Sent this for a column in a daily. it has not yet seen the virtue of being published in a publication.
Thought, nevertheless will share it on my blog.
An evening with my child at the famed flower show at Lalbagh, Bengaluru recently offered me an insight to human psychology. This was of immense significance when I reviewed on Indian behavior broadly at public spaces. It was supposed to be just an evening where my four-year-old and me, would get to admire the flower bloom at the glass house in the spectacular garden.
As anticipated there was a huge beeline of people who had made time to view the flower spectacle; parents with tiny tots, honeymooners, school-going-students, bunch of friends, women returning from work with colleagues, senior citizens and virtually every category had their representatives.
But what caught my eye distinctly and I also happened to dwell upon it every moment, I spent in the cordoned area. Amazingly every single person from each family or friend’s group was flashing out his or her swanky mobile to capture the flower spectacle.
If not, they were busy focusing their camera lenses on their loved ones with the flower spread at the background.
There were several who had bought along fancy cameras and mobiles to capture individual flowers at close-up shots. Several parents were interested to feature their kids in front of the carved flower designs that resembled angry birds to faintly resembling vegetables like chillies and mushrooms.
It really didn’t matter if these people were amateur ones or seasoned photographers. It was also hilarious and understand people that they were trying hard to not to be in each other’ family’s photo frames even amidst the rush and continuous piling of people.
Even the khaki clad security force after blowing their whistles in a routine tune and uttering constantly, “ Mundhe hogi, jasthi hotthu ninthkobedi” (Move forward, do not stand in one place for too long) understood the sentiments of the visitors. People had paid Rs.40/- to capture the flower show, more importantly their moments of being at the show on digital gadgets than preserve it through naked eyes. They allowed each family to get one picture at least before being asked to move forward.
Perhaps we humans, specifically Indians love to capture our outdoor visits in photographs and videos. Be it any holiday destination, a picnic spot, a fancy restaurant or even an off-the-beat event like a flower show – we just cannot get enough of our digital obsession.