Living virtual horrors through real pages

Social media is ubiquitous in today's day and age. While the power in the hands of an individual appears to be democratic, it often takes a wrong turn since it conflates with questionable morals and sentiments. Adding on, there exists an unprecedented itch to follow a trend or nasty trolling.

Published by Griffin Publications, Shreyan Laha's latest book "Virtually Lost" provides an insight into how people might behave if they were to replicate the online behaviour in real world. Manisha, the protagonist and a psychology professor is lost in a hill-station called Pathabhrashta.

As she tries to find a way out, she realises that the citizens are nothing but 'real-life-profiles'.

Not only that, the whole city is governed by social media rules and the government stands as an admin. Terrifying is an understatement for that which unravels.

Imagine being a victim of surveillance 24*7 and the city police reading your minds when you're in your bathroom.

Pathabhrashta is an introverted realm. Everyone lacks social skills and steps outdoors to buy necessities only when required.

Those who engage in religious mental gymnastics involve in the most convincing and hilarious fashion. For example, certain people in Pathabhrashta believe in "Jupiterism".

The mention of planet Jupiter is found throughout history – in Hindu, ancient Greek and ancient Roman religions. With its massive gravity, it also acts as a literal saviour of Earth from unwanted asteroid collisions. Besides, unlike other Gods, Jupiter is verifiable.

The mere thought of such a possibility makes its adherents cocksure.

With arguments which are several notches above the arguments of quotidian godmen, the possibility of falling prey to 'a set of beliefs' online, or even trend, is much higher.

However, not all in the city reeks of impending doom. Everyone in the city has rights to do anything under the sun and is even rewarded by the government as a form of currency called 'monetriads', an allegory of what we know as NFTs.

In fact, Virtually Lost has a repertoire of such allegories. For example, "What a piece of work," is the name of one of its chapters, a metaphor of the Shakespearean quote and how the admins of the city have managed to replicate real-life profiles.

While Manisha stands as a strong woman protagonist, there are other characters worth describing. Xaria, a sixteen-year-old, demonstrates how teenagers are shaped if they are addicted to too much social media. Xaria is one of the staunch Jupiterists. She is much more well-mannered and logical than most humans. Yet, she has no idea of privacy and continues prodding Manisha's mind until she is insulted by her. Aadyot is another interesting character; a child genius and one of the few people who had a theoretical framework to escape Pathabhrashta, his dreams never materialised due to his physical disability. The challenges and vulnerability tackled by the wheelchair-bound Aadyot provides us an insight into the lives of the differently abled.

Individualism, as a science-fiction theme was widely explored between the phase of 1940s to 1970s. The likes of Fahrenheit 451 or Animal Farm provided us a beacon for "individual thought". Contemporary science fiction, on the other hand, are low on speculation of future. Whilst they do have ornamental futuristic themes, they address the socio-political reality of current age as they see fit in such future settings.

While themes of the individualism remain a rarity in contemporary sci-fi, turning through the crisp pages of Virtually Lost is a nostalgia for ardent followers of the genre.