I have taken selfies before the word ‘selfie’
came into existence. Long ago I used to travel a lot. When I saw buildings or
places that I liked, I took photos. Sometimes I held the camera in front of me
when I took the photos, maybe to prove that I was there. When I got the film
developed and photos printed, I noticed that my face occupied a large part of
the photo, since the camera was closer to me. I soon realised that the building
or place would look better without my face in there.
Today many people take selfies. Even Prime
Ministers and Presidents do it. Cell phones are specially designed to take
selfies and accessories like selfie sticks are widely used. It seems like
people are self obsessed. India has the largest number of selfie deaths in the
world. Young people take selfies in dangerous places and get killed. Sometimes
they stand on a railway track in front of an approaching train to take a selfie
and before they know it the train runs over them. Some stand at the edge of a
cliff to take a selfie and fall off. There are others who take selfies near
wild animals. It seems the number of ‘Likes’ they get when they post it on
social media motivates them to take dangerous selfies.
Then there are people who take selfies at
the site of an accident or terrorist attack. Some of them even smile while
doing so. I hope the selfie is just a passing fad.
