P.S I love me - by sagarika Ghose

Review of..
Article by : Sagarika Ghose
Published on : TOI
Dated : 25th may 2015.

This is a review of Sagarika Ghose’s article “P.S I love me”. If you haven’t yet read the original article, in the interest of context I suggest you to have read that first. Its posted “here”.

These interests of Sagarika, such as brand of Modi’s shawls and talk about selfies etc, reminds of the stereotypical women that we hear & read about in jokes & whatsapp forwards. Are all women really so obsessed with clothing, style, brands and selfies?

              Anyway, talking about the article, this time it isn’t completely just a puke of words with dictionary thrown at face. Although however there are thoughts have wandered off a little bit and does have some big new words from the dictionary. To start with she calls taking selfies as Narcissism! Wasn’t that the thing always about taking photos of people? The second camera on phones have only reduced the dependency of another person only.

              The first paragraph simply summarizes the whole purpose of her article. The Modi-Li selfie became the most viewed with some 32 million views. One of the other stereotypical features of women that we come across is ‘Jealousy’. Is that the driver for the article? Probably none of her selfies got that kind of views? Nevertheless there is certainly some show of knowledge in this paragraph, of other popular selfies taken.

              She goes on to say Great wall, Sphinx etc are only a backdrop purpose to project oneself. Ofcourse Saggu, like you have already called selfies as an act of narcissism, its only purpose is to say I was here at this place, travelled here, afforded a travel to here, was privileged to get here etc. The next paragraph was a good flashback story, atleast to me, walking thru the journey of types of photos we used to have and the technologies used at different times. Interesting though is that she calls us third worlders! What on earth?! What kind of a person & that too  a journo and especially a one who talks so often about secularism call oneself & fellow citizen as third worlders! That’s unpalatable.

              The next paragraph, I am compelled to believe, is just a filler. Makes no sense what so ever. How is a wedding photograph a shrine for our grand children? And what call to duty? Calling for the duty of making dozens of children & grand children? He he. The further part I think something that makes complete sense. For once I might agree to give credit to her. Why bother about mainstream media, who only focuses on biased views, selective messaging and even so focuses on the PM’s suit n shawl? Instead connect with the young guns yourself?

              The last paragraph is the most debatable one. A selfie is relating to end of privacy? Taking a posting a selfie is end of privacy? Really? A picture & the backdrop is all there is to privacy? I don’t know what to say about it. The second line is just an attempt to portray some kind of linking. And a massive failure at that! ‘Like Upanishads talk about connecting Atma to Brahma, selfie connects to the world’? brahma is the world? What analogy? If anything is connecting individuals to the world, I would first give credit to the internet as whole and then comes FB, twitter and then Instagram. The selfie is only a way of show off a.k.a narcissism in Saggu’s dictionary. If really have to relate the selfies to atma & Brahma in that sense, it is more like ‘Aham brahmasmi’ interpreted in the wrong way. Justifying Narcissism.

Conclusion : An article intended out of the fact that Modi’s selfie got 32M views and added with a lot of senseless fillers.