Feel the Feel

Happiness, anger, surprise, sorrow, love.. Emotions are plenty ! Facebook users (I guess everybody) will be familiar with the newly included Feelings icon where we add ‘Feeling sad’ ‘Feeling loved’ ‘Feeling blessed’… so on. Many a time, I have clicked that icon and pondered for a while about how actually am feeling at that moment  I just thought of compiling few incidents that took place recently for which choosing an emotion was easy

 Feeling cartoonised

I had to go to a place for a get together and trust me, am very bad at routes. Eventhough they try hard to explain the map, I end up getting confused. Just before I started to this place, my dad and mom had given me clear instructions on the rights and lefts… In fact my mom went on to draw the roads on the paper to explain  But as always, I asked for the stop, got down from the bus and just blinked  Thanks to the smartphone era  I opened the Navigation app and typed the location…. The blue arrow blinked and screamed “you are here” (reminding me of my mom’s affectionate tone when I keep asking her doubts in her drawn map). I started following the route…within 10 steps there was a government boys high school on the left.. Yess! I am on the right path. Everytime I crossed a landmark that was shown on my intelligent phone, I smiled with glee   I was reminded of Dora, the explorer  where she goes searching for the destination, locating the landmarks that she has to cross using her Map  Well, I guess its time that I reduce watching cartoons   

 Feeling touched

A flowerseller always sits near a grocery store that we often visit. I have seen her daughter many a time getting ready for school and leaving. It felt great to see her mom (flower seller )waving bye with pride. My mom was buying flowers and her daughter came running. Seeing her in school uniform, my mom enquired about her school and class. Immediately she gave her Rs 300 and told her to buy whatever she needs. That girl was hesitating and when her mom insisted her to take it, she slowly took the money. She went to her mom and asked “Amma, just because we are poor, they are giving me money right? ” I was completely stunned by her maturity. My mom quicky responded ” Illa da… You are getting class 1st right? So I wanted to give you a prize.” Hearing this, her joy knew no bounds and she took her notebook to show us that she got 5stars today 

 Feeling surprised

It was one of those unexpected showers in the evening that are offlate frequent in Chennai. I got down at the stop and its a 10 min walk to my home. I like getting drenched so didn’t bother to take my umbrella out (in other words I was lazy  ) I was happily splashing water while walking and suddenly a voice jolted me. “Endha idhu” I looked around with a puppy-face ready to tell sorry to the thin lady who seemed 50+ (I assumed my water-splashing would have definitely ruined her white saree). She pulled me like a mom dragging her kid who was playing in the gutter. I was taken aback and was too shocked to protest anything. She wiped my forehead with her pallu. By then it started raining heavily and I took some courage to open my mouth before which she started scolding me for getting drenched in her malayalam accent. We were standing at a shop for the rain to reduce. She kept holding my hand while we were waiting and I had a Deja’vu’. Everything felt like it has happened before, the lady, rain… When it started drizzling, we again started walking with her holding the umbrella almost completely over my head . She asked in her malayalam accent “I have seen you somewhere but don’t remember” I smiled. I reached my street and before we departed, she patted my head and said “Go home and change quickly or else you’ll get fever”. We both didn’t know eachother but still felt a strange connection 

 Feeling punch-on-the-face

I felt like punching the conductor on his face. An old lady (poor too) gave Rs 3 for the ticket after searching for a while. The conductor dropped Rs 2 coin while getting it from her and started yelling at her. He bullied her that if you don’t give the money, get down. She was petrified. She kept begging him but he showed a devil may care attitude. I was to get ticket and I gave a Rs 10 note. He gave back and asked me to give exact change in his irritated tone. I replied sarcastically  “my ticket costs Rs 7 and that lady’s ticket costs Rs 3. You have already taken Re 1 from her and you owe me Re1. Do you mind giving me the exact change now?” Loved the reaction on his face and on the lady’s 

That’all from me! Finally now… Feeling –  Satisfied about writing this post !

Annoying advertisements

Few months ago I had blogged about advertisements that make us smile and the ads that have borrowed a little space in our list of sweet memories. Link here.

I love watching advertisements and I always end up humming the bgm if the tune is catchy and so does my phone  Being such an avid ad lover, certain ads take on my nerves and I end up changing the channels.

Men’s deodorant ads top the list.  When they demonstrate that a mere spray can make girls go crazy and act weird, the chauvinist in me feels like punching the TV screen and sending a note to that ad maker, ‘Girls are not that cheap… FYI’. These ads make me frown and search for the remote. But there is one recent male deo ad that actually made me smile. Old spice deo where he ends with a surprise asking “Did you know that am riding the horse backwards?”. Its a male deo ad with a difference. It doesn’t show girls drooling over the guy in the ad but still drives home the point that the guy using this deo could definitely be different from the rest. Hopefully, this should be a trend setter and the other ads should follow suit featuring a different marketing strategy.

Next comes the fairness cream advertisements. The girl with a dusky complexion is portrayed as a laughing stock and with a low confidence level. She needs a counselor to make her feel confident and not a the dabba of fairness cream. The teenagers especially at the helm of adolescence get into a wrong notion that dusky skin is something to be ashamed off. There was this ad a while ago where the groom comes to the bride-seeing ceremony and the guy blatantly rejects the girl saying she is not fair. Instead of bashing the guy, the girl is advised to use that fairness cream. The same guy sees the girl on the road and falls for her. Isn’t it ridiculous? 

The soft drinks ad are equally unrealistic. The aerated drinks portray a guy jumping from a peak, diving into a ocean, chasing the goons immediately after drinking the product. What does the ad infer?  The drink tastes so bad that falling from a peak is better or it does the same that can of spinach does to Popeye… I don’t get it!

The airtel 1 Rupee video ad. It isn’t irritating but on the other hand it makes you raise an eyebrow when the cab driver shows the video for the Re 1 that he has to pay. First of all, none of us will make such a big scene over Re 1 and secondly, a video taking the place of money..Isn’t it dumb? Will the bus conductor give me a ticket if I show him 3 videos instead of Rs 3 ? I know its a PJ but still that’s what comes to my mind whenever I watch this ad.

Few of the regional advertisements aren’t far behind. The recent  “Divya-ku sure ah kadaikuma?” campaign tested my patience rather than creating curiosity. The ad has many people asking this question which will irritate us to the core.The tweets and FB wall posts told me that I was not alone. It was an ad for ‘Daal’ offering prizes to the buyers.

The next is a hair oil ad where the kids boasts of recommending the product to their parents/teachers as they notice the latter suffering from hairfall. Kids have umpteen better things to do rather than noticing hair fall. In fact childhood is the only period when looks, food, nothing matters to us apart from playing, playing and playing. It’s irritating to find the kids sitting and discussing hair problems.

Though there are many good ads, these ads are a bit depressing and make me frown. Ad makers… All that we say is we love watching advertisements. So please make sensible, creative ads that make us say Wooooow instead of Ewwwww 

The Zorro prediction

It was Saturday and I got up unusually pretty early (early in my standards  ). The idiot box always comes to the rescue even before you mouth the word “bored”. I started exercising my thumb as well as testing the performance of the ‘next channel button’ in the remote  (In other words I was switching channels  ).

If we watch TV(even radio) early in the morning, we can find almost all the regional channels giving a peek into your day ahead. The day to day predictions are so common and it has become a habit for many to listen to the ‘wise looking’ experts and follow accordingly.

Though I put up a disclaimer saying I don’t believe in all these, my hand (when switching channels) or eyes(while reading)  immediately stops when they see my zodiac symbol. The curiosity overpowers my disclaimer notification and finally I end up seeing the prediction. As soon as I finish reading, I completely forget  about it and carry on with my day.

On this particular day, a short and stout guy who  can definitely bag the chance to become  ”Humpty Dumpty”  if we were to film the rhyme, was doing a good job of reading out his piece of ‘discovery’. His sing song tone and sudden raise of voice whenever attention is required can make him a sure shot ‘best performer’ if we stage the play.My brain immediately snapped back from its chain of thoughts as soon as it saw my zodiac sign symbol rotating on the screen in bright yellow. Our Humpty Dumpty started his dialogue delivery in a low tone to imply expect something bad.

“Your home planet was saving you all this while, thereby antagonizing the other planets. Today your home planet is weak and has disowned you. You might face the wrath of other planets. Effects: Your family will disown you. You may have hassles completing your tasks. When you are about to complete your work, you will have somebody disrupting it. Not to worry, this is just for today, your home planet will become stronger by tomorrow. Avoid blue colour as it might invite trouble. Lucky colours: yellow, red and orange.”

The CG specialist in me, picturised the entire prediction in a filmy shtyle. My home planet as Zorro with a sword trying to fight the baddies (other planets ). While this hero smashing  many villains in one hand continues, this one villain planet stabs him from behind. Zorro falls down saying ‘Et tu Lupitter’ (Latin word for Jupiter  ). Zorro has a tough time breathing and hands over the sword to me saying “Protect yourself, I don’t think I can help you anymore”.  The bad guys are closing in with a villainous laugh. I keep fighting all through the day while zorro tries getting back his power. When my sword falls and Lupitter is attempting to repeat his stabbing action , zorro finds a can of spinach inside his dress. “Tan ta ta datta tan…” Bgm plays when zorro tosses the spinach can and the spinach falls into his mouth. Zorro’s power returns and in one kick all the planets fly away. “Am strong to the finish ’cause I eat my Spinach… Am zorro the Saviour man… Swoosh Swoosh (sound of sword when he draws a Z in the space)” Curtain falls!

I patted myself and was quite impressed with the direction. Thinking about my career as a director, I shouted “Amma coffee”. My mom retorted back ,”I didn’t know we have a princess here who has employed servants to serve at the seat. If you want coffee, get up and come to kitchen. Else forget the coffee”. Sigh! Though this scene was an usual one at my home, my brain retelecasted the prediction, “Your family will disown you”blared inside my head. 

I was instructed to go to the nearby shop and get a packet of detergent. I immediately obliged and rushed to the shop (an act to be reowned again). When I stretched my hand with the money, a fat lady literally pushed me and got her things. Finally the shopkeeper turned towards me, “Anna 1 packet surf excel”. He returned the money saying “Sorry ma! we had only 1 packet and that lady got it”. My CG specialist drew 2 red horns and a tail to that lady who smirked victoriously taking her cover.

When you are about to complete your work, you will have somebody disrupting it…. I wanted my brain to stop its selective timely retelecast of the prediction.

The day was pretty smooth apart from the initial hiccups.In the evening I was to attend a reception. I chose a blue dress (Avoid blue colour… My brain sang in that Humpty Dumpty’s voice). I rubbished it and finally reached the reception. My CG specialist was searching for people to draw red horns and tail but all seemed to be good with a ring on top of their head. When I confirmed the allz well status around me I loosened up a bit. That’s when an elderly woman arrived. CG specialist notified me about the impending danger as horns and tail fitted her perfectly. She pinched my cheeks hard and remarked “Helllloooo Kanna” making me squirm. She started playing “Guess-who-is-this game with me. I was clueless completely and when my mom tried helping, she remarked “No lifelines allowed” and laughed at her own joke. She didn’t leave my side and continuously kept showing me people and asked me to decipher the relation. I felt like a captive with a gun pointing at me. Avoid blue colour as it might invite trouble, I heard humpty dumpty laughing with his huge tummy juggling up and down.

When I went to bed, I hoped my zorro should have got his spinach can and also decided I will never see the predictions again. My stupid brain keeps connecting even an usual happening to the prediction. Sigh!

The Yellow Moonjis

19-Sep-82 11:44 Scott E Fahlman 

From: Scott E Fahlman <Fahlman at Cmu-20c>
I propose that the following character sequence for joke markers: : -)Read it sideways.
Actually, it is probably more economical to mark things that are NOT jokes, given current trends. For this, use :-(

*curtain raises* *claps* Ladies and Gentlemen… Introducing the most important conversation fillers of the future…SMILEYS   *fireworks* *drumroll*

Thus came the Yellow Moonjis (tamil word meaning faces) and also got its cousins red, pink, black, green moonjis to sit in the chat windows 

Initially, say two years back we used to have just  ,  and a very few others. People hardly used it and found it kiddish.With instant messengers like watsapp, hike entering the ‘virtual era’ , the variety of smileys multiplied.  Two years back when you send a reply ‘Fine‘, you wouldn’t have expected your friend to text back asking ‘what’s wrong?’. When you are actually fine, people expect you to reply ‘ Fine  ‘

Hello Everybody   

Hello Everybody!

The difference is obvious. The first hello gives you a feel (I assume) that am smiling broad while greeting. But the second ‘hello’ seems formal with a straight face. The three little yellow moonjis can make a whole lot of difference in the sentence. Off-late these smileys have become an integral part of the conversation.

These smilies can come handy as conversation fillers. If am at loss of words and don’t have anything to reply, smiley comes as my Aabath pandava (saviour during crisis) . I happily send a smiley. Done! I have replied, at the same time I haven’t replied (in the true sense). My friend happy, am happy… Both smile(for different reasons) seeing the smiley 

Smileys depict our mood to the reader. They can get the actual modulation of what we are trying to say. For example, if my friend is late and we end up waiting for her we send her a message “Where are you?” She replies saying “On the way“. When I send “Where are you?”    She replies ” Coming Coming… Sorry yaar… struck in the traffic  Will be there in 15 min  ” Our emotions are easily conveyed through these emoticons. It brings life to the otherwise ‘just’ sentences.

These Yellow (now available in different colours in selected Apps  ) Moonjis can actually save you from situations that could have turned sour. In a fit of anger I send a text,
“You are such a dumb idiot“.
After I press send I repent sending, it… Tadaaa! Idea *replace bulb above my head while reading*
Insert smiley-> *tongue out* -> send.
Message was conveyed plus it didn’t hurt as I sent a  denoting lighter sense. Same happens when somebody forwards a dumb joke and still we’ll have to pretend to be courteous.. Reply : Lol 
Indeed an Aabath Pandava 

Initially, these smileys were considered a girl thing and it’s too girly girly to uses these Yellow Moonjis. May be as guys don’t express much  Atleast I had that thought till I found my cousin, my friends (guys) use smileys even when they converse with a guy. The chat window had smileys and I had  yellow moonji pop up from my head when I saw that. Now it’s not a girl thing 

At times I become too lazy to type long sentences. What do I do? Go to insert smileys , choose the apt one and send it. Over!

Friend: What are you doing?
Me: *yellow moonji with headchords* (implying listening to music)
Friend: *thumbsup*
Friend: *rain*
Me: *lightning* *rain* (implies heavy rain)
Friend: *Hot food* (implies bhajji) and *coffee* *super*
Me: ++ *music*
Friend: *angel* (implying ‘Feels like heaven’- #PJ Alert: I send out an overcoat smiley for this instead… Raymond… Ok Ok… No tomatoes please )

In the above case,actual conversation is happening with minimal words. The other day when I was having one such conversations, my sarcastic brain pulled out the image from the history book and showed it to me  It was the image of the caves of early age where conversation happened only through drawings  Are we getting back to that ? 

These can sometimes turn into a blooper. There was a sentence that my friend typed that had words like 402(g) and 401(k). On pressing the send button, it turned out like this 402 *gifts* and 401 *redlips*. There was complete silence from both the ends. She again sent the sentence without the brackets and got a reply. In a formal environment at times such replacement make you go  but with friends it becomes another incident to tease about 

All said and done, I love these cute yellow moonjis        on my chat windows.