Portraits

I sit in the car, driving down to my favourite donuts shop.
The sun is sunny bright in the sky with frequent warm breezes.
There aren’t many strangers on the sidewalk, considering it is Sunday noon.
The shop is an adorable circular room with blue décor and wooden benches, making the place faintly delightful.
As soon as I push the door with the ‘open’ sign, the bell above rings.
I always find it funny when it rings.
I found the shop unusually less crowded today.
Ordering a caramel and white chocolate donuts with a large glass of lemon soda, I turn to my usual spot near the counter.
I check my Whatsapp messages, which are mostly memes now a days, I hear the funny shop bell ring.
A group of 3 chatty people enter the shop with their phones in their hands and waving at specifically no one.
I realised they were having an Instagram live. They were happy and engrossed in whatever they were doing.
Soon their session ended following the beginning of another one – clicking pictures!
Watching them made me remind of me in my early teens!
Obsessing over self-portraits had been my hobby once.
But now it just seems foolish to me.
Lately, I have been obsessing over portraits that are rarely mine.
I find people interesting and their portraits engaging.
People fail to acknowledge the fact that they are worth admiring without even attempting.    
The way someone talks, the way someone changes a dozen expressions per minute, or the way someone simply smiles.
I long ago stopped taking pictures of my own and indulged myself in taking pictures of people around me.
This helped me conceive that people are beautiful no matter what they are doing.
They look meiux when they are caught in the moment without the slightest hint of reality!