As a news editor, I have to eyeroll at the decision of the well-meaning folks at Oxford University Press to declare “brain rot” as the word of the year.
Given what has gone on in 2024 – Israeli missiles blitzing children to death in Gaza, with full backing of a “rules-backed” world order, a convict and misogynist becoming president of the United States, Hindutva fantasies of annexing more mosques getting loonier, children being expelled from schools for allegedly bringing “non-veg” tiffin, more proof of the climate apocalypse blowing in the wind – let me say that the slow crumbling of sanity in the real world, which I track as part of my job, gives me daily brain rot much more than a diet of memes and reels.
Also, the memes are much more fun.
My taste in “brain rot” often combines my love for the silly and the ridiculous with Bollywood. Mimicking Hindi cinema actors is an old genre of comedy in India – an expression of affection for the stars.
There are plenty of Instagram upgrades of this – one man doing versions of Hrithik Roshan, Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh dancing to the same hook step, and making each look different. But this year, I have not seen a more entertaining mashup – how would Bollywood actors sound if they were cats?
While no doubt the Instagram reel algorithm has me all figured out – and I am grateful for all the delicious Shah Rukh Khan reels it sends my way – it is not pushing me into mental decrepitude. The internet also throws up plenty of smartness, political wit and satire.
Cue Juliana Chan, an MIT-trained scientist turned media entrepreneur, who does hilarious parodies of Linkedenese – that soul-sucking, meaning-destroying language of corporate gasbags. This is her, trying to translate “Today, I took a nap”: “Today I indulged in a transformative afternoon reset. It is an incredible investment into building up energy, creativity and focus. Sometimes a brief pause is all it takes to come back stronger than before. How about you? How do you stay unstoppable?”
But nothing has vindicated my hours online this year than this one particular reel that channels the glorious desi absurdity of the subcontinent. It is from a “dino park” in Pakistan, where a tour of Jurassic importance ends in a hearty style: with (rubber?) dinosaurs dancing to the tune of Nach, Punjaban, Nach. The podcast bros can keep their 24-hour-long edifying episodes. As the world goes to hell in a handbasket, give me brain rot – and a dancing dino – any day.
