TW: Suicide
Illusion
Why don’t I look like a selfie I took and filtered it
From dark I am transformed into white swan
My nose, too long have shortened
Uneven shape of my lips have shaped up beautifully
My teeth, my chubby cheeks and dimple on my chin
I got them as I want them to be
Yeah, these many likes and hearts I received on Insta and FB
I am so happy so proud with this picture perfect selfie
I have fallen in love with my beauty
Likes, comments and applauses became drugs for her
She found herself sailing on cloud nine
Reality
What if our real world would have been same as we desire?
I don’t even feel like seeing myself in mirror
Ohh! How I hate to see myself!!
How am I going to meet a guy with whom I chatted for long??
He is the one who writes rhymes on my beauty
What if I meet him and he rejects me?
Ohh god!! please… please! Give me a magic wand to change into Cinderella
Or let the miracle happen and this guy loves me as I am!!
Here the date begins!
In a comfortable air conditioned restaurant
He waits for her to arrive
Half and hour passes
He orders for coffee and momos
Another half passes
His patience gives way to irritation
He doubts self, is she a truth or a perpetrator with bad intentions
No ways, I can’t think of her in this manner
Look at her innocence and her beauty!
She can’t ditch me this way
Something must have come urgently
Eight calls on her phone diary
Not one replied by her
She reaches to the restaurant
She finds him sitting, little restless
She was nervous about rejection
He was so handsome and she was ugly and short
Complex builds up in her
Eventually heightening anxiety
What if he insults me!
What if he accuses me of lying then…
Questions hammer her
Still she finds courage to go and meet him
She was in love with him
His handsomeness and long chats tempted her to meet him
With little rays of hope, yet lingering in her heart
She takes steps towards him
Hi! I am Nidha, your FB friend
He looks at her in disbelief
Nidha! Hi! Ohh no! You look so different from what I imagined you to be!!
Seeing your pics I was completely bowled by your beauty
Can’t believe! You are not my Nidha
Anyways! If you like you can sit here, i have to make a move
I have a meet elsewhere
Ohh.. I am sorry for being late
She said
It’s not about being late
You know the reason well said he and left
He is soon out of restaurant
He opens his fb account, finds her and then blocks her.
Blocked her forever
Shattered and rejected she leaves that place
She was not in right frame of mind
Her mind was numb, tears welled up in her eyes
Anyhow she reaches home
She opens her mobile and finds herself blocked by him
Her mother returns from work
Rings the bell but nobody opening
She calls her but no reply
Hour passed, still door was not opened
Neighbours surrounded on the door
Her husband returns from work
Door is broke opened
They enter into the room
Shocked to see their only daughter hanging with a dupatta tied on her neck and other on ceiling fan
Her tongue and eyes out
On the table they find a note
A suicide note written:
I am going to heaven, leaving this world
A superficial place where I had no place in it
I know you both have done a lot for me
I was provided with love, pamper, and whatever I wanted was gifted
But I was not taught to face rejection
You haven’t provided a beauty, I most needed
Look at my pics on FB and Insta!
Look at me in real! You will know the truth about my desire, about my love
This is the last communication I am having with you both
Thanks again for the love I got
But I am the unfortunate one
Missed by almighty for one and only reason; why am I not beautiful
I am angry with him for breaking my illusion
Love you Mom and Dad.
It was end of two people
One dead by taking her life
Other couldn’t come out of the trauma
Delusion robs his happiness
Rejection snatched her life
PS: In the fast growing world of mobiles, this story can be of anyone. ‘Smart phones’, are they really smart? Expensive phones with high pixel camera that enhances the quality of a picture with the added feature of filtering and enhancing beauty, what’s the use of such smart phones? Had they been that smart, they’d have saved the one, or maybe, many lives. Instead, they have built up a superficial world, a fake illusionary world that makes people live in a make-believe world and when that shatters, life too is cut short.
Teach your child to use smart phones smartly.
Kalpana’s imagination