“Scroll Down. You’re Being Managed”, News18, 13 Sep 2026.
“You wake up. Before your eyes adjust to the morning, your thumb is already moving. Instagram. YouTube Shorts. X. Repeat. You haven’t brushed your teeth yet, but you already know what some influencer had for breakfast in Bali. This is the first 10 minutes of your day. And someone else wrote the script.
Let us be honest about what is happening here. You—the most educated, most connected, most opportunity-rich generation India has ever produced—have quietly handed over the remote control of your mind to people whose only verified skill is looking good in ring light. That is not an insult. That is a diagnosis. And the patient isn’t even aware he is sick.
Somewhere between 2015 and now, a transaction happened. You gave platforms your time, your attention, your emotional energy and in return, they gave you a curated version of reality. A reality where everyone is either hustling at 5am or healing on a retreat. Where every college dropout became a founder, and every divorced podcaster became a relationship guru.
And then there is the spiritual lane. Rishabh Shah, in his book Young, Wired, and Not Woke, captures it with surgical precision: creators wearing branded clothes sit on a pedestal and give ‘pravachans’ quoting holy books, building massive followings, their talks conveniently interspersed with promotional collabs. The thing is, and Shah says this plainly, this identity that most influencers have built isn’t even real. One day they are discussing Aghori babas. Next day, caught without filters, the only thing Aghori about them is the naked truth that they are simply putting up a front. Bhakti meets branding. Your path to ‘moksha’ includes a discount code……..”
Read the full article at News18.
