Gossip and why I love it: Ram Gopal Varma

There’s nothing more pleasurable for most people than to gossip. I really think gossip is the most amazing thing that human beings ever invented. Talking and bitching about people and their personal affairs gives almost as great a pleasure as sex for most people. Well, of course there’s good gossip —- casual talk that provides needless information. (Did you hear Geeta is having a party?) and bad gossip (OMG, did you hear about what Geeta is doing?)
Bad gossip is casual talk, which can become unintentionally harmful, mean, and can even destroy lives. We all know talking nonsense about others isn’t something that’s particularly good to be known for but still we can’t resist.

You have no control about what others say about you. What you DO have control over is how you REACT to what people say about you. Reacting may only fuel the fire of the other person. Those who gossip like to see that they have affected you. Remember, that the gossip has much more to do with the group that is doing the gossiping than it has to do with you. If it weren’t you, it’d be someone else – that’s how gossipmongers roll. Now that’s not nice to hear, but it means this: The gossip doesn’t actually have anything to do with you, who you are, or your values. Gossipmongers will keep gossiping, but like I mentioned, the amount of damage you allow it to do to you is up to you.

The only way to counter gossip is to speak up. Staying silent increases the power of those who gossip. The only way to break their cycle is by downright challenging them. But it can’t ever be really done because inside each of us, there is a gossipmonger and we can’t really challenge ourselves, can we?