UNPLUGGED - Part 2 (The Spiral)

The scrolling never stopped. Rohan told himself he was just passing time, but each swipe pulled him deeper.

Someone had bought a new car. Someone else was getting engaged. Another friend had just been promoted. And here he was, licking the last bit of masala from a Maggi vessel like it was his greatest achievement of the month.

He chuckled at his own misery. “Wow, forget six-pack abs. At this point, even a six-pack of Coke would be an upgrade in my life.”

But the more he joked, the heavier his chest felt. He tossed his phone aside, but his eyes kept drifting back to it. Curiosity won. He picked it up again. Scroll. Swipe. Double tap. Repeat.

He tried posting once. A selfie in his office washroom. He even added a fancy caption he had Googled, “Chasing dreams one step at a time.” It got twelve likes. Nine of them were from cousins. One from his mother. Two from colleagues who probably clicked by mistake.

He deleted it the next day.

From then on, he stopped posting. Why put himself through that humiliation? Instead, he became a silent audience to everyone else’s highlight reels. The more he saw, the smaller he felt.

Plans with friends? Cancelled. Conversations at work? Short and awkward. At home? He smiled less and spoke less.

On the outside, everything looked normal. On the inside, Rohan was shrinking.

Every night, the same thought returned. A whisper that became louder and louder. Maybe I really am not enough.

To be Continued...

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