Social Media

It was 3:00 PM in the afternoon.  ‘Sir B’, our smart bureaucrat, was lying stretched on his extra-cushioned high back castor-wheel brown fabric office revolving chair.  A white towel hung on the headrest of the chair soaking all the extra oil of his hairs which he puts on his head to give a slip to vigilance agencies. It was the routine post-lunch siesta time after 2 hours of lunch break, he was snoozing on his desk and daydreaming about an alternate world.

Suddenly his appearances changed. His only blazer (stitched by Dinesh Tailor 12 years back) which he wears every day to office changed to a slim fit Nehru Jacket and a Van Heusen formals.  His otherwise 36-inch Chest was giving tough competition to India’s most fantasized 56 inches. His dress code, especially the jacket was fantastically hiding his cauldron shaped cute potbelly, giving it a perfect six-pack Sharukh look. The Ray-ban shades were a feel-good change from his otherwise Byomkesh Bakshi’s plastic frame glasses which fits so perfectly well on his bureaucratic attitude and attire. Maybe it was some sort of hallucination, he thought. He couldn’t even recognize his own appearance.

It was like a perfect world. A world where everybody was happy, traveling, exploring, and trying out exotic dishes every day. No one was dying of hunger. No one was alone. No one was depressed. Everybody was just living a perfect life. It felt like at least one promise of long-awaited “Ram Rajya” is finally fulfilled.  

The best part of this world was there were no schools or exams. There was no professional degree or sorting of society on the basis of education. Being a bureaucrat, he knew that everyone else is a fool. In fact, the entire world is a fool’s paradise, serving the bureaucracy. So, what was the point of spending so much on education? But to his utter shock, despite no formal training, everyone was omniscient. Every person had full Gyan on every little thing be it a nano-size insect or the sounds emanating from the Sun. Be it the most fitting economic policy of India or who should be the next secretary-general of United nations. For all this time, he was under impression that “Gyanbaji” is a professional skill given to people of his fiefdom I.e. bureaucracy. But in this world, everyone was a “Gyani”. Everyone has an opinion. Suddenly he felt numb.  He could now see the real picture, the shadow behind. The thought of Plato struck his mind deep. Shadow is the reality of the idea. He could see it now.

People were liking each other. People were smiling, connecting with friends and family members. They were even participating in social movement together. But it was all ethereal. In the pursuit of connecting with friends and families in this world, People were separating away from the real world. The likes were just a mechanical action without any feelings and emotions. The mutual respect for each other’s life was making way for deep-held stereotypes for each other’s cuisine and customs. The hatred, prejudice, anger was evaporating the love, respect, and concern of our real world. This seemingly perfect world was slowly creeping in our real-life like a slow poison.

 “Maybe we will be more peaceful if we could just sit silently for some time observing the flow of life. Maybe we will be happier if we just help needy people around us, turn more tolerant, become more forgiving and considerate. Learning the art of expression in real life is far more rewarding than spending hours and hours unproductively on social media. A 20-second call once in two months is far better than a mechanical thumbs up. A 5 mins “Chai pe Churcha” is better than finding flaws in other’s opinions on social media. If it can win somebody a full-blown election, a genuine attempt can at least win you one good friend or well-wisher”, he said to himself.  Suddenly the peon knocked on the Door.  It was tea time. Bureaucratic siestas are always extra-large like their offices Mr. B jumped back to the real world and realized that he was not dreaming, He was just browsing his social media.