Utter Strangers

Dear Oj-da
Thanks a ton for showing such enthusiasm for my post that you hurried to be the first one to respond. How delightfully childlike !

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Dear Oj-Da

We may now know what you look like , thanks to the TV show, yet we are still a far way from claiming we KNOW you.

Of course, all of us who write here leave a few fingerprints here and there that can be pointers to our personalities.What we construe from those will still be a pastiche, which may or may not resemmble the original Motif. Knowing a person well is a dicey job in the actual world itself, for no one is fully transparent. I doubt if my husband himself KnoWS the REAL me ( and vice versa). Now please dont start asking if I myself know "WHo I AM !" Then it will be time to take to the Himalayas !

"To tell you frankly, your comment stuck to my mind and in a subsequent TV appearance, I ensured that the faint B turned stronger and the "you know"s were banished for the two hours for which the show lasted."
This is quite pertinent. You see, words on the screen have a totally different effect than spoken words seen live. If i comment and you react to it, spontainety is lost (in the spoken speech), whereas there's no such danger with the written word. You say I write well, but you have no way of knowing if I stutter or lisp or am prey to spoonerisms . These can affect opinion and image forming, isn't it? So Anonymity comes in very handy. ( add to this, the great advantage of editing which is not available to speech !)

The story of your virtual friend Steve West made sad reading. Its amazing that you were able to form such a deep connection with him that his departure left you teary. It shows how much of yourself you invested in this friendship. Perhaps there's a lot of emotional nourishment to be had from bonding with unseen people after all.
But so far, I have not been able to warm up to that extent with cyberfriends. This is not to say I don't enjoy their company. I do, very much too. Its just that i am rather reserved by nature and the people in my life are slotted in hierarchies of intimacy. I know this sounds cold and clinical, but, unfortunately, thats fact.

No, i have not read "84 Charing Cross", but googled it just now and discovered its about long distance relationships.There was a movie "You got m@il" which showed how very different the same person can be in reality and in cyber avatar.

Thank you for the poignant FB, Oj-da.

 

Dear Paulina

I'm very glad that you liked the post . Grateful for the lavish compliments.
About my MIL, you are wrong. She does venture into the exciting territory of mingling with cyber friends. She frequents 2 foodie groups,one satsang group and a community that endeavours to spread smiles in various ways.

So there's a "Good Addiction" too !Perhaps Indus can be introduced as Antidote for those substance-abuse addicts who sign up for detox ! The wholesome,jolly world here may help them reject nicotine, alcohol and petroleum fumes as "High"fixes of choice.

Thank you very much for writing in, Paulina

 

Dear Mindi,
"Oh dear TL..I couldn’t help my first thought..what if junglebelle65 WAS your MIL???"
LOL, what a frightening thought ! MIL was definitely not JB65 because I know her cyberpersonality is called Sa.Sha ! But now that you have touched off the fuse, I am begining to shudder:'what if she is lurking around here somewhere, as one of the 100,000 Ilites !! Yikes !

Yeah, its amazing that we take a liking to unseen people.Once upon a time, there were penpals.Now, cyberfriends. I have always felt, we connect more easily with these than with real people ,because in distance friendship,we don't carry baggages.We take each other at face(word)value.
I am the reserved type too and cannot pretend warmth where i dont feel it. And am acutely selfconscious when it comes to getting closer to new aquaintances. But in the cyberworld, everything is ulta-pulta.You just have to say Hi and you are like, the janam janam ki saathi kind !

Thank you for sharing your sweet thoughts, Mindi.

 

Dear Cheeniya,

Inadequate and you ? Kidding ? Perhaps you were just a bit listless when you FBed.,this being energy sapping summer.

We all know that seasonal Muralis and Shanes are just bacchas before the perennially precious Bradman.

Thank you for the closing compliment, Sirji.

 

Dear Mithila

I see that you are a total contrast to my character ! People who open up spontaneously always fascinate me.

As for dirty linen, the very expression shows the hypocrisy of society. We all want to present a perfect picture of ourselves and our families . We want the world to think we are so pure,noble and faultless that there can be no stain anywhere. Discussing a problem with others equals to admitting we have shortcomings,dirt on linen ! Something to be ashamed of.

Perhaps, as you say, pouring out the problem to sympatheic listeners may make one feel lighter. But there's always the problem that the linen will be made dirtier by additions and build ups when it floats across the grapevine , sometimes aggravating the original situation! Thats what makes people sweep things under the rug I guess. This is just a one way of looking at it. But counselors always say, 'never bottle up, always express' so that the bottled up feelings don't send you into stark hysterics one fine day !


Thank you so much for your lovely compliment and encouragement, Mithila.

 

Dear Soldier
For a moment I was :confused2: how I became Da, like OJ ! Then, it dawned on me that this is not Bengali Da but Tamil Da,( which is more endearing than the gender appropriate Dee !)

While chatting across forums here, its not easy to find out who is genuine and who is phoney, at least in my experience so far. Perhaps everyone tries to be civil, because you can hardly be nasty, what with the good tribe of moderators hovering above us with eagle eyes! It ok. So long as there's a friendly atmosphere, it nice to visit and unwind.

Yeah, A-Z and Vowels are fun places to be in. Only, of late, our timings are not getting synchronised well.
Than you so much dear and muah-muah to you too, Mallika

 

Dear Nats,

Oh please, don't let your old English teacher come after me with the foot ruler for having made her good pupil forget the stuff she so painstakingly taught !

I'm glad you remembered just enough to make my day with a unique FB !
Thank you so much, Natpudan.

 

Dear Radhika
The cyberworld has innumerable pit falls with monsters lurking at every corner. But if we are prudent,no harm can befall us.Of course, choosing a safe site like this one is of utmost importance. And not losing perspective in the midst of overwhelming chumminess also helps!

I am glad you enjoyed the post. Thank you very much, Radhika.

 

Dear Viji

I know how much you enjoy being in Indus because time and again , in most of your posts you express what a great deal of love and affection you receive from others here. Perhaps its your childlike personality that attracts so much goodwill. May you always be happy, vijima !

As for our meeting, they say, if we wish hard enough,the Universe will conspire to make it come true ! Some day, we will. There's always HOPE !

Thank you very much , Viji.