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Tuesday 31 March 2015

Confessions of a WhatsApper



As I was introspecting on this li’l app, called WhatsApp, I felt that its relation/impact on our lives is quite similar to that of a marriage!
It may be love at first sight for many and maybe an arranged/forced marriage for many more.

In the beginning you are shy of WhatsApp. You want to be a part of it, yet apprehensive about it! All your friends have it.....so you have to too! You have decided to give this relation a try; you decide to be a silent observer, to decide whether this new app in your life deserves your attention.

You are awed by the speed of the replies and responses - the quality and quantity of matter being circulated astound you! You play your coy new-comer part with hesitant rare and restrained forwards.

Suddenly it’s your birthday, and you are overwhelmed by a jaw-dropping response from all kinds of acquaintances wishing you a happy birthday - all day long! Cakes and bouquets abound, vying to seek your attention! People have also started appreciating your profile pic. That's when it hits you! You are in love with this app!

Now that it’s clear, that you are in love, you go all out wooing it. Regular selfies become a must and profile pic updating a pressing need! You read and forward all uploads on WA to the right and relevant groups or persons! To add value and derive more response to your forwards, you undertake intensive research on the net, scrolling through forward-worthy jokes and articles. Fun, trivia, information, education - all under one roof. You even manage to pull it off as a useful communication tool by creating office WA groups! Your thoughtful forwards sometime elucidate prompt responses which thrill you, while a lack of it, depresses you.....but not for long.....your young love is not so feeble that it can’t pull you out of such trifling trials. You are now addicted to this app and you decide to commit yourself to it wholly.

You are an established WhatsApper now and like in any marriage once you have impressed your partner enough to make him/her yours for life, gradually, things fall into routine.

The relation shows signs of depleting sheen. Symptoms include reduced urgency to send forwards. You don’t feel the desperation to deduce answers to all the quizzes that come your way! The early morning flowers and inspirational messages are becoming a drag! Your profile pic is the first indicator - you have stopped uploading regular selfies, they are replaced by other family members/friends, inanimate objects, quotes.....etc......complacency replaces the earlier urgency!

The next phase is rather sad when the very same app that had you so enamored and in the grip of its palm, can no longer hold your interest! Instead you now find the jokes and forwards boring and repetitive. The profile pictures of your contacts seem so artificial and made up! You are disgusted with this app, but have to put up with for social reasons. Your contributions have dwindled from a steady flow to a feeble trickle! You slowly start disassociating yourself from it! You block certain groups/persons, leave groups, then you block out your last seen, distancing yourself from any responses - generally making yourself invisible and unavailable.

This phase is very uncomfortable and most-likely a masochistic one! You find a lot of time on your hands now that you don’t have to read through all the Santa Banta jokes. You are very happy that the travails of clicking the perfect selfie to upload as your DP are a part of your immature past! You have time to reflect that life without WhatsApp is good for your professional output.

Days, months pass by in WhatsApp-free existence - you are practically invisible to the world. You now contemplate an entire life ahead of you living as a social outcast, unaware of the latest gossip, political coups; God knows whatever new happenings in your limited circle of acquaintances! You are becoming an ignoramus and you don’t like it! What to do.....you wonder.......simple.....you lay aside any qualms and decide to ping the WhatsApp group/contact that least offends you!

Thankfully, a commitment for life doesn’t let go of you so easily! People and society rallies around you to get together the estranged partners. Your reach out (cry for help), doesn’t go un-noticed. You are reinstated in the groups you quit, people start taking active interest in your day to day happenings, your profile pic and forwards are responded to with a lot of enthusiasm and emoticonism! Society demands commitment and encourages quitters to re-commitment through re-enlistment!

Suddenly it dawns on you; you have been given a second chance with your relationship, to rekindle the romance and charisma that lured you in the beginning! You are back in the groove, thirsting for newer jokes and interesting facts. What is the point of your new hairdo and outfit, if it’s not seen and liked via your DP. All your small triumphs and manifold defeats seem respectively, bigger or smaller when you share them!

You also know that newer versions will tempt you over the years, but you will take that in your stride. These social networking platforms WhatsApp, hike, we chat, twitter etc. are just Avatars of the original progenitor Facebook!
Woo one...love all! Yes, you realize, this is truly your partner for life.....there for you through laughter and tears.....to cheer, inspire, educate, warn, and feel loved and wanted for life!!





Copyright © 2015 KALA RAVI

19 comments:

  1. Nice one Kala. Keep it going

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  2. Great post, incredibly articulated, hilarious and entirely true πŸ˜ƒπŸ˜ƒπŸ˜ƒ Fantastic maiden post. Keep it up. Wishing you eons of blogging.This is the best format to express your mind. Mama

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  3. Thnx Mama,means a lot coming from a veteran blogger like you!!

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  4. Wow aunty!!This was a very impressive read...it was succinct account of any whatsapper!It was fun to read nd Keep it Goin!!.Sam

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  5. A whopping ,eloquent piece with an easy flow of thoughts .WAPP gives the childish pleasure of sharing your chocolate someone has given you, instantly with your friend

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  6. Great piece of writing Kala. Very true, right from bottom of the heart

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  7. Excellent post Kala- humorous and interesting!!! Congrats! All the best!!

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  8. How did you do it Kala? You have accurately elaborated on each phase a lot of people (including me) have gone through... step-by-step.

    Only, most jokes these days are not about Santa-Banta but husband-wife ;)

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  9. Now that's a very honest post. Initially all jokes seem an ineteresting read. no matter for how long you have to scroll, you compulsarily read them. And then after say like months,you hardly check them. Personally, I never even check the videos or those long jokes that are shared in group. Complaint these days is that I don't even reply to regular chats :)

    This said apart, you realise that if used properly, it is helpful when you have to convey important messages.

    But due to whatsapp, I agree that my communication with people has gone for a toss. I have started preferring whatsapp chats over calls.

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  10. This is such an eloquent piece... made for a great read Kala... :-)
    Cheers, Archana - www.drishti.co

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  11. Hahahahaha! Been through this.. Loved how you have brought this out Kala.. Whatsapp now has become such an integral part of our lives. Earlier when I didn't have whatsapp and all my friends had it, I was like what is the big deal.. And then the Whatsapp bug bit me too. Now it more like a necessity rather than joining the bandwagon thing.

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