Little did Sid know meeting with Ronit the spin doctor would affect him so much. It was forcing him to redefine his outlook of perceiving "truth." You'd never know if something packaged as "facts" could be nothing but emotional manipulation.

Ronit, who was standing for a while, now settled himself down on his chair again. His left foot was on his other knee, teeth always chewing something (now bubble gum), arms spread across chest and eyes studying Sid. One of the weird habits that made the spin doctor infamous was wearing a cap all the time. Some even doubted if the guy wears a cap at the shower.

"I no longer doubt that we're in a post-truth world," he said, voice calm as a monk. The boys could feel Ronit was mindful to choose his words. "In this era, the truth doesn't matter at all than personal belief. Religious bigots sustain their blind faith by stating, 'It's true to me, and that's all that matter.' Religion is not the only victim of this post-truth era. The media report us their version of truth based on their political lean, downplaying another side of truth."

"Yes, I can see this is happening nowadays," Sid plastered a smile on his lips.

A drastic change took place on Ronit's face, calm and composed to peevish. He began to click his fingers, lips pressed together in a thin line, looking like a cat on hot bricks. "Did I ever tell you that I tend to go off-topic when I'm interrupted?"

Sid felt a lump in his throat. "Uh, I'm... sorry for the interruption." Ravi shot a glance at his best friend who didn't exchange looks with him.

The guy's name is Ronit. He's bit eccentric, sometimes could be cocky too, but a very talented bloke. Both remembered these words of Hakim. So it was accurate then.

Ronit grew normal again and formed his best PR smile (which was nothing but awkward moments of lips). "Come hour could be the most depressing moment of your life or you'll be out of The Matrix you've been living." The spin doctor tried to pose himself like Morpheus.

"Are we really at the right place?" Ravi whispered—holding grimace on his face—almost inaudible, but Sid was able to hear it.

"Have you guys," Ronit began, "ever been to a wholesale market? Usually in a wholesale market, you get things at cheaper rate compare to general stores. A product that you get in an ordinary store, say for ten rupees, in a wholesale market you get it for seven rupees. Plenty consumers would prefer to buy things from a wholesale market than the general stores. They revel in this idea of saving three rupees.

"But what if there is other bigger wholesale market which sells stuff in cheapest rate? What if the wholesale market hide its cheapest products and only put forward that stuff which it wants to sell rather than what you want to buy?"

Ronit stopped to take breath and started to chuckle like a madman. He knew boys were trying to digest "his wisdom." He got up from his chair again. Why the f.. can't he settle down in one place? Ravi wanted to yell; he did it in his mind.

"This is how exactly the post-truth world works via propaganda," Ronit balled his fists and banged them on the table, gazing Ravi with a sharp look. "People think they are independent individuals, but their opinion and voice will only echo the dominant propaganda. Just look around you, boys, all of us wear the same clothes that're in. Why in the blue hell everyone's hairstyle look ridiculously the same? Today these teenage boys dye their hair, and girls wear that dog belt called as choker (which were worn by prostitutes in the past); tomorrow it'll be something else. These pricks'll fry your brain with shit-talk about how cool it is. We call 'em sheeps following the flock. I'd say screw it! Why are you bullshitting me to follow the flock, I ain't no sheep, mate. Do you even freaking understand there are people out there monitoring our habits and preferences!?"

Ronit calmed himself, launching normality in his behavior, and ended up with laughing. Maybe feeling ridiculous about his lunacy. Ravi did maintain the grimace of his face.

"You see," Ronit continued, breathing lightly, "we're bloody programmed beings who love to do the same shit over and over again, that's crazy if you take my word."

Sid wasn't the one whose face held similar expression like his best friend; there was a faint smile on his face. On a personal level, he knew something like this was happening (isn't it the same reason why he set off on a journey because he didn't believe popular opinion?). He had only assumptions, but now as the spin doctor was resonating his thoughts, a funny feeling rose within him that he was right all this time!

"What makes us follow propaganda?" he said without caring the fact Ronit doesn't like the interruption, "I mean, following it is like slavery, I never did things because the world told me. I—"

"Understand!" Ronit cut in ruthlessly, "The rationality doesn't govern humans, kid. Emotionality is what rules us. We spend billions on entertainment industries in our country, not medication, education or sanitation. Wise men have said what we value the most become our values. Hell yeah, we don't like to be enslaved by any galoot, but we can be programmed through people we love: the motherfreaking celebrities! Why in the world these sleazeball of celebrities every now and then pop up on your screen selling their endorsed shit? Likewise, if they can influence you to buy things; also, they can brainwash you into the ideology they get paid.

"With great powers come heck of irresponsibilities and rash behavior. Just recently a Bollywood actor was spared from the grievous crime that he had committed long ago. Bloody douchebag actor killed homeless fellows by running over his car on them, drunk and drive shit. He's a celebrity, so laws slowed down for him. We suggested him to do as much as the charity work he could do. After a decade when this case hit its climax, his lawyer bailed him by quoting the charity work he did all these years. That's what his shitty fans argue all the time: the man with golden heart and horseshit. Any sensitive human being would want criminals to get penalized for their crimes, right? But you'll be an exception if you are a celebrity. The reason I cited this incident is just to show you the extent, how people can be influenced by a personality that they turn a blind eye on his crimes. Sink in the power of era we're currently living."

Ronit stopped talking and dropped on his chair, though he was accustomed of giving a long speech. It ticked him to know his chest was twirling from inside. Maybe because he was speaking after a long? Perhaps, you're getting old Spinner the Winner. Yeah, but there was a sense of happiness hovering in his mind that he was going to get paid after weeks of unemployment.

A minute passed, no word uttered. "I have a hunch this doesn't happen overnight. I mean this era—" came from Sid.

"Smart boy!" A rush of adrenaline jolted start gusto within Ronit. "Ever heard about the subversion theory?"

The blank faces of Sid and Ravi made it water-clear that boys have no idea about it. Ronit looked at them with sympathetic smile. Damn, the masses have been kept in utter darkness since ages. Poor human sometimes I feel pity for them.

The spin doctor sprang up from his chair and assumed his "Gyan-mudra." His eyes moved upwards right, fishing for words, his hands movement were more active. "Have you never noticed how things are interconnected with each other in this age of narcissism? You work your fingers to the bone and get stressed, then you have promise lands for pleasure. You're bored to tears, there are things meant for your entertainment. You want to put an impression on others; you get products which claim to fulfill it. The reason I'm quoting this all, it's because we're deliberately provided with specific values that initially we didn't have..."—Ronit dramatically paused, jutted out his bottom lip, throwing up his hands—"but as the time rolled by we adopted them as our own in the name of modernization or being relevant.

"Sensual scenes in the movie, as an instance for subversion theory. When your grandfather was alive, even hugging on-screen would be considered intense. Now we have full body nudity. I bet in the future one doesn't have to surf porn websites, shit will be amalgamated. You see, the real problem is, if you don't conform to popularly accepted norms you'll be called narrow-minded. Today this is happening already if you challenge popular opinion or perception all hell will break loose on you. Hence, the post-truth era."

Sudden silence pervaded, Ronit the spin doctor explained the inexplicable. Damn, this material world, Sid couldn't help but laugh his head off. Not that it was funny but ludicrous. He expected it wouldn't be an easy-peasy task to understand. But man, if the statements told by Ronit are true, bloody hell we're living in a dystopian world already. His fingers traveled to his forehead and then through hair.

"You know," he managed to get past these words out of his throat, "I think, I've lost it already, I can't change people's mind when they are... um, programmed. I don't know—"

He stopped when he saw Ronit's lips moved. "I give you that," the spin doctor spoke, "in the field of psychology, there's a mental conditioning known as cognitive dissonance. If some shreds of evidence go against the belief you held so dearly, your mind creates a very uncomfortable feeling. And because it's so important to defend your belief, you will rationalize, ignore and even deny those facts that don't fit in with your worldview."

Ronit leapt down on his chair. "Do you guys think I have cognitive dissonance?"

The answer was big no, and the boys shook their head frantically. Ravi added, "All those religious bigots seem to have it."

"Yeah, but believe me all of us have it in some extent," Ronit said, nodding. "An anecdote to explain. Not long time ago my colleague told me about a theory; I called him a freak back then. He said we're living in a post-modern and post-truth world. What is it? In the distant past, you know, people used to live in the pre-modern era where faith in God and scriptures were prominent. Time moved on and along came the era of modern times where science replaced God. Nowadays, however, we're living in a postmodern world we neither believe in God nor science, we just do whatever that makes us feel good. I did doubt it, I called my colleague stupid because I used to think highly of me as a scientific man, who can't believe anything illogical. But he proved me wrong," Ronit paused with an awed look, lips twitching into a grin.

"I love non-veg food, but he was pure-vegetarian. I used to argue with best of my scientific knowledge to prove meat-eating is a healthy diet, but every time he used to slap me with better scientific arguments, and I used to be guilt-ridden for eating meat. He explained to me how economical and natural having a vegan diet is. I didn't accept it back then, and still, I don't. I used to tell him—freaking helplessly—I'm not forcing him to eat meat likewise he shouldn't force me to become vegan.

"After all these years it dawned on me, he was right about the postmodern theory." A chuckle interrupted the spin doctor. "It was actually me who forced him to eat meat at first place, but when he snapped back at me with superior arguments; I retracted my words. The guy made me aware of my frigging cognitive dissonance." Ronit stopped dramatically with a pointed look and burst out into self-deprecating laughter. "Hence, the post-truth world."

Even after everything was said and done, but Ronit was still having the fit of laughter. The boys, however, were in no position to crack up. Sid's mind was already churning out strategies and techniques that he has to use in debate competition. About the postmodern theory and post-truth era, he didn't have to look up for examples. He has first-hand experience of such people in his spiritual journey.

"Now about the fee," it snapped both Ronit and Sid out of their preoccupancy, they darted their glance at Ravi who said it.

Ronit who was posing like a savant, his face turned like a dog looking at the bone. Finally the money!

"Um, yeah sure," he mumbled, acting cool. Yes! Yes! Give me the money, empty your pockets. "I don't expect a heavy fee from you guys." No! No! Screw it, ask to double the money.

"Could you tell us, like, how much you gonna charge?" A grave look spread across Sid's face.

Ronit sat straighter and landed his both hands on armpad. "Ah, ten. No! Fifteen, uh, thousand rupees for starting the project and... another fifteen once the project is finished." Say yes, say yes. Please, don't you say no!

"Thirty thousand rupees, damn!" Sid's eyes doubled in size, wrinkles formed on his forehead. "We're students, not business—"

"I'll cover the amount," Ravi blurted out.

Sid's eyes couldn't go wider than they were already. Words couldn't make past his throat. Awe leaped up his throat. "You sure?"

Ravi manifested a grin with the victory sign. It was too much to process for Sid at once, but this new revelation about the post-truth world was outshining in his head. It was him versus decades of propaganda. He was alone in this modern age Mahabharat war.

*****

A/N: I would really appreciate your reaction about Ronit the spin doctor. As I'm getting into the art of presenting characters, I've realized I gotta compromise on some principle. Like, this Ronit guy, he's cocky and foul-mouthed guy. But I still haven't use the F word. Please have your say on this chapter through comments.