Orkut and the fine art of socializing

I just realized. Sitting in the train and jabbering down your thoughts on the laptop isn't sucha difficult thing after all. I did this today.

Its funny how a piece of technology manages to take over our social lives. Yes, I'm talking about Orkut.

We live in a globalized world. And the World is Flat. And we have friends scattered all over the planet. Friends, with whom we would like to get back in touch with.
Friends, brothers, sisters, cousins, crushes, seniors/juniors from school/college/playschool :-), the neighborhood gundas, the gal-next-door... you name it! All of them can be accessed with a click of the mouse! Good na!
I myself have found so many old friends through this... (and I'm sure its the same case for everyone else around)

And Orkut is spreading like wildfire... Have been on this site since almost 2 yrs now, but never bothered to check it out much. But the last 10 months or so, its exploded!
This July when I spent 12 hours at the Mumbai airport (thanx to the annual floods occuring) I noticed at least 3 ppl in different places, sitting with their laptops and... Orkutting!

Welcome to the world of online socializing!
Of course nothing can beat the charm of meeting the person for real, but this is a workable delight sitting thousands of miles away from each other.


And how could the discussion be complete without the an eulogy to the never-ending list of DFSs (aka Desperate Friend Seekers)
Wow, I love this part....

There are loads of DFSs crawling all over the internet... loads. And if you just happen to mention in your profile that you are a female between 18 to 28 there will be loads of them wanting to make 'franship' with you and scrapping the nuts out of you....
Ya... female - thats enough. A sweet-sounding name and/or a pic that is remotely feminine will multiply the 'franship' offers almost-instantly. Uploading a few more of such pics on the album will result in exponential increase in the friends requests and scrappps!

I mean I know from a few of my gal-friends that everyday when they log on to their orkut, dozens of 'franship' requests stare them in the face on the homepage.... and it gets so irritating to click on 'NO' for each of them, one by one. Aha, the pleasures of being a guy... you don't (usually) have to go through this, he he!
As if the 'franship' requests are not enough, there are the scrapyards! Aha, welcome to the free arena of oh-I'm-so-cooool scraps, where each DFS comes up with one cheesy line after another (some in bold, italics, eastman color) - just to grab attention. (remember the Joey, 'How are u doin?' thingy'?)

I dunno how some people get kicks out of seeing more and more gals in their friend's list, even if they have no clue whatsoever about them or about their lives. Ah, maybe they think, the way to a gal's heart is through her 'Friend's list' :-) Someone pls educate me.

Here are some of the cornier examples:
(names have been withheld to protect identity, including mine ;-0 )
(Consider the responses in brackets below to be that of a PAL - Pretty Annoyed Lady)

Hi how r u?
(PAL: Hello, am i gonna tell random strangers how am I doing - whether I feel on top of the world or down in the dumps or both?)

hi, cute pic / nice pic / what a blah-blah pic!
(PAL: Well for starters, Thank you, but don't expect me to scrap you back. Its not a 'I scrap... err scratch your back, you scratch mine' thing)

Would you like to make franship with me?
This one takes the cake mann! I mean, if this works with a gal whom you've has never met/talked/chatted in life before, I could myself fancy my chances of using this line successfully with with Catherine Zeta Jones! Ah!
And the Engleees is just.... Subhaanalla...!!
more cornier versions of this:
'Would you like frenship with mee?'
'Hi I'm Narayan Kumar Babu from Rajpur, pleees freind me...'

Hi I'l w8 4 scrp, tc, by!
(PAL: This guy is having an SMS nightmare)

Waiting 4 your screp, byeeeeeeeeeee... !!!!!!!!!!!!!
(PAL: Hey, why was the 'byeeeee' for...? Aaye, scrap kiye, aur chal diye...? And sochte ho ki ladki patt jaayegi?? ha ha)
Still beats me why the extra e's and the hordes of exclamation marks added - was this guy having an orgasm while writing this? :-P

(And here are the try-again till you drop types...)
I screp yu but yu had not respond me so care to replay
(HA HA... ROTFL !!!)

And finally... this - yes, I've seen at least 2 such scraps in other ppl's scrap books. Laughed for 9.5 minutes non-stop!
Hi I woud like u as frend, pls send me a massage!
(Need I say more? :-) )
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Waiting....

Ok, that was just to grab attention. The fact remains that I've been busy like hell... and hence no time for chitter-chat on this webpage! No, wait... maybe I've run out of ideas too.... :-)

But like every other self-confessed writer, I'd think of something snooty to pen down... eventually. So..... here's me saying, "Yeah... I'll be back soooon...."

Weekend.... thou art quick!

Another weekend comes and goes....

Saturday was full of shopping for goodies... just to keep our home sweet home in order.... Keeping the house liveable for 4 bachelors is equivalent to a battle. And you gotta keep all the artillery ready for that.... (unfortunately the battle is a never ending one...)

And today Sunday..... 9 of us friends from office got together, deciding to pay a visit to a beautiful 19th century castle close to Munich. And well, was it good or what!!
(more about that in Travelogue 2, maybe...)

As I write this at midnight on Sunday... another week of project work beckons from tomorrow. But I guess I'll survive!

The one book I've been trying to finish since last 10 days is 'Jack - Straight from the Gut' - one of those which was long pending since the b-school days. But it continues at this snail pace only due to the fact that I find time to read it only during my commute between work and office - the 30 min train ride that actually relaxes! (not kidding!)

Bah-bye Sunday!

Travelogue

My blog is evolving into a travelogue of sorts (though I didnt mean it to be, initially). But when you are lucky enough to travel to places that many people have just read and dreamt of, you gotta brag like hell! Besides, it gives me a readymade subject to write on that my friends would actually enjoy, rather than read about my opinionated notions about the world that's all centered around me. Excuse me sometimes, puhleeaaase! :-)

But hey there is another positive. Maybe I'd get really famous writing about my expeditions, maybe TOI would do a cover feature on me, maybe 'Lonely Planet' would discover my hitherto hidden talents and give me a handsome advance for my first Travel book, alike Ms. Kaavya, and maybe a part of the advance would be a free cruise to Gibraltor so that I could write about the island and the mediterranean - some 5-star resort treatment thrown in as well!!! Woooh!

Ok. Ding Dong! Landing back to reality!

I now present, short descriptions of two very eventful excursions - Munich Oktoberfest and the Swiss Alps! :-)


Oktoberfest

Germany and specially Munich is world renowed for its Oktoberfest. Its a 3 week long Beer fest that happens every year in the later part of September. Every self-respecting beer drinker in the world considers this as a pilgrimage that one should do, no matter where in the world! Munich being just 3 hours away in the train, was an easy choice, so we went there on the Sunday when the Costume parade takes place. We reached Munich just on time when that started. The main streets where the parade would move through, had people decked up on both sides waiting to watch the visual extravaganza. There were the locals dressed in traditional attire walking in sync, with different kinds of props, orchestras walking and playing the music, decorated vehicles, bob-carts, horse carriages etc. all walking gallantly. And we happily watched and took pictures.

The parade pathway led to the big ground where the tents and the rides were set up. The tents accomodate between 6000 to 9000 people each and have tables spread all over. A group wud be lucky to get a seat on a weekend. And there were waitresses carrying oversized beer jugs, sometimes 7-8 of them together (1 ltr each!) and serving it to the ppl on the tables. And loads of carnivorous dishes (and some veggie ones) to go with that....

I personally have a very sporadic intake of the spirits (pun unintended :-)), and even those rare moments have been in good times only with friends around. This was one of those times - so I enjoyed. :-)

The parade


One of the 10 big tents (each seats around 10000 ppl!)


The waitresses who manage to carry all the heavy beer mugs with striking ease



Switzerland Ahoy!

Quick. What comes to your mind when you say Swiss?
Alps? Chocolates? cheese? watches? bells? Army Knives? banks?

Switzerland is all of these..... and much more!I might as well spend the next few thousand words describing about the Swiss experience, but it will still fall short of describing totally what this heaven is all about. All superlatives would not be enough. Probably it would be an insult to 'write' about a place which has to be 'seen' to be experienced.

So I'll leave you with only a few glimpses of heaven on earth.... (maybe I'd write more about that when my I'm done with the hangover that this beautiful place has left on me)







I'm still hopeful about the Gibraltor cruise, though... :-)
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