Rema’s Ramblings – Thoughts and Musings from Mumbai to Miami
When the Picture Matters More Than the Place
Growing up in Mumbai, we had no social media. The internet did not even exist then. Today, of course, people practically live their lives on social media. I can understand wanting to share moments, milestones, or experiences online. What I still struggle to understand, however, is the rise in popularity of influencers — and wannabe influencers — who simply pose for photographs, post them on Instagram, and collect a flurry of likes.
This phenomenon, so common in Western countries, is now clearly visible in India as well. I witnessed it firsthand during a recent trip to Udaipur with my family. Recently, I was in Udaipur, India with my family. While seeing the sights in this beautiful city, we visited a garden called “Saheliyon ki bari”. As I was walking in, I happened to notice many young women also entering, with their respective friends or significant others. What caught my attention was how dressed up many of them were — skirts or dresses styled carefully, accessorized with belts, booties, jewelry, and more. I assumed that there must be some sort of event at the garden which all these people were attending. Boy, was I wrong.
It soon became apparent that these young women were there for one purpose alone: to pose for photographs at the garden’s scenic spots, presumably to post later on social media. At every site within the garden, in front of trees, bushes and fountains, we saw these young ladies posing, while their companions dutifully took photo after photo. It was quite hilarious because very few people seemed to want to enjoy the beauty of the locale – they only wanted to capture their own beauty. The men, in particular, seemed to have a very specific role – photographer – and I imagine that they were being critically evaluated on the quality of every shot.
Life is so busy as it is, that I sometimes wonder what the world has come to, when millions of people spend so much time scrolling through photos and videos of random strangers on the internet. Do we really have nothing better to do than to fuel this artificial popularity and provide so-called influencers with yet another way to earn an income?
In a world busy chasing likes and perfect pictures, I still find myself wondering when we stopped pausing simply to look around and take it all in.
About the Author:
Rema Deo is the Managing Director at 24By7Security, a Cybersecurity and Compliance Consulting firm. She lives in South Florida with her husband. A proud mother of twin boys, she is also an active member of the local Indian community. In addition to the professional responsibilities of her function, Rema enjoys the multi-cultural aspect of the job especially as it involves learning different languages, traveling to different countries and meeting and working with people of different backgrounds and cultures. Rema is actively involved in the South Florida community and serves as a Board Member of the Indian Regional and Cultural Center, and has also served on the Board of Trustees of the North Broward Preparatory School.
