Even if 364 days we were not in
touch with someone, we would definitely wish that person around new year. That
is the magic of the ‘New Year’, though there is nothing sacrosanct about the
date January 1st. There are many cultures in the world where people
celebrate new year on dates other than the January 1 fixation of the Gregorian,
Roman and Julian calendars. New Year is definitely an occasion to remember all
those who were kind and considerate to you in the last one year and earlier
years by sending them thoughtful best wishes.
New Year wishing has become easy
in an age of WhatsApp. I fondly remember my student days when I exhausted all
my pocket money to print customized greetings cards with my own words of wishes
and sent to all dear and near ones. Later in life, it was e-Mails.
The Messages
WhatsApp greetings are cheap,
instant and amenable to easy copy-paste. We get plenty of messages without specifically
addressing us. Nevertheless, we get wished on time by friends. I devote about
one hour each for about ten days around the new year to send personal wishes to
my near and dear ones, in batches. Perhaps, due to inevitable preoccupations,
that might be the only time in a year, I might have re-connected to cherish
some valuable interactions of the past.
The trend now is to forward video
messages. There will be hundreds of forwarded video messages in our inbox wishing
happy new year and to open each of those messages and play the video would eat
away too much of our time. So, the best option is to assume that they have
forwarded a beautiful new year wish made by someone and then to acknowledge it
without ever opening them. Another set of messages come with instructions like
“Touch here to see a magic”! As there are many cyber punks during mischiefs
with messages that can compromise on the cyber security, many decide not to
touch those touchy forwards. I am sure we all prefer original text messages
even if it contained only three words - Happy New Year - rather that those sparkling forwards! Those busy doctorate holders in ‘texting’
will send you “HNY”. You take it or leave it!
The Replies
Most wise people are those who
send a reply message to your long, original message (not a forward) by sending
just three key words: “Wish you the same”. There are some one-way traffic
wishes, which just say “Thank you for the wishes” without ever wanting to
reciprocate the wish to you, assuming that the new year is limited only to the
place he lives. A few are more frugal with words and reply, “Thanks”. Some busy people never acknowledge a new year
wish since they think that the sender is not privileged to get a reply. Some
VVIPs think on those lines.
There are some people who would
like to maintain consistency and tradition. They will send the same customized
message every year. There are a few who promptly wish you back writing “Wish
you a happy birthday”, obviously misled by the auto-complete option.
But, you might have noticed one
fact. It is the busy people who are the fastest to respond for a new year wish.
It is said that, busy people always have spare time than others!
The Losers and the ‘Fussers’
With all above innovations and
idiosyncrasies, New Year time is fun as millions of wishes crisscross the
‘free’ telecom space all over the world. The real losers are the postal departments
and the greeting card sellers. And there
are a few conservative innocent beings who still consider that sending them a
message instead of wishing them over phone is an insult!
Happy New Year to all once again!
© Sibichen K Mathew Views are personal.
Wow !!!! very logically covered the digital world and peoples activities regarding wishes and msgs.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed reading this post.
The truth is...yes, i dont play the videos coz i know there is a beautiful new year wish.