Heavy garlands

Once in a while, an unnatural death grabs my attention. A week ago, a social media influencer in her early 20s active on instagram and YouTube with an enviable number of followers ended her life. The husband-wife duo seemed to have been a big draw with a certain clientele in the home state. That said, YouTube and Tiktok videos are the pastime of the non-reading public, and they happily pry into others' lives as they display their suitcases and washrooms and kitchens.  

I have no patience for videos, so most of the videos that land in my WhatsApp inbox remain unopened or not downloaded at all. The only time I look at videos is when I am cooking something new and cookery blog posts are not as interesting as the videos. I am happier if the video has detailed cooking steps below so that I dont have to sit through an entire video.

However, Rifa Mehnu's death had me curious. Why would a young happy girl, married for 3 years, leave forever in the dead of the night when the husband is away at a party? While many were quick to blame the hus for it, he didnt seem the kind or rather he seemed too happy and excited with his stardom and followers that he wouldnt want to upset the applecart. 

Social media is like the garland in the hands of the monkey, as the Malayalam proverb goes. People often cross boundaries to win viewership - like the intimate kiss in this couple's channel. The chap's eyes are most often on the camera, even as he departs with his family to Dxb on a visit visa. The partitioned space in a room looks claustrophobic but fans cheer as they visit restaurants or wheel their toddler on a pram. The inauguration of "our own shop" and the earlier shots in front of Kerala bungalows are a myth for social media consumption. 

Vernacular reports after the death talk about the girl arriving here because her family didnt have a house of their own but shared a relative's house; no job which prompted them to fly to Dubai; and that she was only the staff at the purdah shop and not its owner. Maybe I didnt see the videos long enough to understand their lives, but what struck me was how people are under pressure to find new clothes or venues or a high life for the voyuers and sympathisers out there. And then there is the money from Youtube views and subscriptions - what pressure it brings. 

The latest twist in the death is that the girl was facing sexual harassment from their videographer friend who shared the room with them, and the husband didnt take it seriously. 

In their infatuation with the reel life, influencers often forget or ignore their real selves. Some end in tragedies like this.