My most memorable selfie
Much as I don’t like this word “selfie” and prefer the original and very elegant word used by photographers – “self portrait”, no one can deny that it has become second nature to millennials and many others alike. At the same time, sometimes when one is alone and there’s no one to capture a particular moment, the “self portrait” tool on phones, or the “selfie” comes most handy!
Since this post is about my most memorable selfie, there’s one that captures one of the most thrilling moments of my life. As we all know, India and Pakistan share a border at many locations. Wagah border at Amritsar is one such location and there is much fanfare at the beating retreat everyday over there. There is a high level of security as well, understandably. I’m a partition grandchild. Both sets of my grandparents migrated from Punjab’s portion in Pakistan, much like almost all Delhites’. In May 1947 my paternal grandfather had got a brand new Haveli constructed that they had to leave in a tearing hurry in August 1947. My maternal grandparents had a similar fate. As a result, even though we share a bitter sweet relationship with our neighbouring country, I have always wanted to visit Pakistan and retrace the steps of my grandparents. I don’t know if THAT is possible at all, but I always wanted to be as close to it as possible and took the second best thing – visiting the borders of our country.
So a few months back I visited Wagah border at Amritsar. Of course once there, one realises borders are merely a man made construct for our own consumption. Humans are more tied down with this social construct and relatively animals and birds cross them freely! I could see stray dogs and birds cross from India to Pakistan and vice versa, throughout the time I was there. But of course us humans have no such luck!
Then came a point, when through special permission I could get to a specific portion of the wagah border where there’s absolutely nothing except for a short fence. Both Indian and Pakistani rangers stand side by side protecting it and patrolling this area. Beyond this all one can see is greenery and wheat farms. It’s the complete opposite of the heavy gates just a few metres away.
Much to my excitement a Pakistani ranger was standing right there within touching distance! Of course I didn’t try to touch him, but I could just not believe that if I stretched my arm, it would be in Pakistani air space!
It was one of the most thrilling moments of my life! And Without much ado I quickly captured a selfie with the Pakistani ranger in the frame! However I had used my trusted old ipad3 for this selfie and Sadly as you can see I would have liked to capture my full face as well as more of the border, the beautiful wheat farms, the green lawns & lovely lillies on the Pakistan side. And well, some birds flying across both countries would have been “sone par suhaga”. I think if I had had a good selfie camera phone like Mobiistar with its dual selfie camera that captures a 120° wide-angle shot, I may have had some shot at my desired image! However I was and will always be very excited that at least I got to capture one of the most thrilling moments of my life. Of course, if possible I would love to revisit this location with a better selfie experience phone and capture many more shots at this location with a lot more in view.
Which is your most memorable selfie? Do share in comments.
This post was written as part of an activity on Indiblogger.in
