THE NEW WORLD.....PART 2

The guy who fixed up the internet connection at our place, told us initially some tit-bits on how to use the browser and a start-up list of websites and search engines and how we could use ‘e-mail’ and………….how to chat……..:). Yeah! MS Chat with the innocent icon of the cartoon guy with specs........was the not-so-innocent world where people interacted with each other. It exposed me to a whole world of networked people from all over the globe who were looking out to ‘chat’ with people, who were in turn looking out for people like them-inquisitive, thrilled, adventurous, experimentative…….
It opened that sea of endless possibilities……a very few of them being- age no bar, marital/’real’ life relationship status reduced to immateriality, no geographical demarcations, no disease tests, no scope for knowing the colour/creed/name/country/hobbies/characteristics……….nothing………..unless U asked for it. Yeah.

U needed to create your own id( and name yourself anything from sexxykitten to cooltexlad), choose a cartoon icon U’d like to be represented as( whenever U selected the option of illustrated chats instead of text chat), enter a chat room of your choice………and………..lo and behold! A number of PM chat windows would open up within seconds which say-‘Hi! Hw r u?’ or ‘hey! Asl?’ or simply- ‘Hi’. Well, such ‘netiquette’ was then. With passage of time, the number of PM chat windows propping up became directly proportional and a square function and an exponential function(with base>1 and maybe tending towards infinity) with respect to how sexy your id was. Oh ! Pardon my insensitivity! For those who don’t know( & I doubt if there is anybody like that!)…….PM means- private message and ASL means- Age, sex, location.

I knew none of this chat lingo when I was introduced to this new world. And remember, that was when I was in class 6….1996. Nowadays, 7 year olds know it! And 77 year olds too!!

Anyway, with passing time I learnt the lingo…….I learnt the short-forms………I learnt how to chat…….and I also learnt how not to chat. I still remember that the very first time I chatted, was with a US soldier! He was a fun person and when I disclosed my age, he said- ‘Hey! U r my daughter’s age!’ Those were good times……there were genuinely good people, out to explore the motley of people of various nationalities, religions, time zones, climates….From the latter two I remembered-“wat’s the time dere?” & “hws d weather der?” were common questions in any international chat I had!!

The international people I talked to were always doubly interested when I mentioned ‘India’. They were just so eager to learn about India’s customs, culture and religions. But not everybody. There was the prejudiced lot too who said-“hey…u 4m d land of snake charmers?” And believe me……..when anybody said that, they had it. I would first calmly explain to them. And if inspite of that they spoke any slang or rubbish, I would lash out at them with all my might and strong yet slangless language, which sure would have gotten their medieval and misplaced perspective towards the correct one. In case it continued, I learnt the use of ‘ignore’, but not until they had been spanked to my heart’s content!!

I had my share of scandalized moments when the perennial sex seekers came along too. Again, I had tremendous fun (& still do…….!) to shoo them away forever! I’d continuously type all the spanking I wanted to give them, quickly press enter, and then quickly press ‘ignore’ button!! WOW! That feeling of contentment is supreme! Seriously!

And the guy who fixed our internet connection, also told us about ICQ(It originated from these words- I-SEEK-U! Cool! Isn’t it?!) and installed it too, saying that he remained online on that, and we could ask any queries to him. ICQ was another chat software and it was innovative in the sense that, suppose somebody sent U a message, then U heard a ‘cuckoo’ sound!! It was funny. When 2 or 3 messages would come simultaneously, it’d be a ‘cuckoo’ blast! And if they came along with milliseconds delay, it was a different ‘cuckoo’ blast!! With this also, my sister and I could talk to a host of people. I specifically remember a Pakistani lady who talked to us. She was really discreet and frankly told us, how she struggled to make ends meet and how she logged in after putting her kids to sleep. She also said that India and Pakistan should become one, and we had never agreed more on anything else. We were really happy to be acting as ambassadors of peace for our country! And talking of Pakistan, I must not forget to mention over here, that I had some experiences with Pakistan’s India-bashers too, on MS Chat. But by now, U already know my policy, right?! I went all out to teach them a lesson of peace. Albeit- the hard way.
But there were also several good Pakistani people, who genuinely wanted peace and wanted soldiers from both sides to not die in useless wars. I had a gem of a time, agreeing with them and promising to spread peace in our respective countries….! And movies, stars and cricket were favourite common topics for discussion! It was a thrill typing Hindi using the English alphabet. It united us and our nations like nothing possibly could!

Coming back to the topic, soon my sister and I started realizing the redundancy of ICQ. Coz, we found there was no need to keep contact with the guy who fixed our net connection! Hey…we could find the solutions ourselves! In case we (by chance……..0.000001% probability)needed to, the ever beautiful e-mail was there!

So there we were…………empowered……..emboldened…….and……..ready to handle the vagaries and beauties of……..THE NEW WORLD………..:)