One feels an ubiquitous ‘reminder’ syndrome perpetually surrounds us today ! Someone magically reminds us on-line to pay/send/renew/contract or buy something you don’t exactly need ! Yet, such is our dependence on ‘reminders’ that the entire humankind, from corporate bosses to busy professionals, school teachers to young students, forgetful husbands to overburdened maids, bank customers to dating couples, need nudging to pay the dues on time, make promised calls, keep that ‘agreed’ appointment.
Out of necessity, small ‘reminder’ chits in the tiffin boxes/ coat pockets by housewives, alarm clocks for rising early & cooker whistles in the kitchen had been invented long back. With digital revolution the ‘reminder’ process became in the face & ‘unmissable’ ! Every morning one is inundated by messages on the mobile & mail that tell us to attend some issue urgently ! There are options now available to ‘block’ the unwanted ones but that needs right selection. Since they may differ in scale of priority for us, it’s useful to classy them in three grades !
‘Happy’ reminders make you excited or nostalgic. Like the birthdays, anniversaries & milestones of friends that you’d have missed, faded pictures discovered from family archives or old mark-sheets with Principal’s remarks or memories of a great trip, posted by loved ones. There can be the unexpected ‘windfalls’ like a call from the bank about an account with a huge balance that you’ve forgotten or a family lawyer informing you’ve inherited a big fortune from an unknown benefactor. This rarely happens, except in movies, but such a happy thought ! Reminders in a way take us into the past & people, some we wish to revisit, once in a while …
‘Important’ reminders play an important role for an organized way of life – we have apps that not only tell us about the payments that are due but will also fall due in near future, helping us plan our household finances and prevent the various utility bills from getting overdue & attracting penalties. Banks send us reminders for deposits that are maturing, for your KYC & for timely repayment of loan EMIs while insurers refresh your memory on policy renewals to continue protecting your family.
‘Relentless’ are the calls & messages that have studied your profile and think you can buy property big-time or invest in gold. Some even announce that you’ve won a huge reward that you never earned. Marketers & tele-callers are professionals who strike up a conversation & build on it to sell their schemes & homemakers are their ‘afternoon’ targets. The ‘True-caller’ warns us against ‘crank & spam calls’ that are on the rise.
Finally ones the most reminded men are ‘husbands’ who tend to forget the lunchbox, umbrella, papers & shopping lists but not their meets & match fixtures. Their memory is said to be selective ! Things change with retired folks though – the old man follows the lady of the house with her medicines, mobile, glasses, keys left behind at various places !
