I can understand their excitement. For people like my uncle
who come from the era of post cards, in-land letters and telegrams, the idea of
instant messaging itself is a fascinating thing. And even I, a couple of decades
ago, have seen a single landline telephone at home being used by the entire
neighborhood for emergency purposes. So even after years of using WhatsApp,
this “instant messaging” thing has never ceased to excite our senior folks in
the family. At times it is good. Those photo quizzes, sharing a few lighter
moments, celebrations and wishes are all feel good factors. But there is also
another side to it which is very much annoying and frustrating at times!
I am receiving at least 10 Sai baba pics every day of which
I am asked to forward at least 5 of them to avoid bad luck, some of them within
7 seconds. Now I am forced to know what breakfast every damn member in my
family had; after a family gathering, every member in the group shares all the
awkward selfies that they have taken. Impromptu video call from Realiance Jio empowered
uncle is cool. But definitely not pleasing when you’re in the loo. Not to
forget the often “Oops.. Sorry by mistake sound recordings of 0.2 seconds each.
Wait… That is not it!
While one aunt, everyday emphasize the importance of
Sudarshana Kriya by Art of Living Ravishankar, the other aunt is always busy
preaching about all the 33 crore Hindu gods, one per day. That uncle who
forwards the same old RaGa joke thrice doesn’t even realize that it is too cliché.
And we have a dedicated public sector members in the mid-40s who are active
only when there is change in pay commissions, Dearness Allowance hikes, HRA
changes and so on which are non-existent in the corporate world. And one
category of people presume they are educating the world by forwarding only intelligent spams like “the employee who had
HIV and his blood has spilled into Frooti”, “Messages sent and certified by
CNN/NASA/BBC”, “Some weird math-magic day of a month which appear only once in
821 years”.. Uff! This category is the most irking of all. The excitement
reaches heights when there is a new baby born in the family. Every now and
then, the aunt promoted to granny starts sending videos of the baby doing
everything. I mean “literally everything”! The baby’s first poop video in full
HD and what not! Gimme a break.
All my cousins from the younger generation have a separate
group so we don’t talk much here. I know there is mute/uninstall and may other
tweaks to avoid this. I tried muting it once and to my surprise I started
getting calls as to why am I not replying to any of the messages in spite of
being online. Smart phones you see! I was caught red handed. So we still have
to be a part of the group to answer any unexpected questions which may be
directed at us like “Why is your dad not picking calls? Or how is your mother’s
sugar levels now?” We all cousins decided on a mass exodus one day only to
realize that we were added back to the group by evening. Thanks to the uncle
who takes pride being the admin. In the midst of all these, a few good morning messages
and thoughts are really genuine and feels good. The only blessed thing is that
we are almost an entirely right wing family (no personifications please) and I
am only happy to be exempted from the Modi v/s Kejriwal discussions.
I used to get irked in the beginning. It used to bother me
a lot! I always wondered if I am taking all this too seriously. But now, for my
own good, I have decided to have an air of easy unconcern and take everything that
happens in the group on a lighter note. With much thought, I have been able to
understand; have been able to grasp and comprehend what is keeping my family WhatsApp
group alive and kicking. I guess tolerating such things is a possibility only with
people you are comfortable with.
After all, Love for the family is an excuse to
be stupid.
WOW! Great Article you can also Find Some Relevant. Happy Family Status
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