It’s World Emoji Day today, July 17th!

While we might be busy with everyday things, like finding the best monsoon season or figuring out online grocery deliveries, we’re also celebrating something special: emojis!

You might think, “Why celebrate tiny digital pictures?” But these little symbols are super important in our online lives.

How else can you show you’re being sarcastic with “Oh, that’s fantastic news” without an eye-roll emoji 🙄? Or show how happy you are when a rickshaw finally takes you where you want to go, with a hands-up emoji🙌 and a grinning face 😁? Words don’t always show what we mean, but a perfectly timed face-palm 🤦‍♀️ can.

Here in Ahmedabad, a busy city where we always bargain for prices, emojis are like a second language. Trying to tell an international friend how delicious jalebi-fafda is on a Sunday? A drooling face 🤤 says it all. Want to show how hot it is in the summer? Just use fire emojis 🔥🔥🔥. It’s easy, quick, and saves us from writing long descriptions.

Emojis can also be a bit mysterious, which is fun. Does a winking face 😉 mean a joke or something more? Is a pleading face 🥺 a real request or just a clever trick? Like a good cup of chai, the meaning often depends on the situation and the person. This little bit of mystery makes our online chats more exciting, not boring like plain khichdi.

So today, let’s appreciate these small but mighty text helpers. Let’s use them to show our feelings through symbols that might confuse our grandparents but perfectly describe our modern lives.

It doesn’t matter if you’re an emoji expert who knows the difference between a smiling face with smiling eyes 😊 and a nervous grin 😬, or if you’re still learning the difference between a dizzy face 😵 and a confused face 😖—today is for you! Go ahead and add lots of fun pictures to your online conversations.

Just remember to use them carefully. A misplaced thumbs-down 👎 in a family chat can cause problems for a long time. Choose your emojis wisely, and may your emoji use today be clever, smart, and a little bit playful.

Happy World Emoji Day! 😄🥳🙏