Parakh Madan on Why We Cry Over Viral Animal Stories

Every day, a new story is in the spotlight on social media. After the viral video of a penguin leaving its colony, people are now talking about a monkey abandoned at birth, bullied by others, and clinging to a stuffed orangutan. Actor Parakh Madan, who has been part of shows like Bhagyalakshmi, Anupamaa, Meet, and Qurbaan Hua, among others, believes these stories strike the right chord with the audience.

She said, "Empathy is what draws us to such stories. At our core, we are all built for connection. The innocence and the vulnerability of such stories tug at our heartstrings, and hence, we connect instantly with them."

She feels these animal stories reflect our own deep need for love, belonging, and emotional security. She said, "These are the basic emotional needs of a human being. It is easier to tear up looking at such stories rather than admit our own feelings of being unloved and unsupported. But yes, our reactions to these stories definitely reflect our own emotional needs because we somewhere recognize ourselves in them."

Asked why people empathize so strongly with animals seeking affection yet often hesitate to acknowledge their own need for it, she said, "Because our self-made ego comes in the way of emotional honesty. We treat our own emotional needs as a character flaw rather than a biological requirement. Also, the risk of being vulnerable and not being accepted keeps our guards up 24*7 to maintain a tough exterior."

Parakh believes that love is a basic human necessity across all age groups, but we always underestimate the power of love. She said, "Instead of a necessity, we treat it as a bonus or a luxury. Love is not tangible, but it is our oxygen. It is a basic human necessity in childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age."

She feels people have become uncomfortable admitting that they crave emotional connection because digital and virtual connections are surpassing actual physical connections. She said, "The need to be self-dependent and self-reliant is becoming so extreme that admitting/confessing a craving for connection feels like admitting incompetence."

She mentioned that viral stories like these highlight a larger emotional void in society. "We watch such content as emotional outsourcing. We feel the 'high' of empathy by watching a monkey be loved and cared for by a new friend or a penguin walk away from his pack and find his own new way, which temporarily satisfies our own need for connection and courage without us having to do the hard work of building a real-life community or making tough real-life decisions," Parakh ended.