Selfie-crazed Kolkatans on 'depravity tourism'

KOLKATA: The city did it at the 'skeleton house' on 3, Robinson Street, and then again at the tallest Durga idol pandal at Deshapriya Park before the Puja was shut down, fearing a stampede. Now, Kolkatans are again turning out in droves at the mangled and davastated Vivekananda Road flyover site, posing for selfies and posting them online to tell the world that they too were present at the scene of action. Oblivious to the devastation around, those with a more macabre bend of mind, trooped off to Medical College some even went on a corpse trail to the Kolkata Police Morgue, waiting to see the decomposed bodies being handed over to the relatives.

Unable to stop the selfie-crazed, curious citizens, the authorities have declared the area a "no-selfie zone".

The choice

of venue for these voyeurs seems to have moved beyond the confines of book fairs and leather expos, as they apparently want to get up close and personal with the dead. Psychologists insisted this was an index of a deeper malice that had caught the city unawares. Psychologist Dr Jairanjan Ram, who called the trend "depravity tourism", said, "It reflects utter callousness and insensitivity among people who don't wish to miss out on anything. For them, there is no difference between an IPL match and this tragedy and the craze cuts across all strata and age groups." The city also has a track record of letting people die on the street unattended

As the mud-stained and almost decomposed body of a flyover victim was taken to the morgue from Medical College on Saturday afternoon, the entire area was cordoned off. Amid the crowd and unbearable stench was a mother-daughter duo who used to live on the Medical College campus. "When we saw the images of the tragedy on TV, we decided to come," said the teenaged daughter, who had come all dressed up, sporting crimson lipstick that matched with her dupatta. On the day tragedy struck, a middle-aged woman was seen at the Kolkata Police morgue. Asked if someone close had fallen victim, she snapped back: "Why? Such a big tragedy has happened in Kolkata. I have every right to come and see who died." She jostled for space to see a body being handed over to a bereaved family.

Reacting to the bizarre craze, director Buddhadeb Dasgupta said, "This is not the Kolkata that I know. It has become a heartless city. I have travelled across the world but never seen this madness over selfies." the way Kolkata is displaying now."

Last year, Dr Ram had a

depression

patient who had flaunted his selfies taken in front of the 'skeleton house'. "His was a

mental health

issue. I can still understand there was something ghoulish about the Robinson Street episode and so, the curiosity. But the interest in watching the dead is bizarre," he said. Some are enjoying their role of citizen reporters who can send new photos over WhatsApp groups.

Sociologist Ruby Sain attributed the trend to curiosity. "The population has increased. People have more access to smartphones and can easily reach a place. They haven't seen a

massacre

of such a proportion in Kolkata before," she said. For some, taking a selfie in front of the flyover seems similar to taking a photo at the Deshapriya Park pandal. "They want to be at the spot just to be a witness to history." They want to keep a photograph to document what Kolkata witnessed," Sain explained.

Last year, post the stampede at the Deshapriya Park pandal, a cloth was draped to hide the idols. On Saturday, a curtain was drawn at the flyover. and the area was declared a no-selfie zone. But that still won't stop many since they feel it might add more drama to their photo-diaries of disaster tourism!