A recent video of Bollywood actress, Dia Mirza, has been doing the rounds on Twitter and other social media.
In the video, Mirza is seen crying while sitting at a climate change panel at the currently ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival.
#WATCH Actor Dia Mirza breaks down while speaking at the 'climate emergency' session during Jaipur Literature Festival; she says, "Don't hold back from being an empath". (27.1.20) pic.twitter.com/fyAgH3giL9
— ANI (@ANI) January 28, 2020
Mirza is seen saying in the video that, “Don’t hold back from being an empath. Don’t be afraid of shedding your tears. Feel it, feel the full extent of everything. It’s good. It gives us strength. It does. And this is not a performance.”
At the end of the video, when someone is passing her a few tissues or paper napkins to dry her tears, she says that, “Thank you. I don’t need paper.”
The Trolling And Mocking
Twitter descended on the 45 second video uploaded by ANI on their account, like a pack of hungry vultures, in need of nourishment in the form of new meme matter.
In no time, the word ‘Dia Mirza’ was trending with many people either trolling or calling out the actress for not doing enough for the environment.
Many people brought up her luxury diesel based car, overdue water bills and more as reasons why her tears did not seem genuine enough.
https://twitter.com/mvmeet/status/1222037609783803904
https://twitter.com/RMCpost/status/1222038968062971905
Dear Dia Mirza,
— Varadraj Adya (@varadadya) January 28, 2020
Saalumarada Thimakka didnt cry for camera. She worked hard and planted 8385 trees. She also nurtures 385 banyan trees like a Mother, every single day.
Difference between Doers and false Bollywoodiyas. https://t.co/GsARpMP1iD pic.twitter.com/qBRFWo5BPb
https://twitter.com/IndiaNisha18/status/1222015669148872705
https://twitter.com/oldschoolmonk/status/1222032508818079746
* how Dia Mirza's acting career got finished *
— Sunil the Cricketer (@1sInto2s) January 28, 2020
Director: ma'am aapko ye contract paper sign karne hain
Dia Mirza: I don't need paper
https://twitter.com/tushjain15/status/1222013083251380227
https://twitter.com/MihirkJha/status/1221998723753885696
The reason why many people are making the ‘Greta Thunberg’ connection is because of how Mirza was in a climate change panel and then the line she uttered about not needing paper.
The fact that Dia Mirza has also been vocal about environment conservation and was recently appointed as UN Environment’s Goodwill Ambassador for India are things that brought the Thunberg connection.
But people are not taking well to the fact that while Dia Mirza is quite active in media about saving the environment, she herself is not taking enough measures in daily life to do the same.
From driving a big and expensive diesel car to only incorporating small changes like avoiding plastic usage in homes are things that seem to have irked people.
With the kind of resources she has, she can easily buy a hybrid or electric car that is not polluting the environment so much.
Read More: Forget Greta Thunberg, This 11 Y/O Indian Girl Sued 5 Foreign Nations But Not India For Harming The Climate: Why?
Why Was She Crying?
In a later video, Dia Mirza can be seen explaining that the reason she was crying was because of the devastating news of legendary basketball star Kobe Bryant’s death and low blood pressure.
She said that, “My day started really well yesterday… At around 3 (early morning), this news alert came on my phone for a very big player, NBA player, who I followed for a while. His chopper crashing in California disturbed me. It really upset me. There are different things that upset us on different days, but we take care of ourselves. I was overwhelmed because my blood pressure was low.”
In another video, which seems to be from before she started to cry, she talks about “It’s been such a rough night. Some really great people are being lost to this world and some really great species are being lost in this world. This is our reality and it pains us, it frightens us, it scares us, it intimidates us.”
One can assume that perhaps the species she is referring to could be ones from the Australian fires. The bushfires that were raging across the country early in the month are said to have very badly affected many of the native animal and flora species of Australia.
The Koala animal being one of the worst hit by the calamity, with some sources saying it could almost be at the verge of extinction.
So one could infer that the death of Kobe Bryant, along with the impact of the climate crisis on flora and fauna made her get a little emotional and she ended up crying due to it.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Times Of India, Tribune India
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