Why Irrfan Khan found social media 'wahiyaad'

Radhika Bhirani

-- rbhirani@gmail.com

-- Irrfan Khan was a deep thinker, a reservoir of thoughts... thoughts worth thinking about, thoughts worth sharing.

There was beauty in the simplicity he found in complexities and expressed what he truly felt. And in that sense, I would always remember him as an interviewer's delight who left you with more than you would ask for. One of my conversations with the actor struck me particularly as I scrolled through some memories.

Over the years and after experiencing controversies around some of his films or remarks, Irrfan admitted he had become very careful about what he would say. He also resented not having a place to express or say what he wanted to. Social media, he felt, wasn't best suited either.

"Social media is 'wahiyaad'," he told me in his inimitable style, one that I can almost hear as I type.

Explaining why, he shared, "One feels that the Internet exposes you to different things in life. But it is actually caging you in its concept. If you have an interest in something... If you are biased and flawed, it will keep feeding you the same things which it thinks you want. You won't get a counter to it, and you will be trapped in that cocoon. It's unfortunate. It makes you stupid!"

Nothing to deny there, but I feel many would agree how social media has in the past year, brought Irrfan's fans closer to knowing him a little better through the eyes, words and feelings of his loved ones, especially his wife Sutapa Sikdar and elder son Babil.

As a father, he believed in letting his sons find their calling.

At the time of this conversation, Irrfan was chatting about his new film "Hindi Medium", which was about the flaws of the present-day education system which is widening the scope of inequality. It's something that worried him. And what he said then now seems very apt at a time when the BYJUs and the White Hat Jrs of the world are screaming loud with advertisements aiming to prepare kids for the rat race.

"Education has become a means to take care of your insecurities. Kids are being raised keeping in mind what they will do when they grow up -- will they be able to earn their bread and better, will they become a doctor? But nobody is exploring their interests or personality. There's no way that kids are told to seek their interest and then find a line for themselves. People forget that if they do something of their interest, then hard work is never a problem... They will do it automatically."

That, he said, was something people sadly do not put a lot of emphasis on.

"Seek your interest, and follow it, rather than saying, 'Let me choose this line as this will give me X things till I become old'. That is flawed."

And that's Irrfan for you.