By Madhuri Dey
Dec. 17, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The latest rumors that are circulating in the internet concern not some celebrity in tinsel town. Neither do they revolve around anyone from the sports world. The rumormongers who seem to have a morbid fascination about the death of celebrities seem to have shifted their focus to people of political eminence now. The latest celebrity to be put on the virtual guillotine is Nelson Mandela.

It is difficult to understand why there is this sudden surge in the death rumors of celebrities. The rumor that Nelson Mandela is dead is apparently not a very well founded one, as can be gathered from the lack of information in this matter. There are no reports available about the manner or the cause of death, a departure from the usual paraphernalia that is cooked up regarding these rumors. All that can be gathered is that the rumor was started in Twitter, the birthplace of almost all of them. There is also the speculation that the marketing team of the film “Invictus” might have been responsible for having started the rumor.

Another fact that is surprisingly different is the people’s apparent lack of credulity in the rumor. Generally, the response to such rumors is always positive, with people rejecting any idea that might refute the death claims. However, this time, the posts have come on their own volition, rejecting the news as gossip and confirming that the 91 year old political activist is not dead at all. The rumors have surfaced right after the release of the film “Invictus”, starring Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman, the latter portraying the role of Nelson Mandela himself.