Viswanathan K's Thoughts

Check out old photos of most Indians, and you’ll see that they didn’t know how to smile for the camera. They either didn’t smile at all, or they had a very tortured expression attempting to smile. Things have changed only after social media and selfies took over everyone’s lives. But even before social media, the expression of Indians in photos stood in sharp contrast to that of Americans. Seth Stephens-Davidowitz makes an interesting observation in his best-seller, Everybody Lies : “(Americans) went from nearly stone-faced at the start of twentieth century to beaming by the end. So why the change? Did Americans get happier?” Nope, wrong answer. The correct answer is far more interesting. Even better, it starts by answering a question most of us didn’t even think about! The first part answers why they had such serious looks to begin with: “When photographs were first invented, people thought of them like paintings. There was nothing else to compare them to. Thus, subject

Point a camera at my one and a half year old niece and she will drop whatever she’s doing and give a smile. Or what she thinks is a smile anyway! Makes for good photos, so who’s complaining? Contrast that with the way most Indians, at least the older ones, pose for photos. (If you don’t believe me, go look at the albums your parents have). They will either refuse to smile at all, or if they do, it looks very put on. Well actually, it even looks like a constipated expression at times. Hardly the recipe for fond memories or what? So why is that? Were times tough back then? Was there so little to smile about that people had forgotten how to smile, I wondered? I used to think so until I saw these portraits of some Indians kings and queens: Notice what’s common? None of them has even the hint of a smile. Surely these guys had plenty of reasons to smile. After all, they led, well, a king’s life! Surely, the king who killed the tiger could have smiled? So is the reason that most Indians