Online Chating...online Mohabattein

Online chat...online mohabattein. Let's connect. The whole online chat has gone beyond party life, getting possessive over my G-chat where I still ping the close chums there or the Mirc chat relegated to the archive kinda grandpa era like the boringly drab poke business on Facebook. Who does that! Wanna bet! Of course, WhatsApp has made online chatting, be it yahoo-push the delete button here or G-chat irrelevant. How I hate saying it!

The random chats on Facebook and or the buried scrapping on Hi5 or Orkut and yahoo messenger is the tale of tickling boxes that hardly appealed to my senses.  I can count on the finger the number of times I've pinged someone on yahoo chat that faded away like the Diwali cracker ban. The romance spree and flirting online, sending sweet and naughty whispers are now wrapped in the memory trove.

Image credit: Google

Of course, chatting online has its share of evil and tickling sensation when we read about mediums like Facebook that can register private conversation in their database. It freaks me out when I think how those private conversations can be recorded and used against us. Okay! I have not really indulged in the evil sense but would abhor thinking about the intimate ping coming out in the open.

 The morning ping, silly forwards or conversation spree on WhatsApp is where the whole world has moved like migrating birds. Some random messages are met with a high-five to acknowledge or else this whole long conversation is not really friendly what with my fingers moving slowly. Fire your dirty mind, perverts! I mean typing where I get too slow and not finging around the phone. 

I did play around romantically with someone on WhatsApp when I discovered the recording button on the phone and she was way faster than me the time we decided to tap the get to know each other button. Naturally, the whole thing went kaput after a month or two of whatsapping, calling, flirting, exchanging dirty messages or singing to each other on the recorder. It was fun. We were in two different cities across the globe and it reached a saturation point where we stopped giving a fuck to each other. There were a certain fondness and vibes that could have wiped the entire planet with chocolate and candy floss feeling. Just fun and nothing more. I am sure she must be laughing over the whole thing when the thought struck her.  

Phone and social media have brought hearts closer but there is the danger of perverts lurking around when I read statuses of female friends on Facebook telling how some men have sent lewd messages or pictures.  Some people really need a reality check. Sadly, the healthy flirting get lost with vultures roaming around to give online flirting a bad name and being such a spoilsport. Sadly, the laws can get so complex on how to prove the case against vicious trolls or verbal sexual assault. Time for authorities to come clear on what the law says to nab perverts attacking women. There is a need for a healthy debate on the whole issue.

I am always in favor of healthy conversations between friends and would urge to flirt or converse with someone with whom you have a good understanding and don't blindly trust lecherous strangers or unscrupulous people who can steal personal information such as bank account or id. Sending a stranger one's personal picture is a strict no for one cannot know how it can be used against you.

Chat in good faith and make the whole experience healthy, fun and romantically endearing affair to remember over the years. Chatting and flirting goes beyond the romantic aspect for me and I made such good friends who shared their many little secrets, past relations, current one or about the guy they crushed on and yes rated scenes. The bottom line is: Trust in the online chat space to create the comfort level and the stories I am privy to makes for interesting stories to whip.  

With love
Vishal

New age Facebook narcissists!

Are you on Facebook? Mujhse Fraandship Karoge..acha! Send me a friend request! Been there, done that. Sounds familiar?! Right. Sharing-varing, feeds, heated discussions and venting out on almost anything, right from being a political animal to sex'ual creature and social issues. As a friend wrote on her blog, Facebook is becoming increasingly a tough call for us not-so-young owing to the infiltration of our elders mushrooming on Mark Zuckerberg's baby. As if, the online world is too big for us to run away from!!!

Facebook! What's that? Rocket science for the silly me and my faint heart. I am off from this thing called Facebook and it's a self-conscious break coz it was getting too much for me. I was getting tired of the things that I share every alternate minute, venting out my frustration on almost any ludicrous stuffs wrapping my tiny existence. Yeah! I am on a FB detox coz it an obsession for me, spending early morning and nights, basking in my own glory. One day, I told myself, 'Cure needed. I de-activated the account.' Do I miss Facebook? Nopes! I can breath fresh air, cut off from the feeds and from the horde of FB-ers. After all, I have a life. No! Really! This post is not about me but the narcissists that we have all become, sleeping on FB and taking pride in our 'Dabbang' statuses or wall posts. Tag Me! Ah! The game of tag or selfies all over the place roaring like Rajnikant blowing smoke and fists on the villains, flying in the air, like UFO's.

Don't ask bout' selfies! It's such a major put off where X or Y is sharing a new picture every alternate nano second of their mundane existence. It's too much to take, yeah. Or, you taking a pic with Priyanka Chopra or Lady Gaga at her latest show. I mean, taking a selfie occasionally is perfectly legitimate but I find this over-the-top behavior damn depressing where you sharing almost everything on FB. This applies to me as well coz I became this FB-narcissist writing at length about politics, corruption or the Alia Bhatt jokes. Don't we all need a good, fucking break and enjoy the ME time? Some friends asked, when I am coming back and it's no sooner, though I haven't said tata, bye bye. I shall be back in a while, fresh and rejuvenated.

Social media mavericks! We offer everything under one package, wannabe political analysts, marketing gimmicks, online social Gurus and what's not! New age wizards selling a product, we are all over the place in our desperate bid to become an attention seeker like the five-year-old showing his chocolate bar to uncles and aunties, jumping from one room to the other. If we have a trophy girl friend or wife or six-pack abs boy friend, flaunt them all over the place as if it's some aesthetic object of desire. Now, who needs sex toys in the age of FB? You bet! We need to tell the world about the better half on Facebook. The zillion pictures clicked in parties is shared on FB, close up shots of our drowsy eyes, drenched in Vodka shots...party all night, party all night, aunty police bulayegi..party on Facebook. It's all about Tandoori nights. Move over Yo! Mama! Jokes or Acidic Aunty. We are the new acid, talk of the town on FB.

Sometimes, I wonder how Facebook robbed us of the joy of human interaction, a time when meeting friends for some good fun carried emotional warmth. Gardening is done not in the open air but farmville, watching birds has become Angry birds. We've become so obsessed with our online image yet the emotional touch is just for effect. 1000 followers, 900 friends, yet we get so busy as online robots that our fingers doesn't hit the key pad to send an e-mail to old friend or make a call for that matter. Forget once a year, perhaps in a decade, we may not hear from someone we spent the best of times with. 

White lies has never got better on  Facebook or Twitter. After all, we are competing with the likes of AB, SRK, Priyanka Chopra or JLO to become the next celebrity in town. And! The silly game requests! Please, don't ask!!! It's like the new age paper boats that every one needs to play on an online format. Just refuse someone's game request and you are in the bad books forever. The next day, you are dumped out unceremoniously off their list. After all, Facebook is all about boosting the EGO where the E and GO cannot be separated. 

It has never been such a dangerous place to live on the digital media. We shall post update during the morning, share stuffs and comment on the latest stuff...NaMo in US, Jayalalithaa condemned by court on account of graft charges for four years, Deepika-TOI war. Bring it on, FB-ers! After all, your are trending.

Sending you some FB-love

Should Facebook be banned for Minors?

Former Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) ideologue, Govind Acharya move to ban Facebook for minors under 16 smacks of ludicrous understanding of social network and mirrors the image of conservative mindsets to curb freedom of expression. I nearly fell off the chair when I saw the idea of ban being vehemently supported by lawyer and social activist, Vivek Gupta on Headlines Today this week.
The internet nanny garb espoused by both Acharya and Gupta shows a one-way thinking spearheaded by not only a conservative mindset but an abject stubbornness which is absolutely ridiculous. There is no doubt that Gupta is eloquant and knows the law on the tip of his fingers. But, both man ignores reality and the silly attempt to ban both Facebook and Google + will only drive kids to the wall. There is no doubt that today's kids know more about the internet than our generation did. I have a two-year-old nephew who knows how to operate his I-pad and jumps on You Tube to watch kids videos. So does Amitabh Bachchan two-year-old grand-daughter, Aradhya.
Both Gupta and Acharya are basing themselves on the terms and conditions of FB that mentions that the social network platform should not be used by people below 16. First, how do we ensure that a 16-year old doesn't use Facebook? We are not opening a pandora box when we say that there are lakhs and lakhs of teenagers all over the globe surfing on social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter or Google Plus. Haan, it is another thing that parents' must use their discretion in order to ensure that children do not misuse internet platform, are not exposed to porn or fall easy prey to pervert individuals hunting kids for sex.
The move that the likes of Gupta and Acharya asked the court in India to implement law to prevent usage of Facebook is an attempt in India to not only curtail freedom of expression but turn us into a Taliban-type of state control. We are not idiots and internet is a medium that ignites the spark within the human mind. It is an added bonus to children so that they are able to question the status quo at the tip of their fingers and news update has never been made so smooth fluid with the advent of social media. We are living in a globalized world and for fuck sake, India is a democracy and social network websites targets young turks. It is the segment that constitute the proliferation of net. One need to log on to Twitter and Facebook to see that the millions of followers commanded by the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Tharoor, Karan Johar and Narendra Modi are mostly young people.
What do they want the law to achieve? In this age of information highway, we cannot treat bright and young minds in front of the law as criminals in the same vein as rapists, terorists and push them towards becoming anti-social beings. It is simply not done and the move by Acharya and Gupta reeks of a ludicrous stand and an abject attempt to cull on freedom and right of expression.
My main contention on the issue is how can the banning of new media help in curbing crimes against children. Firstly, by banning something, it will only acerbate the problem where children will try every trick in the book to gain access to the tool. We are dealing with young and inquisitive minds who will resort to any possible means, albeit, illegal ones to gain access. Sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Google + are spread out and it is an almost impossible to curb its usage among the youth. Information cannot be restricted and both gentlemen seem to live in a fancy world that does not exist. In fact, it is a very dangerous thing to  do since we shunting our children from the world. True, we live in our own country but there is an external world outside our country or geographical region and by advocating the banning of social network, we are pushing young minds towards a ghetto.
As far as the law is concerned in India or any other  country in the  world which speaks of banning Facebook or  Google  Plus or for that matter, restrict access to those under 16, it is an archaic  law that is in dire need of being re-visited. We need to move ahead with times and certainly, we cannot follow the route adopted by countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan or the Panchayat India whose vision is blurred by extreme religious and deep-rooted beliefs. Such obsolete laws need to be changed and it is not out of place to draw a parallel with a judgement of the Supreme Court in India that called for  same rights for live-in couples.
Lawyer Gupta went on record to tell TV anchor, Rahul Kanwal on Headlines Today and the guests present on the show, 'Centre-stage' that he trust his kids so much that they don't access social networking sites such as Facebook. One can only laugh at such sheer stupidity of a father whose vision is blurred. It's like saying that my son or daughter doesn't watch porn or smoke or for that matter get laid coz he told me so!!! Hell, in which world does this lawyer-father lives in?! I mean, will the child tell his or her parents that such things are part of their lives. Is Gupta surveying all the moves undertaken by his children? How much do we know about our own children?
As far as children being prey to pervert minds, it is not banning Facebook or Google+ that the problem will be curbed. Banning FB or Twitter to under 16 is not a solution and it has no relation to child trafficking, sex with minors or forced sex. Let's not pass the buck to the new media that has a power to spread awareness on social issues and all respected newspapers. magazines or even news agency targeting young minds regularly post updates on FB and Twitter. We are not willing to attack the roots of the problem of rape against gullible minds when we speak of banning something. It is not the solution and what is need is strong laws to prevent such crimes. Perhaps, a certain control is needed for kids surfing the net and it is the parents' responsibility to educate their young sons and daughters on the internet threat.
The same goes when some people, hungry for publicity, goes on national TV to cry hoarse that porn should be banned. Let's see the reality in front of us: Porn do not necessarily lead to rape and what is needed is proper legislation to deter rape and other crimes against women, young adults and toddlers. As it is, it is up to a person whether he or she wants to watch porn movies and somebody who is not willing cannot impose its views on others. The same goes to young adults and kids whose parents want to give them the best of both worlds by opening a Gmail or FB account and some moron cannot decide what is the best way of internet parenting. Certainly, a single person cannot impose its views on others in a democratic and secular society.
Today, what India or other global nations need is not some internet nanny who will decide what is good or bad and morally right or wrong. We are not living in the stone age and depriving a generation that has the 'windows to the world' at the tip of its fingers is an indecent attempt to deter the flourishing of information and killing a generation hungry for knowledge and learning tools for personal growth. We aim to become a super economic power and it is a tragedy that every time, a crime takes place we shamelessly uses it to push for our stone age ideals and hypocrite mentality.

Happines Quotient

Love, life, moolah, career, books, journalism, Facebook and G-chat. That's what my life sum up to. A more apt description of life would be that I am only too happy indulging in things that I enjoy doing. Howzzat post at 4 a.m in the morning! Our generation faces lotsa tribulations as we juggle our time in work, relationship and mundane things like watching movies, reading for pleasure and brooding on problems in the world. And, we choose to smartly brush aside sex and lust and after all, who has time for all that intimate emotions yaar when we are stuck up with the hum drum of city life. The little time that we are spared, it is spent making trip to the wonderful memories we left behind.
We were told that it's a fab time we are living. Their generation earn much less than we are earning and that we have plenty of opportunity. Once, on my way to Infinity mall, Andheri Mumbai, I met an old man.he must be above 70-year-old and he told me, India is booming and you guys have so much opportunity. You can work in the call centre and make money and our generation made money with less opportunities. What my learned uncle failed to ignore was the financial crisis that spelled havoc. Theek hai! India was booming at that time and our growth rate is still positive and jobs are created throughout the country. Yet! there are freeze in economic sectors and as you look for opportunities outside the home land, there come a point you wanna come back home. Yet! You can't because there is a freeze in your professional field and you gotta wait impatiently for the worse to get over. As if it's the Tsunami that's hovering over your head for some time. Sometimes, it's not just professional fulfillment that matters but happiness.
By the way, have you read the happiness survey in Hindustan Times during the week. Mumbai scores much over Delhi..well! That's support the claim that happiness matters and not money! To be frank, Mumbai sounds better than Delhi and no matter how much I hate to admit it, I was in Delhi in November and I have fallen prey to its charm. Yes! I said Delhi is a wonderful a city and to the extent that a friend of mine who is born and bred in Mumbai told me, you have shifted loyalty, Traitor! Well, he is in Australia right now. Of course, he was kidding but I feel like being caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. Ahem! Ahem!
The respondents in Delhi are more stressed out than Mumbaikars. Well that news to me not because Delhi is stressed out but I feel that the stress quotient in a city like Mumbai is no less. Come on, Mumbai is a city where you need to be constantly on the edge and you are busy like hell..forget about sparing time for others, you can hardly afford any time for yourself. That's the city on the move for you. True, Mumbai is more chilled out than Delhi in the sense that Mumbai is less aggressive and somewhat better place for women. But, it is debatable.
The survey ranks Mumbai on the sixth position with a happiness quotient of 776 as compared to Delhi which find itself at number 15 with an HQ of 609. It is assessed by our happy leaning through leisure time, entertainment and social life. Well, the world is crazy. What surprises me even more that Pune's level of happiness reaches 748 at number nine. Well, I just can't agree that Mumbai scores inches ahead of Pune. True, Pune is no longer the peaceful and laid back city that it used to be and the guilty are the builders who have put a nail in the coffin of Mumbai are hell bent to destroy Pune.
It's a crazy world and I wonder what defines happiness for an average person. Money? But, it entails a more stressful life. Friends? I agree with that coz it's important for us to have our emotional support in place but above all, the time to indulge in things we love doing and satisfy our creative quest. I, for one, love sipping cutting chai at the tapdi in the company of friends. Do we have time to so?! I wonder. Anyway, let's try to be happy!