Sephali walked into the garden and started watering the plants wilted in the scorching summer heat. The smell of the damp mud reminded her of her childhood. She had always loved playing in the mud, planting seeds in the pooled water, getting her hands dirty, catching butterflies, and racing with the wind. How time flew! Now and then were two different phases – one was a carefree childhood, and the other was being a responsible homemaker. She loved both.
After her afternoon nap, she spends time tending to the plants in the garden. Atul, her husband, works in a private bank and stays busy in the office. Anika, her daughter, studies, in 11th grade. She goes from home to school, then to tuition, and later studies at her friend’s house. Finally, she comes home only to have dinner and sleep.
Sephali had fewer friends. She was never comfortable attending the kitty parties that ladies of her age liked and flaunted the luxury they lived in. They gossiped more and talked less; She hated the nasty gossip, the negativity, and the shallow mindset the women exhibited, so she preferred staying away.
She played the harmonium, practiced the ragas, cooked meals, and tended to her kitchen garden. She had ample time to spare. But what to do? She never knew.
One day, Anika suggested, “Ma, why don’t you open an account on Facebook? Anyway, you are bored all day without me and Papa”
Sephali looked at her dear daughter growing up fast, now eager to give her advice, and she smiled comfortingly.
“Yes, But I need to know how to open the account and learn to navigate”, she said.
“Oh! I will teach you, give me the phone”, said Anika, leaning on her mother’s shoulders and explaining the steps, slowly and clearly.
“Here you go. Now start searching for old friends from school and college, send them a friend request, and build your network. It’s fun, Ma”. She giggled naughtily and walked away.
Sephali learned the tits and bits of Facebook, navigating on her own. Anika lent a helping hand to her mother, whenever the need arose, gradually she mastered the technique, turning pro.
It took her some time to understand the basics of Facebook and its operational settings.
She made new friends and reconnected with old ones, expanding her social media connections over a period. Sephali always remembered to send birthday and anniversary wishes to her dear friends. There were exchanges of thoughts with friends, some she admired, while others she dismissed.
Soon she delved into the captivating world, losing all sense of time. Everything else she once enjoyed became secondary.
Life was moving at a faster pace, like a mobile screen. She believed that everything she saw, read, and felt was real. The profile pictures, the vacation destinations, the picture-perfect families, the lavish buffets, and the beaming faces were true and candid testimonials of the lives of others. Her own life was dreary, unlike the idealized lives she saw online. She despised herself and her humble life. An unknown feeling gnawed at her; it mockingly robbed her of sleep.
Sephali felt unsettled, and anxious all the time. She lost interest in every other thing, she did.
Her eyes were always fixed on the screen, her mind filled with endless thoughts, all day. Wasn’t she entitled to the luxury and opulence enjoyed by others? Why was her life different? Simple, unexciting.
She was struggling and slogging in her home, living a mundane life.
Facebook eroded her of the moments she once cherished. Every beep of her phone alerted her to a new notification, and she found herself thoughtlessly mired in the same set of unanswered questions. The line between the digital and real worlds started to blur until they merged into one another. An unreal world of worthless things took shape and form, floating in the abyss of her mind, depriving her of the capacity to understand. The human mind has always fallen into the trap of mindless comparisons. Let’s accept, that all our lives are different in texture and color. And it is beautiful in every way!
The Momma Clan 
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