Fear is good

Fear was Gaddaffi. Fear was Mussolini. Fear was Khomeini. Fear was Rasputin. Fear was the bubonic plague. Fear was WW2. Fear is a tsunami. Fear is the threat of nuclear war.

Illustration/Uday Mohite

Fear is good. Does it even have an opposite emotion? Calmness, courage, trust, curiosity. All too weak, perhaps. All reactionary? Not proactive or powerful enough to match fear?"

Fear was Gaddaffi. Fear was Mussolini. Fear was Khomeini. Fear was Rasputin. Fear was the bubonic plague. Fear was WW2. Fear is a tsunami. Fear is the threat of nuclear war.

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But, these were examples of localised fear, they aren't ambitious enough. They don't have the required tentacular spread, or a wide enough sweep. Just take 9/11. If that guy Osama had had more ambition, it wouldn't just be planes going into the Twin Towers—the vengeance should have been international. May be, the United Nations building could have been the target, to make a real point. Global fear. Now that's a concept when planned well.

See, from where I'm sitting, 'pandemics' are a little passe. Sure they are scary, sure they cause panic across countries.

But, they are great uniters. Countries come together to combat them. They are passive killers albeit global, usually the source is biological, and therefore solvable. IMHO, they don't possess enough attitude, swag or cruelty. Not enough brain in there.

I mean, let's just take this latest CoVid 19. Who wants to create something where the solution is washing hands! I mean, how can pandemic history have come so far where the cure for a 2019 virus is a sanitiser. A boiler suit, a helmet, a powerful pill, AK-47s, Rambo, that's something, that's dramatic, that's box office—not a blue coloured hand-wash.

See, I'm a millennial, and I feel, the time has come for 'PandemicPlus' or P2 or Pandemic —The Next Level.

But, I am getting ahead of myself. Let me introduce myself. I am a member of "Fear—The New Millennium', in short I am 'Millennial Fear'.

Sort of like earthquake meets gas chamber, but slow burn. See, we don't want to kill quick, may be not kill at all. We want to be a 360 degree threat. A bit like the stuff Bruce Willis had to deal with in Die Hard 4.0 but with more panache.

I mean, the Broccolis should know that James Bond needs a modern antagonist. He infects your body while he invades your mind.

So, we're creating a new science. It's called VITRIOLOGY —combining virology and vitriol. The study of viruses merged with the science of hate, is the idea to keep communities at war, shutting off the outsiders, hassle insiders when they don't toe the line. Bacteria that aids bigotry.

Nature and nurture working in perfect harmony to create disharmony. The antidote for 'anti-anything'.

Also, we're not looking to be contained, I mean how weak a response is quarantining someone? We want you to fight back, want you to come after us, we want you to contest the bacteria, while you combat the brainwash. We got your body, we got your brain, what will you do about it?

Yes, fear is good. It makes you realise how short life is. What do you think?

Rahul daCunha is an adman, theatre director/playwright, photographer and traveller. Reach him at rahul.dacunha@mid-day.com

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