A smile(y) goes a mile

Mona

A laughing face with tears running down, two hands stuck to a happy face, a halo over the head or a purple head with horns sticking out; if you haven’t come across any of these you probably are still living under the rock. While others celebrate World Emoji Day today!

As powerful as the 26 letters, the 3,000 plus emotion-packed pictograms are as important part of our repertoire as letters whether it’s a whatsapp chat, tweeting aloud or trailing someone on Instagram. Emojis sure get the conversation rolling, work like magic when in rush and convey in one click what might take a string of words or, at times, lines.

Playing favourites

For the versatile actor Sonu Sood, expect a multi-use emoji to be the favourite. He confirms, it’s the ‘Victory Hand’ emoji, “Victory, go ahead, looking forward – it can mean a lot of things, all positive and saves one time to convey the same.” Kartar Cheema might be really in news for playing a baddy in Singham, due to hit Pollywood in the coming month, but this hunk’s favourite is the ‘Love Struck’ emoji. “If someone has asked you a question too long, is fighting with you or done a favour big or small, a face with two small hearts fits any and every situation, tusi vi khush te agla vi (you are happy and recipient too.” 

Model Akansha Sareen truly believes that life’s a blessing and this reflects in her messages and posts. Her most used is the ‘Smiling Face’ with a ‘Halo’.  “To live life in gratitude is my mantra. Smiling face with a blue halo looks angelic,” she says. 

Actress Nimrit Kaur finds herself in sticky situations more often than not, and totally banks on ‘Rolling Pair of Eyes’ to slip out. “Whenever I don’t have an answer or am clueless, it’s the eyes. I don’t know, can’t explain, and I am out of the picture - all said with one emoji,” she laughs.

Her co-star on the show Choti Sarrdaarni, Avinesh Rekhi, stays basic, “A ‘Thumbs up’ and ‘Smiley’ work the best with me. I would rather stay subtle and sweet.” Heart in red remains Diana Khan’s favourite emoji, “I keep connected to my loved ones while working and this one tops my list.” Ishika Dutta aka Pragati of Bepanah Pyaarr goes, “Smiling Face with ‘Red Cheeks’ expresses the joy of life.”   

Deepti Gupta, chairperson, Department of English and Cultural Studies, Panjab University, says “A quick click makes up for lines full of words, saving time. On the other hand, one can send something unintentionally too, leaving you red-faced.” 

Controversies galore

Used billions of times each single day, no wonder emojis have had their fair share of controversies too. In February, there was huge uproar as anti-LGBT emoji made it on Twitter. A rainbow and a crossed out circle, however, was not the one issued by Unicode Consortium — an international body that enables the use of computers around the world, but combination of two independent ones got massively trolled! The start of the year also saw an interracial couple Emoji being included as response to an appeal started by Tinder for mixed race couples.

The beginning

Emoji or smileys are Japanese in origin. Starting in 1997 in Japanese mobile phones, by 2010 these user-friendly tools had web users all across the world hooked. Rapidly taking over the world, by 2015, ‘Face With Tears Of Joy’ was Oxford Dictionaries’ Word of the Year 2015!

Raising issues, fighting stereotypes

These pictographs have not only changed communication, but also lent a hand in raising issues. Drop of blood to symbolise period works to break the stigma of menstruation. In 2016, First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama raised objection as to why there wasn’t a girl studying emoji? Later, women in professional spheres made it to the ever-expanding list! 

World Emoji Awards, 2018 

Emoji of the Year
Thinking Face

Excellence in Emoji Use
Snoop Dogg