It’s hard to find similarities between MS Dhoni and Monica Lewinsky. However, Dhoni would find unusual succour in Lewinsky’s recent TED talk, ‘The price of shame’. Twitter mobs blamed Anushka Sharma for Virat Kohli’s performance. Times Now came up with the egregious #ShamedInSydney. Social media has made shame an industry.

In the online world, people revel in the mockery of others, because there is little chance of being punched back in the face. Humiliation, as Lewinsky says, is felt more intensely than happiness or anger. Back in 1998, Lewinsky, the intern-turned-President’s-lover was one of the first victims of social media. Her story broke online, while traditional media such as TV, print and radio were still grappling with how to report it. Today, each one of us, and of course, every celebrity knows the pitfalls of the digital web. Lewinsky mentions that cyber bullying causes more suicidal thoughts in people than “regular bullying”. It is 140 characters, or a simple hashtag, or just a comment for those at a keyboard. But to those at the receiving end, humiliation means a negation of the self.

Many have asked Lewinsky why she decided to speak up now, more than a decade later. She says it was time to tell her own story. Sakshi Singh Dhoni, in an unassuming but effective way, has helped script her own story by tweeting “Fought Hard! Proud of the team! You win some and you lose some. All the sacrifices made are totally worth it! Finally will get to c my husband” (sic). Once Dhoni has settled down with his wife and month-old-daughter he should spend 15 minutes watching Lewinsky speak. He has nothing to be ashamed of, but he would empathise when she talks about the violence of the online mob and the urgency for compassion.

Nandini Nair, Assistant Editor

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