The hidden power of the un-necessary annoyance...

As an Indian of the world living in 2020, I have become part of an unprecedented scenario which I had seen only in movies like “Resident Evil” or “World War Z” or “I Am Legend” and more recently “The Last Ship”. The thing all of these had in common was the scenario of a virus wiping out humanity. The screenplays for these works although fictitious brought out a reality which I never believed could happen but was always hidden somewhere in a corner of my mind. Only by the 16th of March’2020, the reality sunk in that COVID 19 had become a part of my reality and something that I would bear witness to in my lifetime.

Well, this article is not about the zombie apocalypse to come but how a not so productive app on our phone is becoming an important support structure in how we deal with the realities of COVID 19. Yes, I am talking about “What’s App”..the world’s favourite messaging application.

Just like two sides of a coin, where on one side we are flooded with the pessimism of the world coming to an end (By the way which was happening during Brexit as well) where we get forwards about locations of people being found infected, miracle cures, how the economy is going to crash, symptoms of COVID 19 and my favourite the conspiracy theory where in the end China is going to rule the world, which are helpful at times but mostly add to the paraphernalia of fear and anarchy.

The other side of this is where everyone understands the stress we are going through by the lockdowns alongside work from home and try to bring in a little bit of fun with crazy and bizarre forwards which just make you smile even in all this chaos. Just today some of the groups were sharing Tintin, Nagraj and Cha-cha Chowdhury comics for kids to read which I thought was very thoughtful and some of the others were sending funny perspectives about how interesting versions of “Big Boss” will be scripted in each house. Some people were expressing their worry about getting their “Smokes and Alcohol” and came up with the idea if these could be made part of the essential services and commodities so that they can be home delivered. Another one person sent an interesting quiz about Amitabh Bacchan moves using emojis and by god when I forwarded it in some of my groups there was a lot of participation and great answers. You won’t believe it I also received a message about the “Top 10 Winners” of the 5 minutes applause that we all Indians on the behest of our PM had done last Sunday between 5PM and 505PM for all our brave health workers tackling the COVID 19 emergency. That one really made me fall of my chair laughing and the list continues.

What I want to say is that yes we are all in self-quarantine, working from homes and yes maintaining social distance as well but its these although un-necessary forwards help us steal a few laughs every now and then to make us forget the challenging times we face. So, a big “Shout Out” to all these creative folks who take the pain to compile these messages and help bring a smile to our faces, keep up the great work but responsibly...!! Also a big thanks to all “Medical Professionals” and “Government Staff” who are helping us without asking anything in return and finally by god we shall kick COVID19 together in a place where it will hurt so badly that it would never think of infecting humanity in the future!!