'I' on the high!

The policeman kept circling the streets
Not a man visible, walking..
144 was in motion, a court judgement the cause
But as he entered the street that led to the bus terminus
A sight at the far end angered him and the engine roared
A sight of 5 men pouring kerosene over a government bus
His 'Royal Enfield' sped but the fire had already been set
And the men had escaped, a van nearby the culprit..
As he reached the bus set aflame
His engine slowed and he stopped his vehicle..
The flames seemed to intensify by every minute
And the policeman looked at it helpless and troubled
It had happened under his watch..
He quickly got down and called his team
Patrolling nearby, informing them of the situation
When came walking a young teenager, from an adjacent street
Who after staring at the bus set on fire for a minute
Looked at the policeman and pointing to the burning bus
Uttered a statement that stunned the policeman..

None of the other ghosts understood
Why 'Scarie' was upset
"A few people cannot be scared..
Don't worry if someone stared at you silently
Without shouting or screaming..
It's just a part of a ghost's life!" said 'Creepie'
Trying to convince 'Scarie'..
But 'Scarie' was not ready to be convinced
He had had the strangest of reactions..
Continual forcing from the ghosts' side
And a stern look from his mom
'Scarie' finally told them what had happened..
When he had gone to scare a girl
Who had been standing alone on a terrace
The wind making her hair dance across her face..
It had been midnight
The most auspicious time 
And 'Scarie' had pounced upon her
Expecting a very high-pitched scream
Only to have the girl look at him in awe
And utter the most shocking statement to 'Scarie'..

The teenager on seeing the burning bus

The girl on seeing 'Scarie' ghost 

Had uttered the same statement

A statement that had shocked and stunned

Not just the brave policeman

But so also the threatening 'Scarie' ghost..

The statement had been a very simple one

One of just five words

But it had had an effect unmatched and unequaled

The statement:

Shall we take a selfie?!

****

'Selfie in our home', 'Selfie in our room', 'Selfie in our kitchen', 'Selfie in our toilet', 'Selfie with our door', 'Selfie with our window', 'Selfie with my bat','Selfie with my ball', 'Selfie with one eye closed', 'Selfie with both eyes closed', 'Selfie with my toungue out', 'Selfie with my mehandi', 'Selfie with my boyfriend/girlfriend', 'Selfie with my best friend', 'Selfie with my ordinary friend', 'Selfie with my sister', 'Selfie with my mother', 'Selfie with my grandmother', 'Selfie with my dead grandfather', 'Selfie with my puppy', 'Selfie with our maid servant', 'Selfie with our apartment security-guard', 'Selfie with the man at the supermarket counter', 'Selfie with the bus conductor', 'Selfie with a passer-by', 'Selfie with an auto-rickshaw', 'Selfie with a bicycle', 'Selfie with the road', 'Selfie with the sky', 'Selfie with a stone', 'Selfie with a leaf', 'Selfie with a dried leaf', 'Selfie with a flower', 'Selfie with a dead flower' - Finally, 'Selfie with myself' and much worse,'Selfie without myself'!

This is a very short list of the general 'selfie' terms used on the social networks. The entire list probably would be lengthier than the human genome sequence!

"Find something more important than you are and dedicate your life to it." goes a quote by Dan Dennett.

But we, on the contrary, seem to be always on the lookout to drag ourselves even into the smallest of the things that we do or rather, the things that happen because of us/the things that happen around us.

In a world dominated by social networks, in a time when 'tweets' and 'fb-statuses' seem to be given more importance than handshakes and hugs, 'selfies' only seem to be making the scenario worse - especially the 'single-person-selfies'.

These 'selfies' seem to be making us selfish.

Yes. They are definitely a boon when we are alone. They are indeed as harmless as butterflies. But they also seem to be making us more hesitant to come out of our 'cocoon' phase. And that exactly shows the reason as to why 'selfies' should not be allowed to dominate the 'self'.

'Selfies' have now become an irremovable part of our lives and I have no damn business to deny anybody the right to take a 'selfie'. I might, actually, even pose for a few.

But let's just take care that these 'selfies' come and go in our lives when we are alone and do not, actually, become a cause for us being lonely.

They are, after all, just a poor substitute for our mirrors.