When we met last weekend, Swami was staring at his phone as if it had just been delivered the end of the world. His coffee sat untouched, growing colder by the second, while Jigneshbhai and I enjoyed our slow sip.
“Friends,” he said, his voice trembling, “I think I am ruined!”
Jigneshbhai, sitting across from him, stirred his coffee slowly, as though he had all the time in the world. He didn’t even look up.
“Hmm,” he said, taking a sip and a bite of the double chocolate muffin.
“You don’t understand!” Swami nearly shouted. “A post from the wedding of an office colleague that I attended last week has gone viral — because of me, and for all the wrong reasons!”
He thrust his phone in Jigneshbhai’s face. I leaned over to take a look.
It was a blurry photo of Swami at a wedding. He was caught with plate in hand in the middle of a bite, eyes wide, his mouth wide open, looking like he was trying to swallow the camera.
The comments below were merciless:
“Looks like someone just realised he has to pay for the dessert 🍰”
“When you realize the samosas are over.”
“Is this a new yoga pose?” 🧘
“I can’t show my face at work,” Swami groaned, burying his head in his hands. “They have tagged me and Raichand and everyone else. This is a disaster! The internet never forgets.”
Jigneshbhai calmly stirred another spoon of sugar into his cup.
“The internet moves fast, Swami,” he said, finally looking up. “Faster than you think.”
Swami blinked. “But I am stuck with this pic. Do you understand what that even means?”
Jigneshbhai smiled, that knowing, infuriating smile of his that triggered Swami.
“I am going to be the laughingstock at office next week. And forever.”
Jigneshbhai smiled again, this time munching calmly into his chocolate muffin.
“By tomorrow, someone else will have a new photo, a new scandal, a new drama. While you,” he gestured at Swami’s coffee, “will still have this cup, untouched. Your embarrassing pic will turn cold faster than this coffee.”
Swami stared at the cup, then back at his phone, clearly torn between deleting his account and taking a sip. Thankfully, he decided on sipping his coffee.
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