He was.
“You look happy,” she said softly.
“One more filter, saar?” the chai wala asked, sliding a cutting chai across the wooden counter.
“Don’t have a bandage, buddy,” Aarav whispered. “But I have chai.” life jothe ondu selfie
He pulled out his phone. He didn’t open Instagram. He opened the camera. He turned the lens toward himself. But instead of posing with a pout or a peace sign, he turned the phone slightly. He took a photo of his own tired, rain-soaked face… with the stray dog’s head resting on his shoulder.
That night, he sat on his childhood terrace, the stars faintly visible through the city’s haze. Bug slept at his feet. He realized the secret that no Instagram influencer ever tells you: You don’t need a perfect life to take a selfie with it. You just need the courage to turn the camera around when things are messy.
On a whim, Aarav knelt down. He didn’t think about code or deadlines. He tore a strip from his already-torn kurta and gently wrapped the dog’s paw. The dog didn’t wag its tail. It just leaned its wet, heavy head against Aarav’s knee. He was
It was an ugly photo. His hair was a mess. His eyes were red. The background was a blurry, grey downpour. There were no likes, no filters, no hashtags.
Something shifted. For the first time in months, Aarav wasn’t performing. He wasn’t trying to look okay. He was just… being.
The rain was hammering down on the tin roof of the Chai Tapri, drowning out the usual evening chaos of Bengaluru’s IT corridor. Aarav stared at his phone. The screen was cracked—a casualty of last week’s panic attack when he’d thrown it against the wall. “Don’t have a bandage, buddy,” Aarav whispered
He took one more selfie. This time, he was smiling. Not for the camera. But for life.
He captioned it: “Life jothe ondu selfie. No filter. No pose. Just real.”
Aarav didn’t answer. He was scrolling. His feed was a masterpiece of other people’s lives. A friend trekking in Himachal. A colleague’s wedding. A junior from college holding a trophy. Everyone had a perfect, glossy, filtered life. Everyone except him.
And it was perfect.