"MAGNIFICATION. AMPLIFICATION. EXAGGERATION"

NOWADAYS IT'S A PIECE OF CAKE TO COOK UP A JUICY STORY. THE SECRET INGREDIENT YOU ASK? READ ON AND FIND OUT...

By: Marium Parekh

A1S2

If I stand here and say that after the 1921 Wall Street crash, suicide rates increased in the U.S, U.K and
Japan it doesn’t sound too catchy. Does it? But if I say that fortune-losing Wall Street Bankers leapt to
their deaths during the 1929 crash, I’m sure many of you would perk up your ears.

Just like the way you’d prefer a glass of chilled lemonade to a glass of water on a hot, humid day,
gossips, rumors and hearsay appeal more to our ears, just like thirst-quenching, chilled soft drink and
crispy fries taste better with red tomato ketchup, conversations, stories and news surely taste better
with that touch of exaggeration. We live in a world where every being circulates around things having
that layer of artificiality on it, making it more enticing, more attractive and more than appealing.

As soon as the scandal starts circulating, the TV channel exaggerating it the most will get the highest
reviewer ratings because all we want is that pinch of intrigue and suspense like that glass of chilled
lemonade is more likely to quench our curiosity than plain glass of water. It’s surely the real scenario but
undoubtedly it’s sad. The recent devastating fire incident in a factory in Karachi gave roots to a million
rumors. The more they appeared, the more we hogged to our TV screens, even though we all realize
that beneath all the takes lies the bare fact that simply goes un-noticed in the frenzy that revolves
around.

I can tell you all here I lost my cell phone in a park in the past, but I know that if I elongated the story by
adding that I noticed a man following me and umm, I really do think I saw an intelligence badge on his
clothes and even more, he had disappeared later. I then noticed I didn’t have my cell phone. All this will
earn me limelight for sure.

If Apple was releasing Iphone 6, but adds that it has the newest technology and apps never seen before,
you are most likely to log on to its website to see more for yourself. A cricket match between India
and Pakistan would be incomplete without that thrill of watching the two teams stare at each other
menacingly and a cold war boiling between any two players..all this adds to the excitement and drama
to make us watch every moment of it attentively.

Another example could be Models and brides wearing makeup, dramatist using hyperbole in their plays,
history having more fiction than facts because we the audience are human and mankind had always
been susceptible to falling for that glitter and sparkle that makes life less bland and more adventurous.
And oh yes! The part about people leaping off buildings in 1929 was simply a statement to gain
attention.

A little example of the common exaggerated expression for being "shocked or alarmed", would'nt  look  this convincing without the added effect of eye balls stretched out of their sockets eh? :P