FESTERING REPROACH!

Ruben and Lolita both love each other intensely. Ruben is 24 years old and pursuing his studies in the third year of electrical engineering faculty and Lolita in her 19 years of age pursuing her graduation in humanities. Their affair is now following for consecutively three years, but being a resident in rural India, openly roaming and romancing is still a taboo. So, they have to resort to different alibi in order to meet and today, being Valentine’s Day, a special day for the lovers, the duo spending the whole day by roaming and celebrating in a local eatery. Afterwards, they reached to a nearby river bank, a silent place, where they immerse their legs in the river water and cozily sat. Away from din and bustle of the city they entirely engrossed in romancing, exchanging kiss and expressing their intense fervor for each other. The sunset sky, smearing with red color reflecting on Lolita’s face made her more attractive. The flame of love with a feminine shame made her more beautiful. Ruben felt equally strong fervor for her. He planted a kiss on her lips fervently. She reciprocates too with equal fervor. Suddenly Lolita screams at Ruben, ‘look Ruben, what is falling from the sky, glowing lustrously?’ ‘Don’t you know? It is called falling star’, by taking notice of it Ruben replies, ‘and its lustrous glow suggests how pristine our love and lust too!’ by saying this Ruben once more plated a kiss on Lolita’s lips. Hours are moving so rapidly that it seems seconds to them.

After some time Lolita said, ‘now it is high time for us to return to our houses. My parents must be anxiously waiting for my return’. Though Ruben is not willing to return soon, but has no choice apart from abiding Lolita’s urge. They eventually start for returning to their respective nests. In due time, they separated from each other and followed their own route. Thus, their days roll on.

Lolita’s parents now started to suspect Lolita’s movement. Even their story of love affairs also reflected in social media, where their friends wish them and appreciate their photos being uploaded to their timeline. Their close photographs are largely flattened by their friends. After receiving the gossips related to their love affairs, which infringes with their traditional family values, Lolita’s parents started to fetch secretly the match for Lolita for her nuptial as arrange marriage is their family custom. Finally, in a certain day, Lolita’s mother broke the news that they have made a match for Lolita and the family of the bride-groom will come to visit in a certain day to see Lolita. Accordingly they asked Lolita not to attend collage as well any tuition houses, to restrict her outside movements. The final day appear on which her would be in-laws along with the concern bride-groom will visit her house, who is an engineer by profession and working as an executive in a government agency. Eventually, they appear and chose Lolita as would be daughter in-law and fixed a date of their nuptial.

Lolita is utterly perplexed by such abrupt development and the disruption being posed by her parents, impeding her usual flow of life. She felt restless throughout the day in order to communicate with Ruben to convey him the untoward incident how engulfed her life, keeping her in utter bizarre state of mind. Her mental agony and fear for impending separation with her beloved Ruben made her extremely dismal. But, she found Ruben’s cell phone is switched off, because Ruben is nowadays busy with his studies as his final semester is on progress.

On the evening, the family members of her would be in-laws visited to Lolita’s house to perform certain rituals followed by the forthcoming marriage. Lolita becomes more unrestful.

Since childhood, Lolita along with her elder sister is provided with all required amenities by their parents. To educate them and Lolita, being the younger one got more indulgence and patronage comparing with her sibling to interacts with friends and other social contacts, and even in her year of graduation, still she is not permitted to stay outside after twilight apart from some special occasions or festivals.

However, after the departure of the family members of her would be in-laws, she only craving to meet her beloved one. Meanwhile two days passed. On the third day she was capable to communicate with Ruben and requested him to meet with her on that very day on their usual meeting spot, as the matter she intends to narrate is very serious. Ruben could not understand why her sound appeared as weird and why she appears to be in jittery?

However, in due time the duo met in their usual meeting place. Lolita narrated her mental agony and ordeal to Ruben. She said, ‘listen Ruben, I cannot think of living life without you. Please do something immediately to sort out this problem. Lest, I will have no other option, apart from abiding my parent’s decision to marry the person of their choice.’ Ruben is equally at a loss. He also cannot perceive any other girl in place of Lolita, as his future wife. But, poor boy, in such tender age he could not comprehend what to do! He cannot give any positive assurance to Lolita. Besides, he is still pursuing his studies. He is studying out of scholarships and in his spare time, he used to give tuitions to pull out his expenses. His father works in a small factory as a worker and he have two more siblings who are also pursuing their studies. He said to her, ‘well dear, you don’t have to worry. I will soon try to fix the problem. I won’t buy under any circumstances that you are becoming someone’s wife. Have faith on me and never agree to marry someone you don’t love.’ But, instead of something emotionally, he could not throw any positive ray of hope. He then departed after kissing each other passionately.

Lolita, after returning to her house, in her pensive state of mind could not able to decide resolutely what to do. Her mind clouded with utter dilemma. Her days are rolling on with a sense of fear and agony.

Modern age is the age of technology and surprisingly even in a remote village where modern amenities are not available, by virtue of internet, social networking sites are having its prominent presence. In her timeline Lolita expressed her despair with a sad note which made her friends and followers too unhappy and worried.

Gradually, the day of her marriage is advancing. The preparedness is now in its peak. Ruben, not being able to do any prolific measure to cancel the marriage of his beloved one, became more depressed and out of rage of the impending nuptial affairs of Lolita, he uploaded some obscene and intimate photos of Lolita in her social networking sites timeline, intimidating Lolita with dire consequence if she dared to marry any other person instead of him. The photos went viral.

Lolita, after noticing such malicious gestures in her timeline, she could not believe it is Ruben who did this! Out of shame and unable to endure how her dignity and self-esteem being brutally slayed, on that very night, she hanged herself and a bud before being fully blossomed abruptly faced its ignominious destiny!

On the very next morning, after the news of her death spread, the entire locality of her clouded with deep mourn.

Now, the question is, social networking sites are at all socially accommodative? Is it not equally becoming a weapon for destruction, where Lolita like numerous lives is concluding untimely? More the development of science and technology are not making us mere machine devoid of human values and sentiments? The incident of Lolita made us numb, not even having the capacity to share our condolence. We are gradually engulfing ourselves by the trap created by technology, where helplessly we observe its strength to make us sometimes numb by creating a mass hysteria. Is it too a weapon of mass destruction where virtual world will dominate the real world with its adversities? What a melee the virtual world potentially have to perform!