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A MUST-HAVE app for the Arab-crazed, shisha-loving, shawarma-eating lot!

If you say Insha Allah like Shah Rukh Khan, smoke shisha like there's no tommorow, love henna, attempt to belly dance and eat shawarma every other day, Halla Walla IS THE APP FOR YOU!

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What do you do when you just can't be asked to type words anymore? You use emojis! That's what they're for, but what if there is no emoji to urge your friends to get some shawarma, or go smoke some shisha? Well guess who just solved that problem... HALLA WALLA!


Image courtesy: Halla Walla

Halla Walla (which roughly translates to 'what's up') is a keyboard emoji and sticker app that aims at capturing the essence of the Arab lifestyle. The app brings to life the many glimpses of Arab culture through relatable characters, nostalgic themes and playful GIFs that range from angry to happy to being in love.

Video courtesy: Halla Walla

Halla Walla is the brainchild of YERV, the creative agency founded by Yasmine Rasool, a Bahraini and Eriko Varkey of Japan. They came up with the app after living in Dubai for the past seven years in an attempt to represent what everyday life is really like for young Arabs in the Gulf. 

Image courtesy: Halla Walla

"Every time we were in New York or London, everyone would be like, ‘So, you’re Arab?’ and ask Eriko what is it like being an expat in the Arab world? So Halla Walla started as a cultural experiment to try to explain to people the richness of the Arab world," the app's co-founder, Yasmine Rasool says, "One of the first things people think of when they think of the Arab world is ‘conservative’ - we wanted to capture how diverse our society is, we believe it is important to them to show the rest of the world a side of Arab culture that often gets misrepresented and misunderstood.

"From Saudi Arabia to Qatar to Kuwait to Bahrain, there are all kinds of differences. This region might be small but we’ve got bold personalities."

Image courtesy: Halla Walla

 

The girls hope the app will change the perception of the Middle East one person at a time. Yasmine explains, "We are on a mission to highlight the beauty of our Arab culture. We wanted to create something that we know well and give the Khaleeji culture a boost through our creativity. When it came to representing the modern Middle Eastern voice, we felt there was a real gap in social messaging platforms.

“From our loud families, endless cousins, gatherings and shared meals, to signature phrases, fashion statements, football, shisha and late night shawarma runs – our lives are brimming with inside jokes and over the top emotions that needed a platform to be expressed.”

Image courtesy: Halla Walla

“Arabs have such a rich culture, but no emoticon to express online. In any situation – we use hand gestures, which are laden with emotion. So, to express that stress to hurry up when you are waiting hours for your friend to meet you at the coffee shop – what better way than by screaming YALLA! (which translates to HURRY!) Hence the reason why Halla Walla was born,” Eriko Varkey said to the Arabian Marketer.

The app has received the best response for its GIFS - especially "shway shway". That one image depicts an array of emotions. Yasmine says, "The exact translation is ‘wait, wait’ - it can be used for any occasion- everything will happen in good time."

Image courtesy: Halla Walla

"And of course the slipper being thrown- it’s an action that we all grew up with in the Arab world and we are just highlighting our childhood!" Yasmine exclaims,  "Honestly, mama never actually did it, but it was the notion of that bending down to get that slipper- that’s when you knew you had to run!"  

Image courtesy: Halla Walla

We are certain a lot of Indians will relate to the chappal being thrown as well, quite a few politicians especially! *add tongue out emoji here* 

Halla Walla was launched on February 22, 2017 in Al Quoz, Dubai, and in less than 3 days it was close to hitting the 10k mark soon with downloads for the keyboard on iOS. "We are so overwhelmed with the positive reviews and realise that creating something so relevant to this culture was necessary," says Eriko.

Image courtesy: Halla Walla

Surprisingly there has been no negative criticism of the app depicting stereotypes or such, "The only feedback we have got so far is extra emoji ideas, a lot of Saudi’s, Kuwaiti’s, Qatar’s have sat us down and said no no, you did not capture it well enough- we have to keep reminding people that they are emojis. As realistic as they can be, they are still illustrations! Fingers crossed no backlash will be heading our way but any other criticism, we are all ears- anything to make us improve and get closer to communicating our culture better," says Yasmine.

The app, which costs Rs 120, can be downloaded on the iTunes and Google Play stores.

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