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Reema was always this perfect person I admired. She had the grace and beauty of an actress and the poise of a gymnast. A beautiful soul, she seemed to live her life on her own terms. She was among the first few people whose blog I visited. She seemed very nice and genuinely caring. And, her views always were so pragmatic. She could spit fire when it came to issues close to her heart. That quality I admired and tried to emulate. Wow, with puppy eyes, I looked at the number of followers she had. “Is it even possible to have so many people like your blog?” I thought.
Then she became my friend on Facebook. Every update she put up immediately got number of comments and likes. Every picture of hers got her amazing “oohs” and “aahs.” I was a little jealous of her too. It seemed that she led a picture perfect life. She had a great job and a loving husband.
Then, one fine day I noticed that an “always online” person like her had gone quiet. There were no posts, no status updates. I messaged her after a couple of days but received no reply. I was curious but not too worried. She might be taking a well-deserved vacation I thought. And then a friend forwarded a news item in one of the online magazines. She was in hospital in coma. She was fighting for life. I gasped when I saw that picture. She looked very different from her online persona.
The news item mentioned that the lady had tried to commit suicide. What could have gone wrong? She led a perfect life. The article mentioned that her husband was a womanizer contrary to what she had projected in her lovely relationship blogs. She was suffering from domestic abuse since quite some time. She was struggling with depression and weight issues as well. And, the final straw before she consumed an overdose of sleeping pills was the loss of her job. Alone, helpless and with no friends except of the virtual kind who anyway knew a different her, she took the decision to take her life.
Is this virtual world a chimera? Is projection the name of the game? Photo shopped pictures, lovey dovey comments, socially indignant individuals – do they exist? Or, is it just a means of escape for some desperate souls crying out for help?
* This is a work of fiction
Pic courtesy: Freedigitalphotos.net
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