Face-booking and Face value: A rant of a cynic !

Though I am not trying to sound cynical but I would like to talk something about the “face-booking”. (And nonetheless, I am labeled cynical, I would not dither to write about, after all this is my space. I know I might offend some but that is a very tiny cost for freedom of expression.) 

I would like to write about the people who visit developed European or American countries or any rich and developed countries for that matter. When people post about their visits, it is a kind of information that announces:  see what I could achieve! You remained lagging behind whereas I am entitled to the most plush and luxurious locales of the world.

Agreed that being able to visit the exotic places of the world is a blaring recognition of your ability to mint money and I am not taking that away. But my question is that is everything hunky- dory in that part of the world as your pictures suggest?  I mean every time a beaming pair of lips in front of an imposing hotel or magnificent monument must be hiding the underbelly of the socio-political milieu of the country.

But the nature of face-booking is such that these aspects totally go to the background and only rosy pictures come to the foreground. 

The media paint the image of India as a nation unsafe for women though the situation is deplorable for Indian society but not uncontrollable, the Indian lawmakers have done utmost to ensure the stringent punishments for such offenders.  I had read an article on BBC some time ago about the appalling situation of rape in the U.K. Some time ago Spain was reeling under gruesome ghouls of unemployment, you must be aware about the situation of Turkey now. What I am trying to establish is that every country has its chunk of problems but the nature of face-booking is such that it conceals everything that is unromantic. 

My boss who is from an EU country talks about how you can be stabbed or mugged even few kilometers away from Paris. He talks about how dreams of making a livelihood in Paris perish every day. So, Eiffel Tower is not the only thing that is hot and happening in Paris. The shattered dreams and tears- brimming eyes are also reality of Paris.

Sometimes, the Indians who post the pictures of visiting foreign lands, willingly or unwillingly mock their network of friends who reside in the so called ‘trudging’ India. I must make them aware that the places where they visit are also homes for several diseases that people fight with .And even if such countries boast of rendering best of medical services, they have unsatisfied patients.

If you want to introduce a part of the world to your people, I guess blogging does that work far better than face –booking or else add a paragraph or two about the socio-political scenario of the country with your scintillating dentures, this way you can introduce that part of the world more sincerely . But then, whole essence of face-booking will get dilapidated for them.

Though I truly understand that it is human nature to seek praise and praise is also healthy to keep a positive frame of mind, my grouse is only with that aspect of face-booking where people seem to mock the existence of others. And such people do exist and this tells candidly about their face value.

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