“Last summer we were in Italy, we even went to Lake Como, you know.” An over enthusiastic voice informed me, “Great” I replied, non committal. “Lake Como, the wedding destination of DEEPIKA AND RANVEER” my dear friend tried to impart some knowledge on the destination of the most happening wedding of the year to her ignorant friend. “Superb” I again poured a bucket of ice cold water on her fiery eagerness to let me know about the nitty gritty details of her Italy tour. I was not just interested. Now don’t get me wrong, my disinterest did not branch out from jealousy or inferiority complex, I was just not into it because by then I have seen at least six hundred photographs of her Italy trip and frankly I was bored.
Now this is the current scenario which saps out much of our penchant and predilection of doing anything constructive in the world. I am blissfully ignorant about how to operate Tweeter or Instagram and I thank God every morning for bestowing me with the good senses of indifference towards these two bonus pressure. Yes, it’s so much of a pressure. We are always expressing opinions on World issues, taking the social media by storm, offering opinions on issues we hardly are aware of just to show we are there – alive and active, trying to change the system, challenging the system, raising our voices on every social discrimination that comes to our knowledge. But does anything REALLY change? NO. Our opinions do not or cannot create miracles and nobody has burdened our shoulders for summoning in World Peace- let the political leaders do their jobs guys, they are assigned and elected for it.
Virat Kohli does not score a century and the Nation goes on a rampage. Why? None of us are cricketers but we sit at our home or offices with a high end phone glued to our hands and judge the man’s talent and why he chose to play THAT particular ball and was shown the way to the dressing room. WE ARE SO INTELLECTUAL, WE UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING, EVEN STALWART CRICKETERS LIKE KOHLI DID NOT JUDGE THE BOWLING, BUT WE DID…WITH APLOMB!!!! And then blame the poor actress wife; SHE is responsible for her husband’s foolhardiness when she was not even present in the stadium. She is a working woman who works for a living and not a trophy wife waving at hubby dear from the VIP box and showing all signs of tension by flexing facial muscles whenever the camera pans on her, so give her a break. Bt NO, we have to let the world know we all are Cricket buffs, enthusiasts and have mastered all the technicalities of the game.
A movie flops or is a big hit- the Nation gets super crazy, a kind of mania hits us in dissecting the director’s vision, quality of the script, screenplay, editing, music, lyrics, acting abilities of the cast and it comes from people who has never clicked a decent picture or made a video from his own cell phone. But we have to be opinionated. We are living in DEMOCRACY; we need to prove it every second.
And then LOOK HAPPY – I MEAMN LOOK HAPPY ALWAYS. Is it possible for any single soul to be this happy every single day as if people with problems are extra terrestrial beings? Put up a happy go lucky picture with your significant other every time you are out for dinner, or have gone to watch a movie, or any social outings. Trust me the world does not need to know your whereabouts every time you step out of your home. There CAN be a bad day, when you do not feel great and it is okay to be. Why is there so much pressure to put up that picture faking a smile when you are down the dumps? Just forget it.
It is not mandatory to let your friends know each time you are at the airport, going somewhere. No one cares about your airport look unless you are the undisputed Begum of Bollywood – even SHE refuses to be in social media, nevertheless she gets clicked owing to her stardom or should I rephrase, owing to her little munchkin’s stardom.
Your holiday pictures must be of great value to you, but believe me twenty five pictures of you smiling with the same background with just changes of dead pan expressions honestly bore your friends. Do not be happy with a customary LIKE, it is obligatory most of the times.
Our social life is no more private. My private outing with my family does not belong to me only; it belongs to the million others. And yes we are responsible for it. We do not have the skill to use anything in moderation, we always over do. I have even come across people clicking selfies in hospitals!!!! Yes and that is so alarming.
Can’t we just tone down our passion for being so social? Man is a Social Animal, so I have heard, but being this social is harmful for mental health.
Imagine even after a bitter fight, a couple has to click pictures all engrossed in each other, looking into each other’s eyes, holding hands, giving those lovey-dovey expressions when all they want is to slit each other’s throat or scream at each other in the least. But NO, you are out on a dinner date or attending a wedding, it is imperative that one such picture should hit your social media page with catchy captions or taglines. I mean why? Why is it so important? Why do we need to suppress our natural emotions? We are all human beings, we can get upset, feel sad, want to sulk, just don’t want to get out of the bed some mornings, don’t want to dress up, just feel comfortable in that tattered pajamas and worn out tees, want to be left alone, want to enjoy retro songs, don’t feel like talking to anyone over the phone, so be it. There is absolutely no pressure to look or feel your best every single waking hour of your life, please show mercy on yourselves, retain some sanity and privacy – we all are entitled to that. The social media was invented for us to remain connected, now we do not connect with people from heart to heart, thanks to this great invention. We do not ACTUALLY talk, we do not ACTUALLY communicate in verbal dichotomy, we scribble comments and that’s it.
It is sad and while I am concluding this pent up feelings of mine, my phone vibrated and I got to see a picture of a dress, my friend plans to wear on 31st night!!!!!! What an allegory of life, tired I am.
