Our life is more and more dependent on social media sites and apps. Here, Nilakshi verses about the pulls and pressures of WhatsApp tongue-in- cheek, for Different Truths.

The dancing dots
Jiving with ‘typing…’
Or the deathly silence
Of the dreadful ‘online’
Where? Doing what?
On a call? Listening to music?
Writing elsewhere?
Do I even get to know that?
The mystery of the unknown …

What about me?
Do they like me?
Should I reply?
Now? Later?
Why argue?
Just enjoy …
Who’s listening to my opinion?

The midnight wake up
By the American friend’s buzz
If the ‘alert’ is on.
Her time … My rest…
The Singapore cousin
Times her calls
She waits
Composes the message
And pings from her workplace
Just as I get up
Dare I not answer?

The ashiq type older guy
Sends old world music …
I love that gesture…
But dare not revert
Except a ‘thanks dada’
And wait till he stops.

The ever eager pointer
Of repeat posts
Who rarely enjoys a fresh one!
Or ever sends any…
The mandatory good mornings
In a hundred groups
And fifty thousand godly posts
Millions of positivity
But

I’m still waiting
For that “typing…” to stop
The banner holding
Those words
That might mean something
In the tyranny of WhatsApp…

©Nilakshi Roy

Photo from the internet.

Nilakshi Roy

Nilakshi Roy is an Associate Professor in English in Vaze College, Mulund, Mumbai. An occasional academic writer and poet, she writes short stories and articles. A founder of Culture All: Conversations on Cultural and Social Awareness, she works with underprivileged children and women, in Thane, in her spare time as of now. She has authored a number of papers on diverse subjects, notably on fashion, on the Saree, and the choli, and on film.

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