The curious incident of whats app in the night-time

The headline may reek of sheer plagiarism, but nothing could sum up the current bizarre state of affairs (pun intended) and even State affairs, better than Mark Haddon’s title of his masterpiece, by a similar name. Therein lay some layered, labyrinthine intricacies of the human brain, to which not all the answers are easily available; but what one is noticing now with the social networking boom is a strange disorder, or let’s say an obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) of a different kind.   

An eerie silence envelops the being as one looks around the metro coach, packed with people of all hues and types.  But, if one were to tune in, to the sounds of silence, the extra sensitive tympanum would certainly pick up a humming buzz, emanating from the shiny, colourful objects that each individual is tapping into. The speed, with which nimble fingers collectively work on their respective screens, would put many a keyboard player to shame. They look up for a minute or less, with nearly deadened or listless eyes, only to get back to menacingly tapping away at their fancy gadgets.

Two people sit side by side and seem to at some point of time have had perhaps a close and cozy relationship; they look at each other expectantly, but are unable to bring any words to their lips or any expression to their faces, but one notices an animated visage, the moment they stare at their minute to large screens, smiling, squinting, laughing Out Loud sometimes; but totally inept at eye contact and normal conversations that should pursue thereafter.

What takes the cake, in all of this new unfolding of technological updates and the brouhaha surrounding it, is the way it has made inroads into every aspect of a person’s life, leaving very little to one’s imagination. It is akin to psychological warfare, where the aim is to incapacitate the enemy by nearly driving him or her insane, or at least ensuring that they land up with a shrink, as confused harmless vegetables; those who would be no good for a viable and effective society.

Then there’s a shrill shout that cuts through the calmness of the night, the neighbours, as far as the decibels can travel, are jolted out of deep slumber with the shrieks of,  “I saw the screen shots, I have them right here with me and you deceitful whatever, have the gall to tell me you were fast asleep, I know where you were and what you were up to, you dastardly poor liar and cheat.” By then the kids are awake rubbing their eyes, trying to understand wat’s  appening, they aren’t too far from experiencing the truth as they have had a taste of such stuff before, but to think that the parents too, are embroiled in the slimy, slushy, oops slutty new game, comes as a surprise to them, with their normal reaction being, “Oh, poor dad, must have forgotten to clear the log, stupid of him to have gotten caught…errr, mom’s no better she’s just smart, chats all day but knows how to get away!”

It gets more and more curious with every passing second; even break ups and divorces are being governed by last seen at 4 a.m. In the times preceding viber aberrations and wats appenings, there was more to life. There were sights and there were sounds, there were friends and there were acquaintances; there were polite tête-à-têtes and there were deep conversations; there were well bred people who abided by certain norms and approached a topic with the well-oiled ease that comes from good upbringing.

But, now there’s simultaneous chatter, cluttering everyone’s lives; what was meant for only one, accidentally or with sheer design, portrayed as naïve inability and ineptitude at handling the new divide, slips out into the world wide web, causing damage beyond repair; creating a butterfly effect that one can only stop at and stare, as there’s no taking back wats appened through that one viber aberration, in that one moment.

 ©Copyright Suverchala Kashyap