VIRTUAL MUAHS! !

Lately, I have been getting friend requests from long lost, distant relatives. A request from Jaunpur waali mamiji was a reminder that the virtual social-fest is contagious. Since social networking is getting viral, will everyone catch a cold?

Chachajis and mamijis are all active netizens, thanks to their tech savvy kids who have opened Facebook accounts for their parents. Everyone who knows his alphabets has the urge to connect. For different reasons, of course! It is addictive.

A word about Jaunpur waali mamiji. If ever there was a bitching contest she would be the undisputed queen. Having said that, I am in a dilemma whether to accept her request or ignore it? Accepting amounts to unnecessary inquisition on the pictures and events. Ignoring has its own pit falls.

I accept, expecting that she won’t go beyond my pictures. Not to my blog, I hope. Undoubtedly some topics are way too scandalous for her. So, I am hoping that after her initial enthusiasm of sofalizing flickers she will move on to her first love – gossiping.

It is a fact that though Facebook might allow hundreds of friends; we can maintain only about 150 odd meaningful relationships. According to a study, we have limited emotional capital. Put simply, our minds are not designed to have more than a limited number of friends at a given time. What social networking does is to nurture your relationships which would have withered away for the lack of interaction.
Socializing is all about attending power parties, arriving late, getting clicked, being mobbed and giving sound bites. Today there is another dimension to it. The virtual handshake and the cyber muahs!!
The glitterati and the chatterati should be litterati. And if they are twitterati; even better.

Birds do it, bees do it/ even educated fleas do it. Let’s do it, let’s all fall in love, crooned Cole Porter. We might not all fall in love however; we can all socialize in the virtual village. Time and distances are immaterial. ShahRukh does it; Amitabh does it and so do Barkha and Tharoor. Twitter is an engaging medium and provides instant gratification.

Cyber space is abuzz with an orgy of voices, opinions, views. What bliss it is to drown in the cacophony of ideas. The best part is that solitude is a click away. Log off, when you are not in the mood. Not in the mood for socializing that is.Switch off your lappy and enjoy the hot cuppa in the sun. Nothing can touch you. No friend requests, no tags and no followers.

More than anything else, blogging is a wonderful medium to exchange ideas and make like minded friends. It is hardly surprising that Technorati is currently tracking over 113 million blogs, a number which does not include about 73 million Chinese blogs according to blog statistics. Hence, I am, but a mere speck in the grand scheme of things; a drop in the ocean.

To top it, I earn zilch. Then why do I slog to blog, instead of jog and loose some calories? Because it gives me the freedom to pour my heart out, vent my ire and share views. It is therapeutic. And how can I forget the amazing set of people I have met here? They encourage me and acknowledge me, irrespective. They fuel my fingers to tap dance on the keyboard while I groove to the music of my heart.

Finally, what if mamiji from Jaunpur gets to read this blog? She will chew me to bits in her thoughts and otherwise. I am hoping she will not go beyond my pictures. Instead of pressing the like button for one of the comments, she has already commented, “I likes it.” Wonder what’s coming next. And the fact that I deleted her precious comment must have taken a toll.
Fingers crossed.