Be afraid. Be very afraid.
They say the world is shrinking. I say the world is on Facebook and will not leave you alone. That creepy annoying kid on your bus who picked his nose? Remember him? He is on it. So is that girl who spread vicious rumours about you. Even that boy you had a crush on but could never approach. There are many many many more people in this world who you don't know, don't remember or care to. They are all on Facebook.
Yet, one day you get added by a girl named Mira Seth (name changed to protect her identity though I don't know how it makes a difference). You accept her request because there was a girl way back when you were 12 who you were friends with and she was called Mira. However, when you go to her profile page, you realise that it is someone else. Not some complete stranger, just someone who was a year senior to you at that school. Alright, you say.
But then she writes on your wall, asking you how you are, etc. You are obliged to reply in this wonderful era of instant communication. Oh well, you reply saying your memory is a little rusty and that you recall two Mira Seths and politely ask which one she is, as her profile photo is unclear. She replies saying she is the 'chubby one, the one who didn't commit suicide in Class 12'.
You are shocked. Obviously, it's tragic and scary, even though you cannot remember who she is, no matter how hard you try..
Still, something continues to bug you.. You think, so there now is only one Mira Seth. Why am I not able to put a face to the one on Facebook?
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10 comments:
i love facebook. it's galvanized my relationship with pals scattered all over the globe. it's a way of sharing life with each other. not having used the other networking sites, i think it's better than orkut and hi5 and jing bang coz people aren't using it yet to stalk each other for sex and other sundries.
i'm a bit stunned by how you didn't elaborate on this. so a mira seth did kill herself in 12th grade? is that the one you knew better?
No telling who, when, or where...
pity i never realised you were in london. we should have met up for a drink or two unless you're happy with the safety of bloggy distance. :)
anywhoo aint it a gorgeous day today. i am off to hyde park with chhota chaddis on, a book and a 6 pack. a 6 pack of beer those are the only 6 packs on my person..........
sigh.............
Hobo,
I agree that Facebook is the classiest networking site available and I, too never used any of the others. Didn't want to join Facebook even but was forced to by classmates when I moved to London. But I actually find 'rejecting' people or 'putting people on limited profile' really difficult. Because to do that you really have to dislike them, which I don't. I'm just indifferent, you know? So now I have some 180 odd friends and I talk to many 30?
I'm cool with doing away with the bloggy distance. Though shame on you, Hobo, I've been in London for a while now (and it says so on my profile), how could you have not noticed? *sniff* I'll have to pass on Hyde Park today (obviously) because of an essay that needs to be finished and I'm out for dinner in north North London! So how about during the week - Monday, Wednesday? Hopefully, we'll meet and get along spledidly. If not, thanks to the shrinking world, we'll realise we used to be friends years ago and can't stand each other. :)
Hobo,
Oh right. About the Mira Seth who committed suicide. I didn't know her well either. They were both the same to me. But hear this - I found out from a close friend from that school yesterday that she killed herself because she got pregnant!
PS - Are you here during Easter?
I like Facebook. Almost everyone I knew in school is either research scientist, a Harvard graduate or an overly Punjabi businessman (and I can spend afternoons poking fun at all 3 types).
@hobo - who says facebook isn't used for stalking people for sex? and how is sex a "sundrie"? tsk tsk.
@SA - wow. suicide? that was a real incident and not a sarcastic comeback, i take it?
sometimes, i'm scared at the state of affairs these days. reminds me of that incident from Orhan Pamuk's Snow - when all those turkish girls go around committing suicide. for no apparent reason.
@ts - there are overtly chubby punjabi businessmen on facebook? WHERE? :D
TS,
I like Facebook too, even though I complain. Great entertainment value and it really helps with keeping in touch. But once in a while..
Tap,
No, the woman really did kill herself in 2001. Its awful.
wow. you went to some scandalous school. my school was very standard. when girls got knocked up at my school, they were just driven into forced and hasty marriages, had the unplanned babies and then shortly after got divorced.
Really?! That actually sounds pretty scandalous too! This was a boarding school in North India that I attended for a couple of years when my parents were traveling like crazy. They brought me home after a few years because they thought it was too conservative. I guess that explains why she thought she needed to kill herself when she got knocked up. I barely remember this girl but I feel bad that she thought that was her only solution.
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