Missed Call n Pokes

I first bought a mobile phone 4 years ago, primarily for communication. But a mobile phone with e-mail, internet, gaming, MP3, FM radio, planner and MMS, it was pretty much a gadget. Despite such a plethora of features available in my gadget, the one basic feature that has amazed me and kept a tab on my wallet while I effectively communicate is the missed call. I receive my friend’s missed call from the playground for our cricket match signalling ‘come quickly! Let’s play’. I may miss a few shots in the game but never forget to give a missed call to my mother at the fag end of the game to keep my food ready. While eating, my neighbour gives me a missed call, reminding me that the movie I wanted to see has been arranged. I can’t miss the missed call for lunch from my mother, because it is as good as missing their company at the lunch table, along with some interesting conversation. In the evening a missed call from my friends means, it’s time for company or a stroll! The most important of all the missed calls one gets during the day, one cannot afford to miss it, for obvious reasons. I have become so habituated to the missed call that when my friend called the other morning to tell me he wouldn’t make it for the cricket match, I ignored his call assuming it to be his regular missed call!
One survey says the most commonly used application on mobile phones is SMS text messaging, with 74 per cent of mobile phone users vouching for it. I feel, however, that if a missed call application existed, it would certainly have trumped messaging. While my mobile phone bills are plummeting, my inter-personal relationships are soaring: thanks to the missed call. The missed call communication involves a very simple protocol of mutual understanding and trust and is extremely effective in saving precious talk time. I recently read about non-verbal communication where messages are exchanged through gestures, body language, posture, facial expression or eye contact. I agree with the list, of course. I still feel though that the missed call is missing.
With changing times today we have ‘Facebook’. Here too there are a plethora of applications very much like our mobile phones. But the one application, simple as a missed call which caught my attention the most was ‘poke’. I call it ‘Pokémon’. It doesn’t require a great deal of wit to poke someone or get poked. But nevertheless I have used it as an effective mean of non-verbal communication for being in touch with my friends on Facebook. I have even christened it as my ‘Pokémon club’. I think it was my first enterprise. Even when you have nothing to say to your friends you can poke them and make your presence felt. If the name’s Pokémon then little action is obvious. So you can use Pokémons’ as weapons of mass destruction and keep on poking someone until they are bleeding. If you are angry with your friend for something then you can show your dissent by not poking for a long time. So, you see it is a simple yet a highly effective application. It teaches you the complexities of non-verbal communication and helps strengthen your inter-personal relationships. The world should thank me for this great invention of bringing the most out of simple software and enlightening people about its magical uses. So don’t forget to leave a charming ‘thank you’ note once you have read this enlightening note