“From where I am seeing I AM the center of the universe”  -Sebastyne Young.

Selfies have fascinated me, right from the first time I came to know of them after Ellen DeGeneres’ star studded Selfie at the 2014 Oscars. I am not a big fan of them, its just that observing people performing this act of digital self portraiture intrigues me no end. More often than not I find them tending towards being comic. In saying so I do not want to offend anyone who loves taking Selfies; I myself take quite a few selfies to document my solitary ramblings. In fact even in friendly gatherings I end up clicking the groupfies by virtue of having longer arms. 

Nevertheless, I find people trapped in their ‘selfie zorb’ quite entertaining. Yes I call it a ‘selfie zorb’, because it seems so captivating that a person becomes totally unaware of his whereabouts or the world around him. It is just like zorbing down a slope where you can be seen by everyone but you are not in a state to observe anything outside. 

People conjure up unusual facial expressions that can hardly be associated with any of the known human emotions. Often they turn out to be hilarious for an observing bystander. The utmost obliviousness that engulfs a person during the making of a selfie is very curious. Many a time I have been critical about it but then I know I have no right to do so. It’s ultimately someone’s personal choice as long as he owns a smart phone. Why should I have anything to say? But having said that, I still have apprehensions. 

Humans inherently, to various extents have a tendency to be self centred. In such a scenario, is this new fad not aggravating this narcissistic trait? Does it bode well for humans who by definition are social animals? In todays market driven world and times; where the market decides which cereal we take for breakfast to what car we drive; aren’t the mobile companies through their rampant ‘megapixel marketing’ pushing people away from each other? The phone which was invented to connect people is in current times doing everything to disconnect individuals.

During one of my trips recently I chanced upon this person who was hell bent on taking ‘extreme’ selfies of himself. I could not help feeling extremely amused watching and capturing his antics.