Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall...

Does speaking on a cell phone make us so stupid for the time being that we lose all sense of where we are and what we are doing? Or does it have something to do with the fact that any hint of a reflective surface evokes uncontrollable desire of self scrutiny from the human beings around?

A few minutes ago we were sitting inside the office cafeteria just next to the glass walls. Suddenly, this girl comes from nowhere, lost in conversation over a cell phone, and stands just outside the glass pane. As we looked up from our food to find out what she was up to, she started making faces at us. It took us a few moments to realize that the glass wall had a two way pane. While we saw her clearly, she saw only her own reflection outside.

She kept walking up and down with the phone, and whenever she came close to the glass, she stopped and looked at her face closely. She patted her hair, scratched her chin, blinked her eyes, and even glanced sideways to catch a glimpse of her profile. After a while she went away. By that time we were choking with laughter inside.

What I found surprising is the fact that the girl is also an employee here, and she knows very well that the glass around the cafeteria is a two way mirror. Yet, she forgot that for the time being. Was it the urge to preen herself in the mirror, or was it due to the cell phone call that she was attending? Or did both the factors add up to extract this ridiculous behaviour from her?

It is scary to think that I may also be making a public spectacle of myself in a similar manner several times a day and I’m not even aware of it.

6 comments:

  1. Hota Hai
    Duniya Hai
    Chalta Hai
    such things happen 2 everybody.... even if u get "caught" in such a situation learn to appear cool... i.e. donn be too self-consious ;) :)

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  2. 'Humraj' movie me aisa scene tha. About amisha patel. Anyway this shows that Girls was conscious about her looks even though she was talking on cell. That is great. She want her counterpart to experience her best image via cell. That is dedication.

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  3. Well, to begin with why do u think this behavior to be ‘ridiculous’ and hence ascribe it to being ‘stupid’ or having ‘uncontrollable desire of self scrutiny’? Have u thought of another perspective namely that this girl is confident about herself and thus likes herself so much so as to not care whether her colleagues are making fun of what she was doing or intended to do including making faces at the two way mirror( whose existence is known to her) or beautifying herself ? May be just what u term as “a public spectacle” was not at all a spectacle to her – may be it was her statement of not caring at all for other’s restrictive and preformatted opinions/reactions!!

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  4. @aurindam: She wasn't self conscious at all!

    @abhijit: I didn't see the movie. I think she was doing it rather absent mindedly, not deliberately to improve her looks!

    @anonymous: ... and maybe you are thinking too much. I wrote what seemed funny to me.Whether she did it because of her confidence or her stupidity is the least of my concerns.

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  5. Well, dear writer sir, Say, u do something out of confidence and others term it as funny - in my mind that won’t be fair assessment. So your correlation between considering something funny and its reason of confidence or stupidity to be of least concern to people who have knowledge, sensitivity and creativity is something worrisome.
    Besides, I thought writing/reading/commenting on blogs are meant to be thought provoking not just roadside adda!!!

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  6. Ughhh!!!I got to be careful the next time am talking on the cell phone...am wrapped up in a conversation verrryyyy easily to realise if im fiddling around with my hair or looks.....good warning reading your blogg!!thanks for the message!

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