Just a selfie

The selfie epidemic is contagious You will catch it if you have a cameraphone Nobody is immune from it from Narendra Modi to Barack Obama to Sonam Kapoor and yours truly We have all clicked our own pictures eating posing with family or celebrities or near monuments and during important moments We document it for posterity delete it if embarrassing share with friends and family who are far away post it on social media for FB likes and retweets Momentary vanity or embarrassing moment it is a thrill that you want to relish or keep foreverDanish Prime Minister became somewhat of an Internet sensation when she clicked a selfie with President Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron at Nelson Mandelarsquos funeral Sitting beside the trio was Michelle Obama looking very disapproving The incident evoked a lot of debate on what is appropriate behaviour on taking selfies especially for celebrities and heads of state and governmentUS President Barack Obama R and British PM David Cameron pose for a selfie with Denmarkrsquos PM Helle Thorning Schmidt C at Nelson Mandelarsquos funeral This incident evoked a lot of debate on what is appropriate behaviour on taking selfies especially for celebrities and leaders PicGetty ImagesCloser home Narendra Modi got into some trouble when he clicked a selfie after he voted because the BJP election symbol was prominently displayed near the voting booth FIRs were registered against him for ldquomanner in which the symbol lotus of the BJP was being displayed by him thereby displaying to the public election matter by means of television in areas going to polls todayrdquo Clearly not much happened to that case as Mr Modi is now in Race Course Road and wherever he goes people get selfies clicked with him He is the prime minister and who wouldnrsquot want to be clicked with the Prime Minister of IndiaBut itrsquos not as simple as that At a press interaction dubbed as Diwali Milan on Saturday at the BJP headquarters in downtown Delhi several journalists got their pictures clicked with the prime minister Though technically not a selfie since a selfie has to be clicked by one these pictures are selfportraits with a VIP Is it appropriate That depends on what you define as appropriate behaviour for journalists There are some who would not hesitate in accepting a government flat by a chief minister or prime minister through some quota but will not be clicked shaking hands with him So long as an image of propriety can be maintained a lsquoproperrsquo distance from the celebrity shown mdash not necessarily practiced mdash it is lsquookayrsquo The same way as music and dance critics enjoy vacations and cozy dinners with artistes or movie critics get all expenses paid vacations from PR agencies of stars So long as nobody posts a picture and it is not written about it is kosherHere I must mention that I did get a photograph taken with Mr Modi Just as I did with Dr Manmohan Singh when he was the prime minister But there was no Twitter to post it thenOn Wednesday CNNrsquos star anchor Anderson Cooper scolded a Sun News contributor for asking him to take a selfie near the scene of the Ottawa Parliament shooting ldquoNo I will not take a photo with you on a day where someone was killedrdquo Cooper said ldquoIt seems wildly inappropriaterdquo The reporter then tweeted ldquoAnderson Cooper exploits Ottawa shooting by flying to Ottawa but has decency to criticise me for asking for a photordquoThe selfie and selfportrait appropriateness rules for journalists are not up yet For politicians and celebrities itrsquos still a hit and miss At the infamous Madison Square garden journalist versus bhakt incident there were several people clicking selfies mdash with Rajdeep Sardesai doing his standupper in the background mdash and then either stood mute when the scuffle broke out or engaged in sloganeering against himCelebrities are nowadays posting selfies or selfportraits of cleaning streets and picking up garbage The SwachhBharat movement is as much about personalities marketing hashtags and the Internet as it is about cleaning IndiaDoes posting a selfie with a broom mean that the celebrity will never litter again Nope It is unlikely that the celeb will pick up his dogrsquos poop or sweep the street in his neighborhood once the cameras leave Does clicking a selfie with the PM mean that Mr Modi is going to grant every film of Sonam Kapoorrsquos a taxfree status Err nope Does it mean that journalists will not be critical of Mr Modi and his government just because they have clicked a picture with the PM Nope It is just a selfie A selfie doesnrsquot a spine breakSmita Prakash is Editor News at Asian News International You can follow her on twitter smitaprakash