On the Line.
By Jay
Krishna
Why is it that we feel shy to talk to someone
in person, but feel free to do so when we are online? Fear, withdrawal and the
feeling of not being able to connect, pricks us in the back of our head's. Why
is it, that even after having the person standing right in front of us, we
can't make a sound? Thoughts expressed in words, not through verbal feedback,
but a medium of text, that too adieu
pen and paper. Why is it, we choose to replicate ourselves, by creating a false
impersonation, which feeds on us 24x7, ignoring the reality which is in front
of us, for a virtual one, a surrogate if u may? Have we become so caught up in
this world of digitization, that the basic human emotions and feelings that
makes us humane, can only be expressed in 0's and 1's? I hope not.
01:07 AM 21
May.
Bed creeks. It's been a long day, Ajay
was finally in bed, he took out his phone and posted a status "A long day,
had loads of fun, now feeling tired"; he then began going through the news
feed. After checking his notifications, liking and commenting on a few posts,
he was finally about to finish his day, when; a pop-up appears on the screen. He
clicked on it and found it to be a friend request from a GIRL. A bit surprised,
he accepted the friend request. Minutes later, a message came in.
Richa: "Thank you for accepting
the request :)".
Ajay was a bit cynical, as to why a
girl was thanking him, that too for just accepting a friend request. But he replied
back.
Ajay: "Sure, no prob".
After a while, another message came
in.
Richa: "If you don't mind, I
would like to be your friend".
Ajay thought for a minute, and without caring
much, agreed to the proposal. They had a small chat, after which Ajay went to
bed. Thinking about what had just happened.
09:15 A.M 22
May.
The next day Ajay was woken up by his
mother's calling, him for breakfast.
Maa : "Ajay Beta, get up! You
will be late for school". He woke up and peeped at his phone, it had a
message.
Richa : "Good Morning :)", Ajay
too replied.
Ajay: "Good Morning".
He went to take a shower and sat in to
have breakfast. His phone beeps.
Richa: "Had breakfast?"
Ajay: "About to.. u?"
Richa: "Having Maggi :)".
Ajay: "It seems you like it :)".
They had a casual conversation, after which Ajay
was reminded by his mom that he was getting late for school. He switched off
his phone, strapped his bag and left.
2:00 P.M.
Ajay had returned from school, He was tired
and was searching for his mother. But she seemed nowhere to be found. He went
to the kitchen, where he found a note stick to the fridge.
"Dear
Ajay, have gone to the market to get some groceries. Lunch is in the fridge, if
you need anything, call me.
Love Maa"
He got his lunch out, sat on the sofa turned
and on the TV. It was time for his favourite show 'MTV Roadies'. He switched on
his phone and turned to facebook. He
had a few notifications and several messages. He checked and found all of them
to be from Richa. He started reading them one after the other, "Hey",
"Are you back?", "When will you be back?", "I hope I'm
not disturbing you..", He was reading the last text, when he got a new one,
"So you're back". Ajay paused for a minute and replied, "Yeah
just came back". Richa, "Had lunch?". Ajay replied,
"Yeah". He asked her where she lived and which school she was from,
to which Richa replied, "I'm from Montfort High, Khanapara", Ajay
heard about Montfort from one of his friends, saying that it had the most
beautiful girls studying in that school. Ajay was lost in his thoughts, when
the tone of his phone brought him back to earth. Richa, "You're from DPS
right?", Ajay was surprised as to how she knew. He asked "Did anyone
tell you?". Richa, "It's written in your profile silly", to
which Ajay answered sheepishly, "Oh Yeah, hehe".
From days to weeks and from weeks to
months, their friendship escalated. It seemed that both of them were meant to
be together. Ajay also felt that he had a special connection with Richa,
feelings started to emerge in his heart. From calls that lasted to a few
minutes, now seemed to never end for hours and hours. They both were completely
engulfed with each other.
4:05
P.M 17 Dec
Afternoon, Ajay was at one his late afternoon
adda's (Hangouts) with his friends Vivek, Rohan and Abhi. They were all having
a swell time together. Meanwhile, Ajay thought that now would be a good time to
disclose to his friends about his relationship with Richa. After hearing about
Richa, everyone was surprised and happy for him. Except for Vivek, who questioned
him, how could he be sure that she felt the same way. She could just be considering
him as a good friend, which left Ajay a bit perplexed. But Abhi tried to
lighten his mood by saying he need not worry, she too probably felt the same
way. But Vivek still questioned his so called love. He suggested that, in order
to test his love, he should get a nude from her. Ajay as well as his friends were
shocked at their friend's revelation.
Abhi: "Are you crazy? What are
you saying!!".
Vivek: "Well if she loves him,
she wouldn't mind, would she!".
Rohan was still trying to grasp the
situation.
Abhi: "Well she might. And to top
it off, this is none of your concern".
Vivek: "Well let Ajay
decide".
They all had a huge argument. After which
Ajay decided to head back home. On his way, what Vivek had said, kept bugging
him."That Vivek, he thinks he's so cool and knows everything. Why should I
listen to him?" thought Ajay, But the idea of Richa not actually loving
him, was killing him from within. He reached home and went directly to his room
and shut the door. For the next few hours only Vivek's words and Richa thoughts,
kept circling his mind.
07:07
P.M
Ajay woke up in bed. He didn't have a
clue as to when he had shut his eyes, His phone was ringing and it seemed the
only thing visible. He looked at the time and found it to be 7. He went and
turned on the lights.
Ajay: "Hello".
Richa: "Where were you? I have
been calling you for hours..".
Ajay clearing his eyes replied,
"Was tired, had a nap".
Richa: "Well you could've just
told me, I wouldn't have been so worried about you!!".
Ajay: "Well I have told you now,
haven't I ?".
Richa: "Why are you being so rude?
Did I do something wrong?".
Ajay: "No it's nothing, just
tired that's all, I will call you back". Saying this Ajay disconnected the
call. He went and washed his face, and stared at the mirror."What am I
doing?", he thought. He took out his phone and texted Richa, "Do you
love me?". One tick, two tick, seen.
Richa: "Sure I love you! Are you
crazy?".
Ajay felt good at hearing Richa say
that she loved him. But the context of Vivek's words were still in his mind.
Ajay: "Will you do anything for
me?"
Richa: "Of course! I love you
silly..".
Without giving a second thought, Ajay
texted, "Send me a nude then!". Richa was shocked by Ajay's words,
she couldn't believe in what she was hearing.
Richa: "Ajay what are you
saying?", But Ajay was adamant.
Ajay: "You heard me! Prove that
you love me".
Richa: "Is this the only way I
can prove my love to you? Don't my any of my words mean anything to you?".
Ajay: "I don't know about that,
but are you sending me a pic or not?".
Richa was really heartbroken, she
didn't know why Ajay was behaving this way. Slowly her sadness gave way to
anger.
Richa: "If you want me to prove
my love, then why don't you send me a pic!!".
Ajay without hesitation took off his
clothes and sent a pic of himself to Richa.
Ajay: " Now your turn". But
Richa went offline. Ajay waited for hours, but Richa didn't show up. He called her,
but the number showed busy. He thought, he had really upset her, he kept
calling, but it was of no use, Richa wasn't picking up. Later he had dinner.
Maa: "Ajay is anything wrong? You
look upset".
Ajay: "No it's nothing".
Ajay had dinner and went to bed. He
thought of buying a gift and apologising to Richa the next day. He turned off
the lights and went to sleep.
08:09
A.M 18 Dec
The very next day Ajay was interrupted in his
slumber, it was a call from his friend Vikram, "Hello, yes Vikram",
Vikram was in a hysterical state, "Hey man are you okay? Please don't do
anything stupid, everything will be fine alright". Ajay was a bit shocked
as to what he was trying to say, "Wait Vikram, what are u talking
about?", Vikram was shocked as to how he didn't have a clue about what had
happened."Wait you don't know, where are you now?", Ajay told him
that he was at his apartment."Okay, you just stay there, I will explain
everything once I get there", saying this Vikram disconnected the call. Ajay
was still confused, as to what had just happened. He got up from bed and opened
facebook and found that a lot of
people had texted him. Rupesh, "I never expected this from you man, you
are a real disappointment", Nandini, "Your such a cheap, I couldn't
believe I was friends with you", Lily, "Looks like someone's not that
hunk after all :P", Ajay was shocked as to what was going on, he kept scrolling
and then he couldn't believe what he saw. The pics which he had sent to Richa
the other day, were on facebook. His
mind went numb, he tried to remove them but couldn't, as it was uploaded by
someone else, Ajay was in a state of shock and despair. He called Richa, but
the call was being disconnected saying, the number did not exist. He went into facebook to search for Richa, but there
too Richa's account was nowhere to be found. Ajay had become a victim of
digitization.
Note: Advancement
in technology, has made man dependent on the Internet for all his needs.
Internet has given man access, to anything to everything while sitting at one
place. Social networking, online shopping, online studying, online jobs, every
possible thing that man can think of, can be done on the internet. Internet is
used in almost every sphere, and with the development of internet and its
related benefits, It has also developed the concept of cyber crimes. Cyber
crimes are committed in different forms. A few years back, there was lack of
awareness about the crimes that could be committed through the internet. In the
matters of cyber crimes, India is also not far behind, with the rate of
incidences increasing day by day. As of March 2015, India's cybercrime rate has
soared to 350%. Incidences of cyber crimes under the IT Act has increased by
85.4% in the year 2011 as compared to 2010, whereas the increase in incidence
of crime under IPC is by 18.5% as compared to the year 2010. Visakhapatnam
records the maximum number of incidence of cases. Maharashtra has emerged as
the centre of cyber crime in India with maximum number of incidence of
registered cases under cyber crimes committed in the age group 18-30 years.
Hacking with computer systems and obscene publication were the main cases under
IT Act for cyber crimes. Please be aware of what you share on the internet.
Take the instance of Ajay, as an example and be tech savvy. No matter how close
you are, no matter how complicated things get, try your best to resolve things
face to face, and not through the NET.
"The above story was published in the 2017 edition of 'Cottonian'(magazine) of Cotton College, A Premier Institute of Assam.The story revolves around the world of online communication and what are the risks involved in doing so. Special thanks to Gunjan Sarma (Editor, Cottonian) for publishing the story. If you found this story to be entertaining or useful, then please LIKE the post and share, it is your encouragement that keeps us going :). If you want the author to write more such stories, then please leave a comment below and let us know.".
With Best Wish'es,
The Digital Infotainment Team.
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