The World of the Selfie

The World of the Selfie

Social service has always been described as selfless—but now it can no longer be selfie-less. Today, service counts only if a camera is present, the angle is right, and a suitably emotional caption is pasted at the end. Sacrifice, penance, and compassion are no longer personal virtues; they’ve become content. Service without a photo is treated like a donation without a receipt—you may have done it, but it can’t be proven.

In a filter-driven life, identity itself comes filtered. One day a boy asked, “Do you recognize me?” The girl looked at him as if he’d committed a crime. “Dude! You like my Insta posts every day and you still don’t recognize me?” She immediately pulled out her phone, opened Instagram, clicked a photo, applied a filter—and only then did the boy recognize her. It wasn’t his fault; he had never seen her without a filter. Real faces are now for private use. Public life runs on filters.

A selfie is no longer a picture; it’s proof. If you ate and didn’t post a photo, society assumes you were fasting. If you rode the metro and didn’t make a reel, consider the journey never happened. Travel today doesn’t end at the destination; it ends at the story highlight.

Instagram has also made some original discoveries, the most important being “Daddy’s Little Angel.” This angel is immortal; age doesn’t apply. Even in a graveyard, if after three hundred men you spot a woman’s grave, the cause of death isn’t listed as natural—it’s written as murder. As if the algorithm simply refuses to believe that women can die of ordinary reasons too.

Boys, meanwhile, have acquired invisible powers. Some have become so “dangerous” they don’t even know from which angle they look threatening. And those very boys keep their accounts private, as if a Katrina Kaif dance were a matter of national security. The fun part? The reels are made precisely for the ones they don’t want to show—everyone else exists merely to maintain the illusion.

In truth, the world of the selfie is an epic of narcissism. Here, everyone is a hero, every frame is the Mahabharata, and every filter slaughters the truth. The world has moved so far ahead that there’s no time left to look back—besides, the back angle doesn’t show up on camera.

Service is no longer for the joy of giving; it’s for the joy of one’s own image. Our happiness no longer arises from easing someone else’s pain, but from seeing our own face on a screen. A selfie introduces us to ourselves—though it’s often love at first sight, with no second person involved.

People no longer smile at people; they smile only while taking selfies. The addiction is such that sometimes a foot slips, sometimes someone drowns in a river and loses their life—but the camera stays on till the last moment. This is self-love at its peak—pouts, strange faces, selfies with dogs, with cows and buffaloes. Humans no longer need another human to take a picture with.

If there’s an accident, a group selfie is essential before taking the patient to the doctor, so the future knows we were present. Today, a person is alone but not lonely—alone, blissful, and busy—taking selfies.

Once upon a time there were black-and-white photographs, taken once every year or two. Families were large, fitting everyone into one frame was difficult, and waiting for the film to be developed was as sweet as relationships themselves. Old albums are now vaults of memory; today’s photos are drafts for deletion. Every moment is captured—and every moment erased. The pout isn’t right? Delete. The pose is off? Delete. Perhaps this is what progress means: a world where memories aren’t permanent, only filters are.

— डॉ. मुकेश ‘असीमित’

 मेरी व्यंग्यात्मक पुस्तकें खरीदने के लिए लिंक पर क्लिक करें – “Girne Mein Kya Harz Hai” और “Roses and Thorns”
Notion Press –Roses and Thorns अंतिम दर्शन का दर्शन शास्त्र

 संपर्क: [email protected]

 संपर्क: [email protected]

 YouTube Channel: Dr Mukesh Aseemit – Vyangya Vatika