Wisecracks ...

I have seen this happen 'n' number of times till now. While talking to someone (this someone can be almost anyone from someone in your office, at home, your friends or a stranger you have met while travelling), the conversations very often drift between different topics and start becoming too formal. You (kinda) keep speaking volumes but then also start getting bored. You start feeling "Why am I even a part of this" and want to get out of the situation. But in such a situation one wisecrack from anyone can break the ice and put a new life into the conversation.

If you see the dictonary meaning of "Wisecracks" it means quips or clever answers or statements that you make when you converse. These are almost never premedidated but just happen at the spur of the moment. Here is an example ...

Once in my college the Head of our Department was talking about the importance of communication skills and it was getting a bit boring. An an exercise he called a couple of us on the dias and asked us to tell the class something about ourselves in about 10 sentences. I was really fed up and didn't really want to do that. Everyone had started yawning by now and when it was my turn to speak I could see the "Please don't" expressions on many faces. But unfortunately I had to. I started very casually telling my name, family background etc. While telling my date of birth, I thought people tell their birthdates and don't usually mention the day when it fell. Might be because people just forget the "day". So to make things look different I said "I was born on the 24th of September 1980, it was a Wednesday that day! Look ... I remember". Now, not knowing what I was thinking while saying this, my class heard it as "Look I remember since birth the day I was born" and everyone (including our prof burst out laughing). That one sentence was enough to break the ice and then we enjoyed the further part of the session.

You might just have a grrreat sense of humour and can also have a habit of picking on people. But in that case you end up being called "funny" or "humorous". Saying something witty does not require a great sense of humour, all it requires is a good presence of mind. And that is the thin line that distinguishes being FUNNY and being WISE. It just comes in your flow of thought. You dont have to effort on thinking what to say. The "timing" is what is important. At times even I remain bewildered that how could I say something that smart ... AT THAT PARTICULAR MOMENT ! Another example ...

In office we usually follow a convention (or call it formality) that if you pass by someone in the hallway you politely ask, "How are you sir, whats happening" etc. So a few days ago I was crossing a senior dev lead in our team so he smiled and followed the formality ...

He: So Alok Sir, whats happening?
Me: Nothing much sir, just routine.
He: (Taking a pick at me ...) What??? Dont tell me ... I thought you are responsible for making things happen ...
Me: Well ... thats just my routine