Maximum selfie city

Vanity thy name is not woman anymore. It is man.

A study published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction puts the percentages of men and women exhibiting ‘selfitis’ – the condition of excessive selfie-taking – at around 60 and 40 respectively. One of the authors, Mark D. Griffiths, PhD, informs ‘From a psychological perspective, the taking of selfies is a self-oriented action that allows users to establish their individuality and self-importance; it is also associated with personality traits such as narcissism.’ I am not very sure about the empowerment or individuality it accorded me, but ever since the dawn of selfies, I have been taking at least three a day. This is the threshold number beyond which the American Psychiatry Association assures that you are officially nuts.

If naming the social phenomenon truly heralds its arrival, selfies started in 2013 when Hopey a drunk Australian apologised for an out-of-focus photograph of his broken lips, the aftermath of a drunken party, by calling it ‘selfie’ – the first-ever usage recorded. He just wanted to prompt an online discussion on the stitches that went into his lips but the word went on to make its grand entry into the dictionary as ‘the word of the year’ the very same year. But as a photograph of oneself taken by the person the first selfie has been traced to 1839 when Robert Cornelius, a photography enthusiast from Philadelphia ran into the frame after opening the lens and waited a full minute in front of it before running back and covering it again. While some dismiss this as technically not a selfie since he ran into the frame, it must be remembered that the camera which fits into our palms today was in those days a solid chunk of a non-movable contraption. Even these bulky boxes began to be held up in sticks – what we call ‘selfie sticks’ today – from 1920 onwards! There was the Swede Helmer Larsson who took a cute selfie of him and the missus brandishing what looks like a walking stick with a man on the other end.

Going by the casual and flippant nature of the exercise – where you portray emotions for an audience beginning with just you – it is indeed commendable that selfie as a social phenomenon lasted for so long. Besides the continually evolving technologies at our disposal in terms of megapixels or the sheer number of cameras fitted into one mobile phone, our fascination with selfie continues not just by dint of them being building blocks of visual echo chambers but probably as the closest to realisation of the secret tinsel town dreams each of us harbour. It is then probably safe to say that as long as we continue to be fascinated by cinema, selfies will be around. This is our only available opportunity to hog the limelight, occupy the centre of the frame and decide what the world has to like. This could be why selfies by established stars garner thousands of likes – this is where the twain meets. More than fancy narcissism, stars posting selfies could be a matter of their existence; even though they have fulfilled their own movie star ambitions it is important so that we the hoi polloi, the ticket buyers, don’t lose faith in this make-believe world – their livelihood and good fortune.

Hence it struck me as more than mere coincidence that of all the big cities I have visited in India – I have been to all of them – I found the conquest of the selfie more complete in Mumbai than anywhere else. This is India’s film capital – where people arrive in truckloads to realise their dreams of becoming stars. Once while working on a story for a magazine, an acting school chief pegged the number of those coming to the ‘Maximum City’ everyday to become stars at 5,000. There was this nonpareil dubbing artist I knew in Delhi where I work, who was also a leading theatre actor, who fled to Mumbai as stardust coated his brain. Last heard, he was still doing theatre in Mumbai. Then, Shahrukh Khan is also originally from Delhi. Mumbai is the land of dreams, alright; the type and magnitude you have to decide. Since the chances of being discovered are higher here, everybody is a walking star. When admiration is limited, validation becomes all the more important. Ergo, selfies!

Your time will come – keep taking selfies

Visiting Mumbai during the recently concluded Kala Ghoda Festival, I was besieged by selfie-takers on the festival ground in Fort District. It was the 20^th edition of the famous multicultural festival and I had never visited it despite being in and out of the city during my years in journalism. Then, the average non-student Mumbaikar stays put even today during festival days which takes place in February each year. More than interest on wares on sale or fine arts on display, the quest seemed to be for an arresting backdrop. For selfies, of course. Hence, installations were milled around. The artists themselves seemed to be at pain requesting too many times to leave the horse-rendition of the hourglass alone. No one seemed to be really interested that it represented the healing by time of fragmented emotions to bring out a new spirit denoted by the flow of sand. A tad contrived but nevertheless uplifting.

Helmer Larsson and wife with selfie stick, 1934

A leading newspaper had an open booth from where a long queue emerged: students stood in a snaking line under the sweltering sun awaiting their turn patiently for what seemed to be like an opportunity to photograph themselves sitting on a newsprint sofa. Bouncers kept strict vigil for those who tried to jump the raucous line. A golden globe shimmered and a sea of young humanity surrounded it making it practically unapproachable. A life-size Salman Khan stood next to it shirtless flashing superwhite teeth, a romantic Manga. A selfie magnet, clearly, and some were spotted doffing their shirts regardless of thin torsos, wiry arms or rotund frames.

Hopey uses ‘selfie’ for the first time in 2013

Selfies unite the world. It brings people together in their moments of emancipation and freedom from awkwardness. If you took away politics from a democracy, selfies would dictate, even drive it. One cannot deny that selfies cultivate confidence and poise – I gawked as pages from Elle, GQ and Vogue came alive. I dithered only a bit before the deluge. The quest for the perfect selfie is never a time-suck as long as it doesn’t cost you a limb or life. Heck, they might even come handy when you are required to summon up some random emotion during that walk-in audition even. It is good practise to disassociate from surroundings.

In a snap!

But first, let me take a selfie. (#Selfie, The Chainsmokers) 

(The first three photographs of selfie-takers are from Kala Ghoda festival grounds in Fort District, Mumbai. The wall graffiti is from Dharavi; the other two are Googled images.)