips and bitches about stuff but you seem to have taken it to another level where collecting information about people and then using it against them seems to be the sole purpose of your life.

Why can’t you just let people be? I am sure they don’t care about you or whatever it is you seem to be doing. I don’t quite understand what drives you to probe and investigate so hard into the private lives of others. With your skills of investigation I am surprised you haven’t sent the FBI your resume yet.

If anything good happens in any one’s life you simply cannot seem to tolerate it and you would find any excuse to belittle and discount it. But if an unfortunate incident occurs you emerge on to the scene as if you were the veteran bratty diva of a failing show. You do your best to dig up dirt and do all you can to transform even mere tribulations into a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions.

I can’t stop you and I know you won’t stop. What I can do is remind you that what goes around comes around and karma is a bitch who will bite you, pretty hard. Life is a journey and each one of us will have to face the twists and turns it throws our way; there will always be highs and lows, the good and the bad, the successes and failures. So please stop worrying about why Mr.X’s daughter isn’t getting married or why Mrs.Y lives away from her husband because guess what its none of your damn business.

 

P.S. - Get a life. Also, a hobby.

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pritha Ray is a 2nd year student of Philosophy studying at Gokhale Memorial College.