FACE-TO-FACE WITH FACEBOOK
(By Subbaram Danda)
I had my own trepidations, when I was considering my entry into the wonderland of the Facebook. Being a senior citizen, I was not sure whether I would fit into its framework neatly. But, after I saw the photos of some men with nice silvery hair and a few women with beautifully dyed tresses, my qualms vanished into thin air. I took the plunge.
My first impression of the photographs of the members of the Facebook is a delightful mixture of awe and disbelief. Some pictures have been so closely cropped that the foreheads are gone. In some, only one eye is visible! Of course, missing ears, chin, mouth and nose are quite common. In one photo of a couple – a tall man with a somewhat short woman – the man’s top half of the head has been chopped off!!
Cosmetic surgery
I do not know the reason for this logic-defying cosmetic surgery of the faces. My guess is as good as yours.
And then there are photos of the leading lights of the silver screen and the idiot box in glamorous poses but the corresponding names are different. What an ingenious way people adopt to mask their own faces!
How can there be pictures of tiny tots, when children are not permitted to enter this exclusive world of the teens and the adults? “Don’t worry, the elders have used the pictures of their young kith and kin to stand for their own,” I have been reassured. Of course, there are pictures of flowers, animals, rifles, other inanimate objects, natural sceneries and cartoon characters representing the faces of the members.
Artist's delight
What strikes me as most interesting is the availability of two caricatures, one of a man and the other of a woman, for persons who do not want to use their own photos. The outline figure of the woman looks dignified but the other can only be an artist’s delight. I don’t know what to call it -- a sharp horn-like thing projecting out of the head of the man ! By default, my face was originally represented by the caricature but soon I made amends by replacing it with my own photo.
What strikes me as most interesting is the availability of two caricatures, one of a man and the other of a woman, for persons who do not want to use their own photos. The outline figure of the woman looks dignified but the other can only be an artist’s delight. I don’t know what to call it -- a sharp horn-like thing projecting out of the head of the man ! By default, my face was originally represented by the caricature but soon I made amends by replacing it with my own photo.
At the end of the day, as I muse, I have but to admire the faces on the Facebook. No doubt, they offer a varied and enjoyable fare. It is all fun, I agree.
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