Episode 74: The Selfie Loan: When an Influencer Borrows to Maintain a Lifestyle for Likes
Series: Broken by Burden: Financial Survival Strategies for the Troubled Mind
Date: 12-Sept-2025
🎭 The Filtered Fall
Main Character:
- Rhea Malhotra, 27 — a popular fashion and lifestyle influencer based in Delhi.
Once a mass media student, now an “Insta icon” with 83.7k followers, sponsored posts, and a digital life that gleams brighter than reality.
Supporting Characters:
- Aarav, 29 — her longtime boyfriend, a digital marketing executive, practical, emotionally grounded.
- Neha, 26 — her influencer peer and frenemy who constantly posts luxury hauls and foreign vacations.
- Mr. Malhotra, her retired father who still believes his daughter writes for a magazine.
🌍 The Rise of the Ring Light Queen
Rhea’s journey started with a ₹15 ring light from Lajpat Nagar, borrowed clothes, and a natural eye for composition. In a year, she rose from shooting content in her bedroom to sipping matcha at Khan Market cafes and tagging sponsored brands.
When a fast-fashion brand offered her ₹12,000 for a reel, she cried. Not out of joy. Out of the belief that her struggle was finally paying off.
Her followers grew. So did her expenses.
- A rented 1BHK in South Delhi.
- iPhone 14 Pro Max — on EMI.
- Weekly nail extensions, hair spa, clothes for content shoots.
- A rented DSLR and a part-time editor.
- And eventually… a ₹3.5 lakh personal loan to upgrade her “lifestyle.”
Because being seen was now her profession. And influence had become debt in disguise.
📸 Life Behind the Lens
Instagram Post:
🧥 “Woke up in Milan vibes ✨#OOTD #LuxuryOnFleek”
📍Tagged location: Delhi
📷 Outfit: Rented
📉 Reality: Credit card maxed out
💔 The Breaking Point
One rainy evening, Aarav found Rhea sitting on the floor — surrounded by unopened PR boxes and a notice of loan default from a finance company.
Aarav: “Rhea… you took another loan? For a luxury bag?”
Rhea (mumbling): “They don’t care about captions anymore, Aarav. They want Gucci, Dior, Dubai.”
Aarav: “But do you want that? Or do you want them to want you?”
Rhea (crying): “I wanted to matter. Just once. I wanted to feel… enough.”
And she admitted it.
She hadn’t paid her rent for two months.
Her bank had frozen one account.
Her mental health was crumbling.
And the dopamine from likes? Faded in minutes.
🧠 Character Psychology
- Rhea: A product of digital validation culture. Chasing applause without pausing to check if the stage is real. Conditioned to believe visibility equals worth.
- Aarav: A mirror to her chaos. Not controlling, but deeply worried. Believes in purpose, not pretense.
- Neha: Competitive. Often photoshops her own reality. She too is drowning, but won’t admit it.
- Mr. Malhotra: Proud and blissfully unaware. Still tells his pensioner friends that “Rhea writes for fashion magazines.”
This isn’t a story of greed. It’s a story of a generation trading truth for trends.
📉 The Emotional Debt of Influence
At 27, Rhea had:
- 8 credit cards
- 3 personal loans
- 0 peace of mind
- And millions of impressions — but no lasting impression on herself
💡 What This Story Teaches Us
- Invisibility is not failure
Being unknown is not shameful. Pretending to be someone you’re not is far more damaging. - Followers don’t equal financial security
Brands will pay for reach, not for your rent. Income fluctuates. Debt doesn’t. - Social media is a highlight reel, not a bank statement
The likes, the DMs, the applause — they’re fleeting. But loans and mental health scars? Those linger. - You don’t need to borrow to belong
You are not a prop in someone else’s movie. You’re the whole story.
🛠️ Practical Advice for Aspiring Influencers
- Start small, stay real: Authenticity builds sustainable brand trust — not just virality.
- Separate business from personal expenses: Don’t buy ring lights with rent money.
- Avoid debt for aesthetics: No reel is worth a loan EMI.
- Have a fallback plan: Always keep upskilling. Don’t let your brand die with an algorithm change.
🌱 Where She Is Now
Rhea took a pause. Deleted her account for 3 weeks. Started freelancing for an ethical clothing brand.
She now teaches school girls digital literacy — helping them see that beauty isn’t just in filters.
“I was popular,” she later said. “But now, I feel powerful — without the pressure.”
Episode 75: The Broken Piggy Bank — When a Child’s Savings Fund Is Used Without Consent
In the next episode, a young boy in Lucknow carefully saves for a bicycle in his piggy bank. But one morning, he finds it empty — and his trust in his parents, shaken. Sometimes, betrayal comes with familiar faces.
⚠️ Disclaimer:
This blog series aims to highlight emotional and financial truths through fictionalized narratives based on real societal patterns. Names, places, and characters are changed for privacy. Please consult certified financial and mental health professionals if you’re struggling with similar issues.
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