‘Get a free plate of Gol Gappa on showing this message at the shop’. This is a Whatsapp message from a chaat-walla in Jodhpur. Move further north to Bareilly, and a boutique owner shares weekly catalogues and takes orders. Again on Wassup. In Jammu, a young girl excited for her wedding in the offing pings a ‘Save the Date’ wedding invite. This too, via Wassup.

Coupons, catalogues, invites or the usual chit-chat – Wassup and small towns is an affair that must not be missed. While the Blackberry messenger was the first in the category, it was not as a small town phenomenon … had limited usage for a mass audience. Wassup, on the other hand, proves to be a totally different story — user-friendly, futuristic, cheap, the beloved ‘green ticks’ and ‘last seen’ and of course the super-trendy name.

For the people in small towns, this app makes them feel progressive, brings them closer to a metro ‘big-life’ and best suits their limited pockets. Wassup is just not an informal slang, as it might be for many in the metros, but in the small town it represents their Way(up)app.