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FACEBOOK
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16
ANNI V ERSARY
FACEBOOK PHENOMENON...
It’s reuniting people!
Social networking and Facebook have become the topic of discussion at social
gatherings these days. And if you have no clue what I am talking about, you
may have to catch up with this new wave on cyber space.
by: Sarina Menezes
Like many others, after
ignoring a number of
Facebook invitations
to my inbox, a close
friend in Dublin edged
me to consider signing up. 250
million people are on Facebook
today, wanting to stay updated
on the happenings around
them and eager to share
with the people in their
lives affirming that people
are realizing the power of
staying connected.
They say the world is
growing smaller day by
day. True, because before
the Internet revolution,
getting in touch with loved
ones or business associates
across the seven seas was
a task that required hours
and hours of waiting on
the telephone operator.
For the Indian diaspora,
it was no different. Receiving a
letter was a big deal and its arrival
was announced to every other
member of the household. Most
people actually ended up saving
these specimens of antiquated
communication.
Believe it or not, but not so long ago, most of us lived in nearpredictable
social lives -- friends were the people who you met and
bonded with at school, college, neighbourhood -- your work stayed at
work and you spent hours catching up with your cousin who visited
after what seemed like a million years. That is, till the Internet came to
town and made itself available to all and sundry. Today, one can talk to
people all around the world and quench that thirst for ‘communicating’
with like-minded people making the Internet a playground of choices
and opportunities. All of
a sudden there was no
need to crowd around
the phone to hang on to
every single word that
was being exchanged
thousands of miles away
– one had to just click the
email button.
I’ve been on Facebook
for about a year now, and
over the past six months
old classmates from school,
college, earlier work places
Ajay Nambiar at the management school reunion in
Bangalore
have been adding me as
a friend and vice versa.
Instantly, I know where
they are in life: married, single, expecting baby, whatever, but it
goes a step further: I have a mirror into their day-today lives. Who is
feeling overwhelmed? Whose newborn didn’t sleep last night? Who is
obsessed with what? Who is stuck at the airport? It’s all there, in living
color, for me to see everyday. I’ve also heard from classmates, some of
whom barely spoke in high school, connecting over Facebook!
I honestly wondered if I was the only one going through this euphoria
My school girls reunion 1986 batch
of connecting with
people, walking down
memory lane and
even experiencing a
blast from the past
reminiscing old times.
Apparently not!
The Lost and Found
Arun Rao left the
shores of India in
1995 to pursue an
MS in Technology (Printing Management) in the US after which
he worked in Milwaukee, Dallas and now in Tampa, Florida where he
is based with his family. “The busyness of life and the distance from
India meant that by this time I had pretty much lost contact with most
of my classmates and friends barring a few. On one of my trips to India
in Feb 2008, I decided to set up a school group on Facebook and invite
all who we were in touch with. From just the three of us, we grew to
about 36. The experience was simply great as we dug out old school
pictures and posted recent ones on Facebook for all to see.”
“But the highlight was being reunited with a lost friend. During my
childhood days, we lived in Pune and I had a couple of friends who I
still kept in contact with even after we moved (those
were the days of inland letters). Recently, I got an
invite from a Dr. Prabhu Desai in the UK who asked
me if I was the same Arun from Loyola High school.
Incredibly, it was my old friend and we got back in
touch after 28 years! I now look forward to catching
up with him on my next trip to India via London.”
Women can easily identify with Rupali Mehra
who is based in Mumbai but has friends and family
dotted around the globe. Simply because it is typical
of how life takes over for most women after school
and college, juggling between family life and
sometimes careers too. Rupali shares, “My father
had a lot of friends so as children we had some
amazing memories of getting together to celebrate
festivals, staying up all night, pyjama parties with
friends. I passed out from school in 1985 and
married in 1989 which meant I lost touch with ALL my school friends
as I got busy and settled down with my new family.”
But Facebook has changed all that for Rupali in the last one
year. “I joined Facebook for a lark but as I started looking for old
colleagues, relatives, friends and cousins settled overseas who I hadn’t
met for years, a strange kind of joy took over. It was wonderful and
nostalgic. I could now connect with pictures, anecdotes, old jokes,
stories from my childhood; it
was like an autobiography that
opened a new page each day as
new episodes unfolded. I was
addicted for sure.”
A Peek into People’s lives
Indians by nature are curious,
inquisitive and relational, which
is obviously why we form strong
relationships and communities.
For those of us who are miles
away from India, have Facebook
and other such social networking
websites facilitated our connecting
global Indians to India?
One of the fantastic things of
such websites is the opportunity
of having a glimpse into people’s
lives and the happenings on the
other side of the globe. You can leaf
through photographs of friends and
family, find out what old college
Rupali Mehra’s recent school reunion - 1985 batch
friends are up to, congratulate
folks on their latest promotions,
graduations, birthdays, post links
and articles you find interesting
and then engage in discussions
about them with your friends and
acquaintances.
14 The International Indian
The International Indian 15