Journey of WhatsApp Messages

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 26 June 2025 In the olden days of emails (yes, email is a passé now), someone aptly said that one of the easiest and quickest ways to get enlightenment and feel charitable was to forward mails and receive a slew of forwarded mails. Now WhatsApp has replaced emails. I used to delete forwarded mails but one day I just read one for a lark and realised that I made a grave mistake by not reading some very interesting mails. I just felt like that unfortunate man, who kept throwing diamonds into the river thinking that they were pebbles but when he saw the last 'pebble' in the first light of dawn, it turned out to be a diamond! He realised his folly that he mistook diamonds for stones and kept throwing them into the water in the darkness of night. I was also benighted and utterly ignorant. Nothing is wasted, nothing is in vain/ The seas roll over, but the rocks remain. Agreed, there are lotus-eaters and absolutely indolent people, whose only objective in life seems to be forwarding messages to all and sundry, friends and foes, in-laws and out-laws. The Hindi proverb: Gyaan Baantne Se Badhta Hai (Knowledge increases when it's disseminated) seems to be the motto of these generous souls. It's interesting to note that those, who are religiously on the internet and devoutly forward WhatsApp messages to their near and dear friends, often get back the same messages they forwarded to their friends! It's like what goes around, comes around, further strengthening the belief that Duniya Gol Hai (the world is round). At times, you get the same forwarded message from so many of your friends. Though there are a number of netizens, one still feels that the world is too small and the same forwarded messages are globe-trotting and there's nothing new, except for an occasional and differently forwarded message that makes one feel like chancing upon an oasis in the Sahara desert. This has been the case with me as I have been using the internet for a long time. I, therefore, find nothing new at least in the forwarded mails, messages or forwarded jokes, which are often stale and utterly threadbare. I remember, way back in 1999 when the internet was a relatively rare thing, I received a few absolutely hilarious Sardar jokes forwarded by a Canada-based Sikh friend of mine. I was in London at that time. That mail is still in circulation, albeit as a WhatsApp joke, after a couple of decades and I've received it a minimum of a hundred times on my WhatsApp account. The longevity of forwarded mails surprises you no end. They've morphed and metamorphosed into WhatsApp messages. They appear to be deathless despite their ad nauseum use. Yours truly left London long ago and went to Colombo in Sri Lanka. There too, he got the same mail quite a few times. Now I'm in India and have received the same mail in the form of a WhatsApp message at regular intervals. It has become an ever-chasing, obstinate police warrant for me! Yet, I make it a point to read all forwarded mails/messages lest I should ignore a rare gem of a mail or message and repent like that unfortunate diamond-thrower till death. At the same time, it's net etiquette to read the forwarded mails, even if one feels like deleting them. A social etiquette master of The Vogue is of the view that a person's nature can be determined by the kind of mails he/ she forwards to his/ her friends. Those who only forward jokes, are invariably happy-go-lucky individuals and those who forward mainly visual and anecdotal mails have an axe to grind. But one is not very sure of these findings by net-researchers as no generalisations and stereotypes can be clearly discerned from a person's forwarded mails and messages. It's fun whether you initiate it or are at the receiving end. Let the forwarded messages travel like Marco Polo. The Flip Side To Forwarding Messages: While it could be sheer fun for idlers to keep forwarding messages to their friends, cousins, 42nd cousins, in-laws and outlaws, this seemingly innocuous pastime has its flip side. People often carelessly forward messages to all and sundry without verifying their authenticity. In these volatile times when a mere spark can turn into a conflagration and create a mayhem, the frivolous tendency to forward messages requires extreme discernment and utmost sense of responsibility lest one casual message should wreak havoc. We must make it a point never to forward religiously sensitive messages to anyone and also avoid politically polluted posts. Remember, two things have always been potentially dangerous: Religion and Politics. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/journey-whatsapp-messages/d/135992 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism