Of Internet

“Its Akansha’s birthday today”, a reminder informed me as soon as I opened my mail box.Akansha stays in USA, and I in India. She says our souls connect right through the section of Mother earth. Yet, I was on the verge of forgetting her birthday.. blame it on hectic schedules, or whatever… but I was sure glad to have received this reminder. I dropped in a mail, so that she would receive my wishes when she checks her mail  that morning.

Rewind just about a decade back. It was 1998, a time when internet was a matter of luxury to some. Most did not know such a thing existed. It was a time of booking trunk calls instead of just an ordinary STD call, international calls had to be made through complex procedures across connections plagued with disturbances galore.  On my way to college, I received a pamphlet announcing “Rs 50 for 60 minutes of Surfing” – it seemed such a lucrative offer that I brought it for my classmate, whose boyfriend was in USA. She was excited and thanked me many a time before she went to drop a coveted e-mail to her beloved.

Remember the shady cyber café’s that started in every nook and corner like mushrooms? Then came an age of broadband connections which could be set up at our homes conveniently, followed by wi-fi systems and data cards. Now, connectivity is available on the move on our cellphones, a gadget without which we cannot imagine our lives!

The other day, we had a meeting in a far flung colony near a famous school. None of the team members knew the way. All we had to do was to look up the route on Google Maps in someone’s internet-friendly phone. What is more, the tracker showed us our current location and gave us directions all throughout the journey like a faithful guide.

A friend had launched a website where one could design a saree before buying it. Partly to help him out, and partly because my mother’s birthday was round the corner,  I checked out the site. My ma was very pleasantly surprised when the package arrived!

Today our lives revolve around this technology. We book train and flight tickets, do banking transactions, shop for anything under this sun ranging from clothes to furniture, read, check results of various examinations and draws of lots, research,  communicate and even socialize on the web. A webcam has made it possible to see each other and converse as if it was a face to face discussion. Our reach has increased, yet our world has become small with a few clicks. Albeit there are certain drawbacks or unwritten do’s and don’t’s, but Internet is fun!

If you organize a poll between life with and without internet, your results are guaranteed to be 100 against zero.

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 This post has been written exclusively for the "Internet is fun" contest on Indiblogger. Image courtesy Google images.