People watching

It has never been as much fun as it is now

One of my favourite sports – as regular readers will know – is people-watching. I indulge in this while eating out at restaurants, at airports, in shopping malls, well, nearly everywhere I can snoop on unsuspecting folk. I check out the latest fashions, eavesdrop on conversations to get inspiration for this column, and try and spot the latest social mores while I am at it. 

 

Of late, though, I find that I have the most fun people-watching when I am on my daily walks. As I wander through, eyes hidden behind my sunglasses, I can take in every interaction of strangers without them being any the wiser. And when you have your airpods in without the music turned on, the most amazing snippets of conversations waft by as you stride along – I can’t tell you how much fun it is filling in those blanks.

 

What strikes me the most, however, on these daily excursions is how much social media has changed the way we behave in public. Yesterday afternoon, for instance, I decided to take a breather on a bench near the amphitheater at Sunder Nursery. Scarcely had I settled down when my attention was caught by a group of middle-aged women who had been picnicking nearby. Midway between packing up their paraphernalia, the ladies suddenly lined up to be photographed by a passing stranger. But instead of just smiling at the camera, they all struck a typical Shah Rukh Khan pose (arms akimbo, torso bent) giggling all the while, as they made what I can only assume was a reel for Insta. There wasn’t the slightest sign of any self-consciousness, or any awareness that they were in a public space where people might stop and stare at them. 

 

But wait! I took a good look around and nobody – absolutely nobody! – was stopping and staring. And that’s because almost everyone else in the vicinity was in the midst of their own performance on social media. There were a group of teenagers down the steps of the amphitheater who were doing a Tik-Tok-type dance number. There were a few mothers taking videos of their over-excited kids who were careering around on bicycles, yelling at the top of their voices. There were the young lovers folded into each other, taking selfies at improbable angles to get the monuments in the background. And that’s before you began counting the professional-style photo-shoots, with serious-looking cameras and lighting assistants.  

 

So, Shakespeare had it right, after all. To (roughly) paraphrase The Bard, the whole world really is a stage and men and women merely performers.  

 

But what truly surprised me about this scene was how we seem to have lost all our inhibitions when it comes to behaving in public. I remember being embarrassed as a teenager when somebody asked me to pose for a picture. I certainly wouldn’t have dreamed of sticking my tongue out and putting my fingers up in a ‘peace-out’ gesture. As for doing a Shah Rukh Khan pose anywhere where other people may be watching; forget it! 

 

I guess that marks me out as old school in a world that now runs on different rules when it comes to public behaviour. Not that I am complaining – after all, people-watching has never been as much fun as it is now.