Orkut, Facebook Communities for murdered teenager
By Yasmin Ahmed

We have read more about Aarushi Talwar in India than possible in the whole life time of the poor dead soul, even if she had gone on to become a successful Bollywood star. The media is obsessed with her past, present and family to such an extent that we even have her innocent chat transcripts subjected to detailed analysis by pseudo-psychologists and far-fetched surmises on her character derived for the benefit of the public.

The media turned jury, detective and judiciary rolled into one as they went from one fantastic guess to another and updating news every hour on TV channels. Aarushi has been subjected to abject character assassination by a zealous tabloid culture that seems to have descended on the world now.

No one remembered that she had just been a few days short of fifteen years of age when she was so gruesomely murdered on the 16th of May 2008 at her own house. The murder of the man-servant in her house did not help dilute the attention or distract it from her. It just added fuel to the fire. The world celebrated her as a piece of General Knowledge too when they included her name in a question in the B Ed entrance exam in an open university in Uttar Pradesh. They asked the question, “Which place is associated with Aarushi murder case?". A famous soap-maker on the channel geared up to cash in on Aarushi’s fame by including the incident in her daily episode and was fortunately stopped in time by a diligent intervention.

If the grown ups of the world proved consumed with negative emotions, here is proof that the world is not depleted of humanity yet. The youngsters of the world have come out to show that empathy and compassion still haven’t died an untimely death. Orkut and Google communities paying tributes to Aarushi have been set up by the teens of India and have been overflowing with messages of love and fond remembrances. Those who knew her wrote in to say what a lovely girl she had been, and those who didn’t know her joined hands with her ‘friends for life’ in wishing her peace in death and vowed to protect her honor.

Aarushi’s own Orkut community has 11297 scraps posted right from giggly, friendly and teasing ones posted when she was alive to those that wish her peace in death. The very first scrap sadly reminds us now that the user no longer ‘exists’, this time it is in the real sense. There are several communities in Orkut on Aarushi and all paying tributes, saving Orkut’s face in grace, from the negative news of obscene postings on celebrities that seemed to go about these days. A search for Aarushi in the Orkut communities pushed up a whopping 439 results and each of it showed the empathy that the young minds of India feel for the unfortunate girl. One community has over 14000 members. 

Social networking site Facebook has a similar community where more than 15,000 young Indians have logged in to offer heart felt words of support and compassion.

The Hindustan Times-C Fore survey had brought to light how seriously our youngsters have been following the case and it is obvious from these online communities that none of them share the vulture mentality of the older generation. The innocence and understanding with which they have behaved and posted such poignant messages really stand out against the general behavior of the media and the public recently. I guess we do have something to hope for in future in these kids, and fervently wish that they retain their compassion for life.