Monday 12 August 2013

Auto - Complete


Never has an option in Google been so human than Auto- Complete. Just like we humans are prejudiced and harbor extreme views about stuffs we have never experienced in reality , Auto-complete can be taken as a sign of prejudice in virtual world. 

For all readers , who wonder what is Auto-Complete, it is a part of Google Instant which completes the query once you start typing the search term.

It was so much fun and surprising for it gave out dominant views as well as stuffs which caught me completely off-guard at certain places. 

So first , as a Cinema crazed Indian , I gave a query of 

" Bollywood is a / Bollywood is " and it completed it as 

Joke , Derogatory bastardization of Hollywood , Copy Cat , Crap , Corrupting Indian Youth , Stupid , Bullshit . 

These are answers which catches anyone completely off-guard , for Bollywood is being promoted as Soft power of India and also as a reflection of Indian Culture. Truly Hilarious indeed . 

So now I wanted to know how Google completes questions about Indian States like " Maharashtra is a / Maharashtra is " 

Maharashtra : Is in North or South ( A classic question that many Maharashtrians face when they are posed a question of whether they are South Indian or North Indian ) .

Punjab : Is a rich state ( Hmm ...not bad ). Thank God it didn't complete the search as drugged state as Rahul Gandhi proclaimed in his speech. Courtesy : His classic analytical skills. 

West Bengal : Is a hotbed of dharnas ( Here I really appreciated Google ) .

Gujarat : Is a dry state , Is a red hot economy ( Wow !!! ) 

Tamil Nadu : Is a separate country ( What the hell moment for a person who is in Chennai for more than 20 years ) 

Bihar : Is a backward state why ? ( A Good question to be answered ) .

Arunachal Pradesh : Is a part of India or China ( A question of International importance ) 

Kerala : Is a state with 100 % literacy ( Hats off !!! ) but the next one was surprising , Is a lunatic Asylum ( A LOL moment , but on careful analysis, it was a reference by Swami Vivekananda seeing the Casteism in Princely states of Kerala ).

Now coming to the Wannabe state

Telengana : Is a mistake ( Only time can answer it ) , Is a state ( forward thinking !! ) , Is a reality ( Yeah it is !! ). 

Then I searched for questions like " Tamils are " , " Bengalis are "

Tamils : Smart ( that's comforting ), Ugly , Bad , Racists ( Not sure what to say ). 

Bengalis : Most Intelligent , Lazy , Cowards , Ugly ( Really ? ) 

Here, search results about Maharashtrians, Punjabis , Biharis are not added for I just don't want to get beaten up . Then it did make me wonder about the biased content on websites and the pattern of search that is going on because the answers of Auto-complete option is just a reflection of above. 

So to sum this game off , I wanted to make one truly inevitable search. In current times when a film with cultural caricatures like Chennai Express amass 100 crores in a matter of week , my search was about the perpetual North- South divide . 

" South Indians are " , " North Indians are " .

South Indians : Are from Africa ( People, no need to get pumped up for it talks about Evolution and Human Migration ) , next was a dominant view which even many South Indians accuse themselves off . That is ' Dark ' . 

North Indians : White ( An another misconception ) , Rude ( yet another misconception ). 

So I ended up the search with " Chennai Express is a " and the answer was , " Chennai Express is a remake of which movie / South Indian movie "

This was hilarious for it ripped off multiple scenes straight off without credits , when it was touted as a Tribute . 

May be this movie is Bollywood's Idea of bridging North- South divide

See you in Auto-Search 2.0 . 

Happy Googling !!!


Link :

Rahul Gandhi on Punjab's drug problem : http://www.dnaindia.com/india/1752259/report-punjab-minister-slams-rahul-gandhi-for-drug-remarks