protests carried out by the people in favour of Jallikattu are another example of how social media has forever changed the social and political discourse in India.If there is one thing to take away from the Jallikattu protests at the Marina beach, it is the power of social media and the ripples it can create in our daily lives. How did Jallikattu suddenly define Tamil identity for numerous city bred youngsters? The answer to that question is surprisingly simple – social media. This is not the first time the city’s youth have actively taken to social media for a cause.
The floods in December were a clear example and so was cyclone Vardah. The trend resurfaced with the Jallikattu protests– only bigger and fiercer. We do jallikattu was one of the first hashtags to pop up. Several versions of the hashtag like support jallikattu, AmendPCA, justice for jallikattu started trending ferociously.
The initially small protest gathered huge momentum on social media, drawing huge numbers to the beach. Every development from there was widely shared using all forms of social media such as twitter, facebook, instagram, whatsapp, FM radio etc.. Images of people sleeping at the Marina beach on the first night of the protest and the image of youngsters flashing their phone lights were shared and re-shared. Celebrities tweeted their support.
More posts on media made the entire city swell with a sense of community. As the clamour increased, the event drew more and more footfall, as people wanted to be a part of it to support the cause. Unit- Grandma: Dear, it’s time to go to bed. Come here, it’s story time.
Grandson: Yeah Granny, I‘m waiting for you. Tell me something new about our civilisations. Yesterday, you told me about the creation of earth and evolution of Man. Grandma: Honey, at last, all ancient civilisations ended barren.
Grandson: Is it? Why did all ancient civilizations end barren? What happened to the trees and animals that lived here? Grandma: It’s a long story.
Long long ago, there was lots of water in rivers, ponds and lakes and lots