Tittle-Tattle for your Ears

Hey! I have a secret but please, don’t tell this to anyone.

Do you know my friend is dating another girl?  Did you hear Sharmaji’s Son failed this OBE exam too? Did you know, Sarah bought a bag of “20k”? Did you hear Kareena is pregnant again? Do you know Modiji is putting GPS in 2k note? Is it true that Manish is on a confidential project for the Military? Do you know she wore a red pajama in the party, everyone's calling her mirchi? Did you hear Ram & Shyam had a fight, now they are back again? Do you know ZOZO dumped KIKI?  I am not back bitching, okk!

As we all know, gossip has been viewed as something negative since time immemorial and those indulging in gossiping are considered to be socially not likened. However, in reality, each of us contributes to this activity sometime or the other. The word gossip originated from an old English word ‘godsibb’ which meant godmother or godfather. Later on its meaning changed to - a familiar acquaintance or friend.

According to Robin Dunbar’s evolutionary theories, gossip has evolved as a means to bond with people but as the population grew in size gossiping propagated further to be aware of social groups whom they didn’t meet in person. Over time it was considered a woman’s job to gossip despite it being a gender-neutral term to describe a close friend. Studies show that people of all genders take part in it equally and it’s not limited to any particular gender. According to Dr. Mc Andrew, a social psychologist, when people talk then they consider it as sharing important information or showing some concern but when others do the same then they consider it as gossiping. (Sadda kutta kutta, tuhadda kutta tommy!)

We being social animals cannot survive in isolation and there is a constant urge to socialise with others. This has led to us being more inquisitive than ever before and learn about other people’s lives and get to know about what’s going on around us. We always look for some spice to add to our mundane lifestyle and thereby gossiping has become a medium of choice for such things. With social media handy, it has added fuel to the fire.

(By-Mana Kash)

As many of us like to believe that there is a good in everything, the same applies to gossip. Here we bring to you a few of the positive aspects of gossiping and how it helps to shape us and our society.

Helps in Self-improvement:

Hearing about how well others are doing or the story behind someone’s success can be truly inspiring and can motivate us to improve ourselves. It helps us to drive ourselves towards what we want to achieve.

Builds trust and cooperation:

When we gossip with someone or share some private information then it means that we rely on them and can trust them with that information or any other such news in the future. It helps to forge a bond and build connections.

Boosts confidence:

When we face a certain challenge and don’t know what to do about it then the mere fact of knowing that there are others in the same phase as us makes us feel assured and confident that we aren’t alone in this. Our focus then gradually shifts towards the solution rather than the problem.

Keeps a check on moral values:

Hearing negative gossips about others or seeing someone lose their reputation makes us aware of things that we shouldn’t indulge in and how to keep up with our good work and reputation.

Makes us aware:

Many a time there are some unwritten rules in our workplace or homes about how certain things are performed or if there’s any ritual that is done. Gossip helps us to be aware of those and not feel alienated.

Relieves anxiety:

Studies have shown that when a person witnessed someone behave badly or ruthlessly then sharing that information with their peers helped them feel better and less anxious.

Builds social media presence:

Spreading gossips or doing something that catches the eye helps to build a social media presence by making it viral and #trending. This is commonly seen in case of celebrities and the newbies.

Thus being a gossip monger isn’t all bad neither is it a good thing. In a nutshell, gossiping is a grey area that has become an intricate part of our lives and it is completely up to us as to how we want to use it. It can be either in a form of positive gossip or a negative one and each having its own impact on the person being talked about.

NOTE TO READERS!

That being said we are neither promoting gossip nor are we against it but we are simply trying to give a new perspective to this. We urge our readers to form their own views about it and not follow the norms already set by society.

PS: Be careful who you vent at because a listening ear is also a running mouth.