Self-reverential

So I was in New York City on Christmas Eve (yes, I managed to not only bring that into this one-sided conversation, but started off with that.  Deal with it) when my entire definition of “personal space” came crashing down around me.  A man was actually annoyed when I bumped into his extended appendage aka his selfie stick.  Yes that abominable contraption that enables one to freely engage in base narcissism against a variety of backdrops.  Few years down the line, the question “What’s your background?” will invite a whole new answer.  It does not augur well for society that men and women are content to just leave their gaping face as an imprint upon society.  A selfie must not be a substitute for impact.

Don’t get me wrong.  I love photos.  Especially those that are not contaminated by my presence.  Hell, I genuinely wish I had been in New York City on New Year’s Eve just so I could caption my album “Naya Saal, Naya York.  Photos have been a documentation of society. In the case of the selfie however, the true documentation of the breakdown in society lies in the moments between the selfie arm or stick being extended and the photo being clicked.  The variety of weird faces that people make before settling on one.  This is one instance where the “Making of” featurette is more interesting and valuable than the final movie.  And of course, like any abomination created by the new age millennials, hypocrisy is an integral part of it.  People mock and laugh at the selfie stances and poses of others, seconds before sucking in cheeks and puckering lips to initiate their own “masterpiece”.

It reflects a larger failure of a self-obsessed and self-centered generation.  The more we focus on the individual, the more we crumble as a society.  We stay apart in everything else and mostly come together in moments of cruelty.  The mass uprisings and coming together in support of something are but mere flashes in the pan.

It also speaks to the larger insecurity of having to document one’s own life and journey.  It reflects the deep rooted insecurities we have of our place in the world, our path in life and the impact we will leave in this world.  The selfie is just a natural progression from opinionated blogs and essays (yes, yes.  I sense the irony) that have their say and clutter up space without having any real benefit.  The selfie stick, is a barrel.  The barrel of a gun.  A gun that society has squarely aimed at itself.  We are well on our way to selfie remotes and perhaps even selfie drones.  Ironic that in spite of all the images we take of ourselves, we fail to truly take a good hard look at ourselves.  And our duck faces.  We are literally screwing ourselves over with this.  To wit: “Kya kar raha hai, bhai?”  “Selfie le raha hoon.”  “Selfie bole toh? Hindi mein matlab?”  “Bole toh, KHUKDI le raha hoon.”