Ahmedabad:Â Â Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s selfies are all the rage in China. He would be pleased to note that in his home state Gujarat, a course on selfie-taking is on offer.
A group of students in Ahmedabad have been taking classes on how to take a picture of themselves – a selfie — in a technically perfect way.
A learning programme – that is how Aditi Raval, a former radio jockey, advertises the two-week ‘Selfiegraphers’ course she’s started in association with Ahmedabad’s LJ College. She charges a cool Rs 2,500 for a two-week course.
But isn’t a selfie just about clicking a spontaneous, “I was here” photo? “No, it’s not,” says 29-year-old Ms Raval. “It’s about expressing yourself, visually telling a story about ‘you,’ creating a portrait of ‘you,’ so why not indulge in the technically perfect selfie?’
Ms Raval is a self-declared selfie-freak who got a lot of requests for advice on how to click selfies, on her Facebook page. That’s why she started this course. She’s also hired a professional photographer, who provides tips about the best lighting and angles.
There’s some quasi-amateur psychology thrown into the course too. “I realized that there is a psychological part also involved, so I have roped in a psychologist as well, who delivers lectures on the advantages and disadvantages of selfies,” Ms Raval says.
Whatever it is, it’s working. Ms Raval got 150 applications for 20 seats in her first batch.
“It’s more about creating a self-portrait in a right way. When I used to click selfies it used to be done randomly, but now I have realized that if we consider light aspects we will look better,” says Nisargi Patel, a college student.
Ms Raval insists that it’s not about getting addicted to selfies but about doing them the right way.