The Dangerous World Of Emojis

 

The two friends had many things in common; they came from the same state, had similar family and cultural backgrounds and upbringing during childhood. They spoke the same language and were of the same age. Rama Murthy and Govinda Bhat met when they were in their late fifties in a faraway city, away from their home state. Rama Murthy hailed from Bangalore and Govinda Bhat was from the coastal city of Mangalore. The bank for which they worked had transferred them to handle senior administrative positions to give a boost to its expansion plans in a northren state. They worked together for three years, had their final transfer to their home cities before retirement. Last posting at home towns before retirement was a luxury some bank executives got as a compensation for spending their most productive years in far-flung areas earlier. It was one way of banks to provide an opportunity to settle down smoothly after retirement.

Having worked for three years in one place and having families with similar background, it was natural for members of their families also getting closer and friendly. They enjoyed their leisure time together, traveled and entertained as one well knit group.

Being successful bankers and with the professional experience, they joined a highly reputed organisation that trained young and budding bankers. Govinda Bhat and his family had to move to Bangalore, but it was as if moving to the next house, given the cross country transfers earlier. They enjoyed their work and happy days were back again. Weekends were eagerly looked forward for rest and relaxation for recharging the batteries for the next weeks endeavours.

On a Sunday afternoon, Rama Murthy's family had a great Bangalore style lunch with Bisi Bele Bath and Aambode. There was also some "Hayagreeva", a special dish made from Kadale Bele or Chana Dal with jaggery and a liberal spraying of coconut pieces. Rama Murthy wanted to have a good nap after the heavy lunch. The food in the stomach was doing its job and no great efforts were required to sleep. He was about to proceed to take a nap when the door bell rang. Govinda Bhat was standing smilingly when the door was opened. There were usual exchange of pleasantries and Bhat was invited inside.

"Special lunch is ready. You can wash your hands and move to the dining table" said Mrs Rama Murthy to Govinda Bhat, with the freedom derived from years of close family times together.

"Oh, lunch! Aayitu (ಆಯ್ತು)", Govinda Bhat said seating himself on his favourite comfortable chair in the drawing room.

For the next half an hour there was the usual exchange of fun and information between the guest and the family of the host. To the annoyance of a hungry Govinda Bhat, there was no sign of Mrs Rama Murthy serving any lunch. To the even greater annoyance of Rama Murthy, there was no sign of Govinda Bhat leaving and thus spoiling his Sunday nap after such wonderful heavy lunch.

An exasperated Bhat now shouted, "Your hospitality is only in words or do you really mean to serve lunch?". Mrs Rama Murthy timidly said, "Anna, you said Aayitu (ಆಯ್ತು). I thought you meant you already had lunch. I was about to pack the items to handover to you when you were taking leave of us!".

They all had a hearty laugh over the confusion. Of course, Bhat was served his lunch quickly. A parcel bag was also handed over for other members of his family.

*****

The word "Aayitu" (ಆಯಿತು) in Kannada usage in Bangalore generally means over or finished. The same word in Mangalore usage generally means "Ready". When Bhat used the word he meant he is ready for lunch. Mrs murthy thought Bhat already had his lunch and is not hungry. The word "Tindi (ತಿಂಡಿ)" in Bangalore usage means items for eating whereas in Dharwad usage means Itching!

When this type of misunderstanding can happen between two friends who personally know each other, speak the same language, have similar backgrounds and upbringing, what would be the situation when there are interactions between two totally unrelated and unknown persons and entities? 

There was a story in our school text books. An Indian went on an Europe tour and wanted to have lunch in an Italian restaurant. He wanted to eat Mushrooms. He did not know Italian and the bearer in the restaurant did not know any language other than Italian. The wise Indian took out a piece of paper and wrote the picture of a mushroom and showed it to the bearer. The face of the bearer lit up and he nodded his head and went inside. The hungry customer was waiting for the delicious Italian mushrooms and the bearer brought an umbrella. 

In international transactions, the buyers and sellers of goods and services are separated by distances which may extend to different continents. They speak different languages and live in different time zones. There are cultural differences, contradictory social and commercial practices, and so on. There is a continuous need for a system that is uniformly used all over the globe in which all the trading parties understand the terms used in trade in the same sense and there is no confusion or misunderstandings leading to endless disputes. International Chamber of Commerce has come out with a document titled "INCO TERMS" giving various terms that are generally used in trades. These terms give precise meaning for each term, enumerate the rights and responsibilities of the trading parties and also help in defining the point at which title to the goods shifts from the seller to buyer. All the trading parties, others participating in the execution of relative contracts as well as arbitrators in case of resolution of disputes use these terms. The INCO TERMS have facilitated development of trade and commerce by volumes of smooth commercial transactions and helped solve many disputes. They are regularly upgraded from time to time to meet the demands of changing times.

*****

In the present world of Digital Communication and Social Media, use of Emoji is a very common thing, Emoji is a Japanese word and said to represent a pictogram, logogram, ideogram or smiley embedded in a text and used in electronic messages and webpages. History also tells us that Emoticons were initially used in 1990s and later on evolved into Emojis. Probably further research is being done by Darwin's followers about "Evolution of Emojis".

Almost everyone has a smart phone today and most of them believe that those who don't have them are not smart enough. Governments have not yet started taxing forwards messages and hence we have people who are known as "Straight forwarders". They may not be straight forward in their other dealings, but immediately forward messages though they may not have themselves read them. Absolutely no selfish intentions but following the principle of living for others. 

Then the receivers have an obligation too. They have to let the sender know they have seen these messages. Otherwise there may be unnecessary misunderstandings and hurting digital feelings. But there are problems in responding. First, they may also be straight forwarders and may not read the messages. Secondly, they may not have time to read. Thirdly, even if they read, they may not understand them. Fourthly, even if they understand, they may not know how to react. Fifthly, it may be something else. Emojis solve all these problems. Pick an Emoji and click on it. Done! Then move to the next message and possibly the next Emoji.

There are probably hundreds of Emojis and there are possibly regular additions to the already vast Emoji treasure. But there are some Emojis which are regularly used. 💔👍👌🙏😐😏😀 are some of the most commonly used Emojis. Use one of these and click. You have achieved many things by this one action. You have now freedom to go to the next message. The sender is now happy that you have seen the message. That opens the gate for sending many more! The social media owners or managers are happy because the traffic keeps on increasing. And so on....

*****

The world was a very happy place with free and unabated use of Emojis. But a recent judgement by a Court in Canada has changed the way Emojis are now looked into. A judgement delivered on 8th June, 2023 by a Saskatchewan Court in South West Terminal Limited Vs. Achter Land and Cattle Limited, relating to a Deferred Delivery Purchase Contract has turned the world of Emojis upside down. 

The Plaintiff sued the Defendant for breach of contract when a promised delivery was not made on the due date. The item covered by the contract was Flax (Linseed or extracted Linseed oil), used in making fibre (linen) yarn. The Defendant denied entering into a contract as there was no "Memorandum of Contract" at all. The Plaintiff produced a text message sent to the defendant covering the contract which was responded by the Defendant by a 👍sign. 

The Seller (Defendant) argued that the Thumbs Up sign on the message only meant that he had received the message, it was not a digital signature and hence not valid. The Buyer (Plaintiff) contended that the Thumbs Up sign meant that the contract was concluded. Though it was not a digital signature and a non-traditional mode of signing a document, but nevertheless it was a valid way of conveying acceptance.

On hearing both the parties, the court ruled that "Thumbs Up Emoji is as valid as a signature" and ordered the Defendant to pay CAD 61,442 to cover the default under the contract.

There is another report that a US District Court Judge in New York has ruled that Emojis like Rocket Ship, Stock Chart or Money Bags means "a financial returns on investments".

****

The world of Emojis has suddenly become very dangerous. Days are not far when a court in India may rule that a "Growing Heart" emoji affixed by a girl on a message by a boy is as good or even better than a "Marriage Certificate". Similarly, a broken heart emoji may be construed as an approval of "Divorce". A set of three broken hearts may be held as equal to a "Triple Talaq", though there may be another case questioning its validity.

Emoji lovers and Straight Forwarders are in a fix now as they may not be able to use the Emojis as freely as before.

It is also time for ICC to come out with a document similar to UCPDC (Uniform Customs and Practices for Documentary Credits) or INCO Terms for "Standard Meaning and Understanding of Usage of Emojis in the Digital World" or something else with an even more attractive name.