Category: In a lighter vein

After the security check at the airport, while I was waiting to pick up my handbag and mobile from the tray, my phone kept ringing incessantly. Without even looking at the screen, I knew the caller was none other than my husband.

That was the time when I had started travelling solo by air after the birth of my grandchild. I can’t say I have become a frequent flyer now, but yes, over the past one-and a-half years, I must have made a dozen solo trips between Delhi and Chandigarh. My husband is more relaxed now, but earlier he used to be quite anxious whenever I had to travel singly. He would drop me at the Chandigarh airport and wait till I entered the gate. He would call me at least four times till I finally boarded the aeroplane.

Coming back to my story, I was rushing towards the boarding gate at IGI Airport when my phone rang yet again. As expected my concerned husband was on the line.  I rummaged through my hand bag to retrieve my phone. In the hurry and flurry, I didn’t realize something had slipped out until a passerby pointed it out. Guess what! It was my boarding pass.

Thank God, I was saved from harassment and embarrassment. Yet again, I was lucky to have escaped huge botheration when I messed up at the airport at another time. However, this time I was not alone but travelling with my husband. After collecting the check-in baggage from the Carousel, baggage conveyer belt at the Delhi Airport, my hubby was in no mood to immediately rush out of the airport. The Delhi-Chandigarh flight time is barely thirty-five minutes, but it takes more than an hour in maddening traffic to reach the destination from the airport. Thus, as the luck would have it, we decided to have a cup of tea in the baggage reclaim area before leaving.

While we were merrily sipping tea, my husband got a call from an unknown number. Immediately, he got up, checked the suitcase, and started towing it towards the conveyer belt, just opposite the café. Within two minutes he was back after exchanging the baggage with an elderly couple who was waiting for their suitcase. He had to apologize for my stupidity, for I was the one responsible for the faux pas. Too engrossed chatting on my mobile to check the ribbon tied on its handle to mark our baggage, I picked up someone else’s suitcase of the same make, size and colour. Of course, I felt embarrassed, but I shudder to think of the scenario if we had left the airport immediately after collecting the luggage.

Imagine discovering the blunder at the venue before getting ready for the function! It was sheer luck that the old couple was vigilant and we were still around so that the bags could be exchanged without much of a hassle within no time. A crisis averted!

Since I happened to be twice luck, I can merrily end with a cheerful note ‘All is well that ends well’. However, this doesn’t undermine the need to be careful and alert. In Hindi they say ‘Savdhani hati, durghtna ghati’, implying the moment you stop being careful and alert, you are likely to meet with an accident. Becoming wiser after two near misses, I resolved to never let my guard down,  especially at an airport.

(Published in Woman’s era July 2024 issue )

“It washes, it rinses, it even dries your clothes ……………You are ready for the show!”  In mid ’80s, the commercial of an Indian brand that introduced washing machine in the country caught my fancy. The company has long been closed down but the jingle still rings in my mind. No beating, no rubbing and no rinsing to be done by hand, just load the clothes into the washing drum and the clothes come out clean and bright in a jiffy. Continue reading “The wonder machine”

I shun modern gizmos. A new mobile phone gives me jitters. I am technologically and digitally challenged. Unlike Gen X and Gen  Z that has grown up with digital technology, I was introduced to the digital world when I was well past my youth. No wonder, I find myself outdated in this E-era. I am wary of e-commerce. Unless I touch, feel and see any product, I can’t buy it. Though I have started using e-wallets, I am not comfortable with online banking. I have become accustomed to emails but my typing speed continues to be painfully slow.

I am lagging behind the younger generation in every field of technology, but one area where I can beat even the youngsters is WhatsApp.
On Facebook ,I am still a laggard  . Instagram is the latest social media craze among the youngsters, but I like to swim in familiar digital space and am hesitant to take a plunge into uncharted territory.

Social media has introduced me to the world of emojis, the small colorful icons which have brought a revolution in the world of digital communication. I am smitten by the face icons expressing a whole gamut of human emotions. No need to bother about the correct grammar, struggle with the choice of words and type lengthy messages, emojis are there to convey the message and express my feelings.

I love to spice up my text with emojis but the variety is baffling. To add to the confusion, every digital platform has its own set of smileys. I find it difficult to choose from a sea of smiling, grinning, laughing, winking, frowning, crying emojis, and icons with sad, angry, surprised faces with their umpteen versions. My favourites have been folded hands icon, ‘Namaste’ and the original simple yellow Smiley, the happy smiling face but lately I developed a fancy for ‘heart’ emojis.

I started using heart icons, of various types and colours, with flair.  When I was liberally and indiscriminately shooting a variety of hearts–pink, red, vibrating heart, twins, heart with a ribbon, my niece remarked, “Do you even understand what all these hearts stand for?”

No, I didn’t know that every heart icon has a different purpose and connotation. What a bewildering revelation !A sparkle heart means an honest appreciating heart, pink heart wrapped with ribbon implies being smitten with someone, heart growing in size implies outpouring of emotions like love and affection, two static pink hearts imply being super flirtatious and so on.

With all the gyaan, my soaring heart came crashing down, bringing an end to my love affair with ‘heart’ emojis. I felt embarrassed for randomly picking up a string of hearts, and shooting them arbitrarily at people.

At sea in the sea of emojis! Yes, I am with bewildering variety and their myriad interpretations. But I am wiser now. Think twice before clicking on these harmless- looking icons, for I am still not sure about their implication.

(Published in The Tribune as MIDDLE on October 25, 2021)

 

The news of the deadly virus spreading its tentacles all across the globe started trickling in since January last year creating scare. However; the reality hit us really hard when the nation-wide lockdown was imposed on March 24 bringing life to stand still. It has been an exceptionally tough time marked by panic and anxiety, not just in India but all across the world as governments everywhere imposed lockdowns.

Continue reading “Recalling those dreadful days through humour in social media”

 

I got my first mobile phone a little over a decade ago not by choice, but a mobile  was thrust upon me, a simple ordinary phone. I was not keen on having a mobile, hence  there was reluctance and hesitation  on my part to use it.  However, once I became comfortable with  it , I wanted to cling to my old set. On the insistence of my children, I upgraded to a smart phone, but the first few days with my iphone were harrowing. I was baffled by its apps and intimidated by its umpteen features. Of course, over time I got used to my smart phone but for quite some time my usage remained limited to calls and messaging.

Continue reading “From aversion to smart use”