The Insinuating Trend of Memes

 

There's this theory of evolution preached by legendary biologist Charles Dickens. He states all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual's ability to compete, survive, and reproduce. From apparent history, human beings evolved from Homo sapiens. But I'm afraid they are again revealing few traits of primates and descending on to reverse evolution. If we look at our young generation - they seem to possess an attention span of monkeys and bulging bodies of chimpanzees. And, no matter how disoriented, disappointing they are; no matter how stupid or intelligent a youngster is... no matter how acclaimed or insignificant... irrespective of anything; everyone is proficient at one thing: Meme Sharing.

In this rudimentary world of acronyms and GIFs, everyone loves memes, and everyone shares them. A good meme can make your day. Whereas a subtle, scurrilous meme could unveil your biases.

However, what's particularly astonishing in today's generation is that they remember news events based on the quality and quantity of memes shared. For instance, they might be profusely enlightened about Ananya Pandya's struggle story but unaware of the abrogation of Article 377 in Jammu & Kashmir. The other day, my friend called and questioned my GK just because I didn't know the meaning of the word 'BOMBOCLAST.'

And you know, people intensely love the memes they create and share. Under the euphemistic veil of creative writing, I have also seen people taking ZOOM workshops to hone their meme-making skills. Recent fashion goes like this: they will tweet a meme, upload a screenshot of that on the Facebook wall and Instagram story, and never ignore their late-night WhatsApp story... (Did I forget to mention Snapchat!)

Doubtlessly, memes have subdued our lives. Not a day passes by in which we remain untouched by one or the other meme. People have created random pages and popularised them just for the creation and uploading of memes. Even CBSE started sharing memes to spread exam awareness through 'before exam, after exam' memes. And, this trend is like a bottomless pit. Even Elon Musk (Minister of Innovation and Space of Umm...Rica or to the uninitiated, Aamir Khan of USA) hired a person in his company for PR after seeing his memes on Twitter.

Anyway, after all, the accepting truth is nobody hates a good meme. But the biggest problem occurs when, and I say this after a lot of the first-hand experience, it happens when you are unable to comprehend the funny part in the meme shared by your friend. You see other people reacting with invertible faces and sarcastically commenting upon it. And suddenly, your intellectual starvation dawns upon you; what lacking remained in educational & social upbringing that this meme seems like a bouncer. In those fleeting moments, we tend to question our existence on earth. We become anxious and think about the latest trends we have missed. What new (read: irrelevant) TV show have we not watched? Which sagacious article of Times of India have we missed? One conjectures when will they might reach the epitome of memesplaining intelligence where they would be proficient enough to discern hidden implications behind every meme.

Alas, this insinuating trend of memes has gone too far. I am afraid the day is not far away when Ivy League Universities will offer specialized courses on the emerging field of meme creation. Until then, in case you find yourself with nothing to do, redeem the banality of your lives through memes.