SELFIE

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.