{"id":4027,"date":"2022-01-24T17:30:35","date_gmt":"2022-01-24T17:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pujabhakoo.com\/?page_id=4027"},"modified":"2022-01-24T18:51:41","modified_gmt":"2022-01-24T18:51:41","slug":"small-talk","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.pujabhakoo.com\/?page_id=4027","title":{"rendered":"BLOG Small Talk"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018How are you?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a question that\u2019s ping-ponged around the social world with a dull, repetitive panache.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every single day zillions of people in millions of countries ask this one question of one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our parents taught us to say \u2018I\u2019m fine thank you\u2019 in return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if AB of KBC asks you this question today, the sahi jawab would probably be \u2018Not Too Bad.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The. sunshine of the earlier \u2018I\u2019m fine\u2019 stands a tad tinted by Covid-coloured dust devils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the changed social climes we\u2019ve replaced \u2018I\u2019m fine thank you\u2019 with. \u2018Not too bad.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because \u2018Not Too Bad\u2019 is an all-purpose, all-season answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In good times it projects a decent pessimism. And when things are rough, really rough, it becomes a heroic understatement, says writer James Parker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever the circumstances, whatever the conditions, \u2018Not too bad\u2019 will get you through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three meaningless, monotoned syllables gently and effortlessly press the handbrake on further inquiry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Civilized niceties such as Have a nice day, Cya around, or How\u2019s life perform a valuable social task. They unite us in a momentary social contract that soothes the blazing void of unfamiliarity in our souls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without these tiny harmless fillers\u2026 these benign going-nowhere phrases\u2026 our social fabric would be riddled with linguistic holes\u2026 and our city streets would be dotted with drab, soulless puddles of indifference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So guys \u2018Have a nice day\u2019 you all\u2026as you read your copy of MOOD SWINGS<\/a>, my anthology of seventy poems. \ud83d\ude0a\u2764\ufe0f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if you haven\u2019t ordered it yet, you can click on this link and order it on Amazon right away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy reading! \ud83d\ude0d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Puja Bhakoo<\/a>, author, MOOD SWINGS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018How are you?\u2019 It\u2019s a question that\u2019s ping-ponged around the social world with a dull, repetitive panache. Every single day zillions of people in millions of countries ask this one question of one another. Our parents taught us to say \u2018I\u2019m fine thank you\u2019 in return. But if AB of KBC asks you this question […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4027","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pujabhakoo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pujabhakoo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pujabhakoo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pujabhakoo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.pujabhakoo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4027"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.pujabhakoo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4096,"href":"http:\/\/www.pujabhakoo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4027\/revisions\/4096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.pujabhakoo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}