Operation Sindoor and the Death That Wasn’t

Four days ago, a friend of mine, an actor who had played a small role in the movie "M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story", several Kannada films, and also a fellow cricketer,  posted on social media about the demise of the legendary Dharmendra. Many television channels too had “confirmed” the news.

I felt genuinely sad. One of the most elegant actors of our times,  gone! He had given us such joy for decades.

A couple of mornings later, after my jog, as I sat with my usual walk-mates by the lake, the topic came up again. Some wondered if the news was actually true or just another social-media rumour. Since I had seen my actor-friend’s post and several news channels echoing it, I confidently dismissed their doubts.

With all the conviction that age and greying hair can lend, and perhaps a bit more, since I was known among my friends for fact-checking and for exposing many of the tall tales floated,  by political leaders & their crony TV anchors, as factually incorrect, I urged them not to believe those mushrooming “two-rupee troll journalists.” Dharmendra, I declared with solemn certainty, had indeed passed away two days earlier.

Everyone nodded respectfully, and we walked away reminiscing fondly about his films and that charming smile.

Later at home, during my usual hour of YouTube browsing, I stumbled upon several channels exposing how mainstream TV news had falsely reported Dharmendra’s “death.” They showed the news of his wife Hema Malini and daughter Esha Deol clarifying that he was very much alive and in good health, urging people not to believe or spread such misinformation.

That’s when it hit me, I too had played my small part in confirming, if not spreading, what was untrue. It made me wonder what depths our news channels had sunk to in their race for TRPs.

All this while, the same channels had also triumphantly earlier reported that Karachi and Lahore had been captured during Operation Sindoor.

As I sat back, both amused and a little embarrassed, I realised that in today’s world of instant news and infinite “breaking” stories, even the most earnest fact-checkers can slip.

Some lessons, it seems, need more than one “breaking” to sink in.

And yet, when I told my walk-mates today that Dharmendra was very much alive, they smiled indulgently, and still seemed to trust my word more than any news channel.



Stories, not instructions. Experiences, not advice—medical or otherwise. Data, only what the internet quietly gathers anyway. Proceed with equal parts curiosity and common sense.

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