Oct 16, 2013

From “asl...pls” till “wtf” and “fuck off”…




From “asl...pls” till “wtf” and “fuck off”, the metrosexual youth has gone a long way. I met a lady who lives in most modern yuga, but still surprised about its life style. Here I am going for an analysis of some words which she has seen and listened to through years of her life. Taking an anticipatory bail that it may differ in opinion with you, I narrate her in indirect speech … 
Years back, on a vacation,  when she logged in to the chat room of yahoo messenger for the first time to drive away the boredom which was killing her in all the possibilities, she first saw those two words “asl…pls…”. At that time, she didn’t know what they meant, not even “pls” means “please”. A girl of a small village who didn’t visit the cities even once in a year, least bothered about what is happening around. An engineering student now- a-days unaware of nil about what drives the world, due the technology on the lap. She was of the same genre but a little knowhow about the western monopolies banging our society and the young minds. The logical person in her wanted to know what those words are, and you know what she did!!! To the next pop up window she typed “asl…pls…” The reply was somewhat like this “25m kerala”. Still the confused girl took a long time to realize “a” for “age”, “s” for “sex” and “l” for “location” and later on the “pls” means “please”.
When she watched a recently released movie, the friends whom she had taken along might have cursed for the monotonous theme of the ‘same old love story’. Apart from the old wine in the new bottle, handsome hero and gorgeous heroine, they didn’t happen to feel the underlined theme. May be it is because they haven’t gone through similar periods in life, as she had.
She did live a childhood and teenage where she hardly tasted what the real person she is. The weekdays from home to school in auto, she hardly saw the outside world. On the evenings, when the auto uncle came late to pick up, they -she with her brother- used to walk towards the autorikshaw stand. The intention behind doing so was an interesting word which influenced her, “TV” as they didn’t own a TV at home. There was an electronics shop near the auto stand- the only one which is still there in the town- where they watched TV standing outside the door steps even in the rainy days. During one such day, she watched the movie “lalsalam” and the hero in the character “Nettooran” became her favorite; the passion for movies born right there and still going on….
She didn’t ever witnessed any school day or college day, those days where the gifted extra days for studies as per her parents. Slowly she used to be like what they wanted her to be. Not a “bookworm” but studious in their eyes. She still remembers, on school days, during exams she used to take books even to the toilet, while bathing. The wet pages of the book looked at her pathetically, when she uttered “I am not a bookworm!” And it continued till the 3rd semester of her B.Tech. Afterwards, everything had become show offs. Till the last night before the exams she hardly studied one or two pages of each text and that night remained sleepless one, not for study but to switch on and off light and see whether the clock has ticked morning. When everyone looked at her as an intelligent, hardworking and studious girl, in short “bujee”, she never was after schools. The laziest person she ever came across in her life is herself.
Being brought up in a family where money has been spent extravagantly for food and travel, she dressed up with the low cost tops and shirts, with no accessories matching or mismatching; obviously she loved school uniforms. Because “uniforms” were the royal wears which helped to hide the scarcity of dressing up like fellow beings. Once in a week with colour dress, she managed till Onam or X’Mas or Birthday or on the school openings came and got a new dress. She never went on a pleasure trip which we call “excursion” in school or in college as a student. She never got a chance to understand the reason behind it also. She had never gone for a “movie” till she passed out as an engineer!!! So the word “theatre” was a known, but unseen word. She wished to learn dance, and her mother has arranged a teacher for that too, who agreed to come home and teach her. But the ugly face of social look up on dance like that she is going to become a Devadasi, had engulfed her joint family also and the ashes of the burnt wings still she bear on the back. You all know what a “bulls eye” is when you order it in a hotel. She never knew till she joined college and had the same from a friend. Many such words…
Now almost all school going boy/girl know what the word “prostitute” means, from movies or from the family soap serials. Her ears had got tired of different synonyms of the same without even knowing what it means for years from when she started understanding language, in the age of 3 or 4. She can’t recollect when she understood the meaning of that word and after knowing it, for around ten years, her ears were being filled with it like burning coal. The mental status of a girl who had gone through such situations, if became strong is magical. Now-a-days, the above said word seems lost its meaning, because of the so called life style of today’s generation. Not all, but not few too, is in a go to utilize the urge for physical/sexual needs provided it will remain behind the screen.
The next word “liquor”, no explanations required for anyone as it is a friend for many. Once it was there to colour celebrations or victories or to burry tragedies or losses. In the present day, Saturday night fever is inevitable for most and can see even some family get together making the weekend boosters diminished in charm. And one more inevitable ritual of all marriages, whether the wedding may happen or not tomorrow, we want “bachelor party” and a scene for many new words which still the dictionaries finding difficult to translate to any language. To those who use liquor as appetizer to those who consume as a habit or status symbol to socialize, she has these words: “I have seen the worst face of this social evil for around 16 years ruining relationships and destructing the financial stature”. Whether you had money for a new dress to your son/daughter, every evening you are handful for whisky or brandy. You might have seen only in films or serials men coming drunk to home with a paper wrapped packet of vada or gillebi for children. Have you ever even imagined whether it happens in real? It happened and happens in many houses still with a difference of chocolates or cakes replacing vada and gillebi. She sees many “FB” updates of celebrations projecting the size and number of bottles. Now a part of a peaceful family with parents and brother, the instant she saw her father taking liquor, the mad person in her starts pulling her hairs and striking her head against anything. Childhood incidents and memories never leave behind any symptom of losing individuality. And the imbalance in mind started someway there onwards…
Now coming to “FB”, frankly telling, took some time for her to understand it is “Facebook” and not any new polished era word. Facebook, a place where almost all- including her- vomits the gains and losses, “shits” the undigested/digested things daily. There are occasions where you call or message a friend and receive a no response while you can see that person hanging around for long time in FB with an active green symbol. Same time, put a “smiley” like this “:*” or “:(” in the chat box, within no time you will get a reply. She could witness through years that major bunches of lives are interested in “spicy” talks or others’ worries, to exploit the latter for the former. Give some freedom in friendship, you can expect the next query “which dress are you in?”, “is cold/hot there?”, “had bath?”, etc etc… Some are very intelligent to start with flatter, “you are looking awesome in that pic”, “your lips are so sweet”, “what a structure”, etc etc… Of course a lady wish to hear that she is looking beautiful, but certainly not “sexy”. She has less number of friends, who ask her to change the picture which projects the curves, lucky to have those. She has the following opinion on the referred word ‘smiley’, in short. In conversations, smses has given way to smileys-often to hide the real emotions. Only few can understand your tears behind a “:)” and are rare to find. At the same time as saving hand on relations, the smileys help to hide anger/irritation by simply sending a “:)” than calling the names.
shit”, actor Suresh Gopi, sponsored word for malayalees(now-a-days called “mallus”, the ugliest word to refer a keralite in her opinion) being used here and there without any need, of variants “bull shit”, “shit yaar” etc etc… She don’t know the significance of a bull’s shit in anyone’s life, whereas she is well aware that cow’s shit is being used as a symbolically purifying material in rituals.
The introvert in her hated the feeling of “love”. She never allowed her eyes to struck on a handsome face and physique as the “inferior she” label had been stamped in her heart somewhere in the journey, being a girl of no talents and a non attractive look. Or was it the disturbed relationship of her parents those days, which never encouraged her to think about a relationship!!! It has been caught hold on her brain that every married life is like that and a man can be the best father but not a good husband. Meanwhile let me mention one word word in her collection, “divorce”, and she is cent percent sure that the reader may hardly understand the mental status of a girl of 7years old when asked “do you wish to go with father or mother?”. Finally, when the inevitable emotion of love visited her life, the related words of modern life, which the older generation might have never heard about, like “break ups”, “dump”, “crush” lined up in the row faster than its creator. 
How the God’s blessing turns into man’s curse, you will understand by the latest fashion cliché words “wtf” and “fuck off”.  When she first saw the word ‘wtf’, she needed to ask the meaning of the abbreviation to the sender. Truly tell you; even after knowing the expansion, she still doesn’t understand what it really implies. And the most arrogant expression of anger used in earlier days to the best of her knowledge was “get lost” or “mind your own business” which is completely replaced by ‘fuck off’ currently. The interesting thing is; when she heard the word for the first time, she ran for a dictionary. Funny the result was, even the greatest known dictionaries of the world couldn’t help her. Then she became a normal lady of this era and googled. Amazingly, each meaning preceded with the word “vulgar”. Now we need to define the extent of vulgarity as the frequency of usage increased quite a lot. None will disagree with her on this: Except the fact that they are used for purpose of insulting someone, the fucking words really doesn’t carry any meaning
To conclude my attempt to portray the insecure feelings created in her life by some words, a final quote: Those who start with “asl…pls” when end up shouting “wtf” and “fuck off”, I wonder, "have you ever got a thought before using them!!!"