She has just posted her travel pictures and is clicking the big blue icon every now and then for alerts in the down bottom corner.
The night before she slept after changing her DP (display picture) made her wake up at least five times in the through of the night.
This is now a common trauma faced by people of all age groups within my circle. A friend from Guyana to my cleaner from Punjab everyone has that wiggle in their fingers.
Apart form the above social media anxiety I wanted to write about a topic which has not been written about. Appreciation is no longer a tool of the worthy. It has suddenly lost its worth and comes really cheap in all shapes and sizes.
We all suffer from appreciation hunger to some it brought in contradictory social esteem while for some it brought in megalomania persona. Much has been written about its pros and cons.
But little has been written about the appreciation factor in total. The social media giants are seeming to weave a crystal maze out of it and we are sinking deep into its vortex.
Permutation Combinations of granular LIKE
Earlier you liked or you did not like something on social media. Somehow the poor old like button suddenly got boring. So it granulated it more complex diversification for appreciation. You could like, love, sob, awe and get angry over a post now. I was always a stranger to the person on the other side to whom I rarely talk. But now words or any living connection was replaced by binary combinations of code for a simple LIKE. If I hadn’t expressed my deepest gratitude or disgust I could still wait for a little longer, as I can now even sustain the liking process to my comments. We now our to social media for all the appreciation and worship and famy (fame) which we fail to get in the real world. So you could now like a post with all your heart and still dislike the person comment. Do you feel somewhere that your emotions are now digitized?
Barter system of favours
The centuries old way of trading goods in exchange for business when money was not invented. Today bartering is more global in all sectors of trading and internet. But here we talk about barter system of favours. So, here it goes like I like your post, you like mine. Its an untold love story based on hollow dynamics. Doesn’t it occur to you if that appreciation is actually legitimate. There are many who run it for marketing and business. Fair and well understood. But there are many who are churning out heartfelt stories and anecdotes. The person on the other hand is on a liking spree he may not have even read the post, or the person just remembers she like my post Oops, So I better like his too. Might evaluate to how good your mental mathematics is. It is worth considering that whether the actual thought actually appeals to you or its worth is a disillusion?
Acceptance vs Rejection
Your happiness should receive appreciation and so should your misery. Its baffling when people like a post of demise. Somehow the appreciation quotient for happiness and sadness is rated on the same scale. I wouldn’t know what thought to accept and what to reject because all it matters is the online appreciation of the fact that its endorsed.
Last year when I was holed up on the hospital bed for time immemorial, I found it emotionally disturbing to get myself on social media. I was in bad shape and my confidence was dwindling. As always I have never been open about my private life on social media. All my thoughts are restricted to this medium of expression my blog. There are many organic followers who trickle down, stop by make a connect with my writing and recipes and life goes on. The number which highlight on social media are a mere oasis. The actual readers are just a handful.
Walking the walk of life it all about doing and being, or becoming, what we say we admire. When you say you appreciate something then words are on the surface but actions speak.If you appreciate something then let it not be sublime. Mean it by doing something to purport that thought.
Rajasthani Laal Maas
Laal Maas is a lamb dish from Rajasthan which is slow cooked over coal heat. It has a distinctive red colour and a heat to match, cooked in whole spices. Mathania chillies from Rajasthan lend a lovely rustic flavour to the dish. Serve this lamb curry warm with makki ki roti or rice.
Overtime the time I have always expected real time appreciation from my father. But no matter how much he enjoys my achievements he remains critical of it. The things he points our are genuine and not unreasonable. He always ensures I remain grounded. Today in the myriad of awesome comments on my blog posts he would occasionally point out my mistakes even on social media. He is a strong believer that appreciation shouldn’t come easy. 🙂
- 1 kg Spring lamb, cut into small chunks
- 1 tsp kachri powder,Meat tenderiser
- 1 cup yoghurt, well beaten
- 4-5 tbsp Mustard oil
- 4-5 cloves
- 1-2 tej patta
- 2-3 onions, finely sliced
- 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 7-8 dried red chillies, Kashmiri or traditionally Maithiania red chilli
- 1 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp clove powder
- 1 tsp garam masala powder
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 2-3 dried red chillies for the tadka
- salt to taste
- Soak the dried red chillies in water overnight or for more quick results dissolve it in hot water for 30 minutes. Then grind them into a fine paste as this will be the base for the dish.
- Then heat the oil and add your cloves and tej patta when you get the aroma of the spices. Add your ginger garlic paste and fry until the raw smell has gone.
- Now fry the onions until slightly brown,, this is time you add your red chilli paste, turmeric and red chilli powder. Then fry it for another 2 minutes. We don’t want to burn the spice mix.
- Now add your cleaned lamb or mutton pieces and coat the pieces with the spice mix properly.
- The heat of the chillies is balanced by adding the whipped yoghurt. I generally remove the vessel from the heat and add my whipped yoghurt.
- Now add 2 cups of luke warm water. Followed by clove powder, garam masala and salt to taste.
- Cover and simmer on low heat for 30-45minutes. Until well done.
- Now for the tadka, we heat ghee and sauté the dried red chillies.
- Finally before serving we add this tadka to the mutton.
- This is best eaten with Makki ki roti or Corn rotis.
When I say I like something I bookmark it in my mind. I remember to come back to it, browse through the thoughts or posts shared. Understand the core before I comment on it. I know it’s a fast world and this is a far-fetched thought but then why make appreciation so cheap. Your action will always be higher than words.
1. I read the entire post and not merely liked your facebook post . Madhushree my wife has moved out of facebook since december and she says that her life is better for the last 6 months. Likes for likes, barter and mutual back scratching system just tired of that. The Attention seeking syndrome is perhaps now the highest. Its one start sharing everything and slowly undresses himself to the bare soul. Why I would wish my wife happy anniversary? Why I would chat with my partner on facebook?
The quality of the work cannot be measured by the number of likes one receives in Social media . It sounds weird but its true. How much time it sucks up? what emotional roller coaster ride it creates which we succumb to unknowingly . Initially when we started we got into this but now gave up. Just gave up. As a food blogger its good that you raised this along with a wonderful recipe. Cheers, best of luck
Reading through your post made me really ponder on the points.. What your have expressed is so true… if you like mine, I will like yours… the “scratch back” syndrome is definitely all over the place. Each day it feels like social media gets more hollower, however at the way life is paced, we are unable to ignore it completely as well. It needs a lot of diplomatic handling at its best… 🙂 Talking about actual readers on the blog is a totally different area, I guess sometimes for our own peace, it is better not to talk about it… hehe…
The red color of the curry just pushes out, thanks to your setup.. amazing clicks for a flavorful gravy…
Hello Roy! Although you and I have been following each other on the Instagram, I have never visited you at your blog space. Today for reasons known best to some higher force, I happened to visit your blog and I am glad I did 🙂
As I was reading and scrolling down this post, I was smiling to myself coz it felt like you were echoing my thoughts although I would say you articulated these thoughts way better than I could have.
Roy… I am always speechless after reading your articles. You have highlighted the real syndrome thats going on. Honestly one’s need a stronger will power and absolute believe in oneself to over come this mania…
i jumped into your blog today morning because i needed a good read before starting up. Thanks buddy. The curry, the colour is amazing and not to mention the style and photography.