Internet and me..

I still vividly remember, it was in my 12^th standard holidays when I got introduced to the world of internet. Myself and one of my very close friends from school always wanted to get acquainted to the world of internet. Some of our friends were introduced to internet already, and were quite conversant about it, and used to discuss about the msn messengers and the mail chats. Well, we were just ignorant, and were not brave enough to accept that we knew nothing of internet and showed as though we were not interested in knowing it! We knew we had to start from somewhere. Neither could we ask our friends to teach us, nor we had the money or guts to go to an internet center to browse. And even if we had money, what would we actually go and do in a net center, cause we knew nothing in internet. And most of all we were ashamed to ask anyone!!!!. And neither could we afford internet at home. Well, leave alone internet, there were not even PCs at home. So we had to first build the stable before we could actually buy the horse. So we just left it there and decided that we would continue to nod and fake as though we knew internet, in and out.

Meanwhile, while doing our daily around-the-town strolls, we stumbled upon a newly opened internet café’s advertisement which read ‘Who said you need to know computers and internet? Come over, we can teach you!!’ or something of that sort. And we got quite excited and thought finally there was one place where we could go and tell that we dint know internet, and that they have to actually ‘teach’ us to browse. One evening, we braved ourselves, shed our embarrassment (of telling him we don’t know anything in internet), and went to the browsing center. I still remember the name of the center, it was Ganesh browsing center, which happened to be my happy hunting ground for the next 3-4 four years.

There, we told the center guy that we know nothing in internet and that he has to teach us, as he had advertised. And all he said was ‘Go to google.com and search and it will tell you everything about internet and emails.’ Ah.. what a revelation. Honestly, that day we thought he gave us the most sacred info about the internet world, and we look upon him with awe and he was our hero since then, for a very long time!!! As instructed we typed in google.com and searched for ‘email address creation’ or something of that sort.And it gave out some zillion search results. And out of nowhere my friend remembered this website www.england.com and he said that some of his friends have email accounts there. Getting a little excited, we browsed thro the site, and with some amount of difficulty, created our first respective email addresses. And after that whenever anyone ever asked for email address I would proudly give my England.com one, and amaze them. Hardly did I knew that England.com was some unknown, unheard of website! Who cares anyways? I had my email address and my own inbox!!!

And after that every other day I would go to Ganesh center to check emails and send emails to every single person on earth. From my uncles to grand aunts to college friends whom I meet every day! Apart from checking mails, I also indulged in some porn surfing. Honestly, I was fascinated by the world of porn in internet, and every time I get into the closed cubicle of the browsing center, I would have opened up atleast some 20-30 different windows.. viewing all sorts of craps. Actually that’s what most of the men who come there do. Those days internet porn were the best.. they were free of cost, of international quality, aplenty in number, lots of varieties, and most importantly they were available in the closed confines of an internet closed (or sometimes screened) cubicle.

That’s how I got introduced to the world of internet, And since then it has amazed me to such an extent that it keeps me hooked on to it, even today. Every day I seem to discover a new website or a new chat server or a new blog site or a new download site or a new social networking site… …and the list goes on.

Of course I have not forgotten my internet roots.. I still check my mails, just that it is in through own sophisticated igoogle website and yeah… I still browse through some occasional porn J.

Life has changed a great deal, from a novice to a pro, I have seen me develop, learning the nuances of internet and the netiquettes all by myself. I pity those kids of these days, who are introduced to computers and internet at a very early age, and have nothing new to discover. Well, on second thoughts, am sure when they grow old, they would have their own fond memories of how they went about learning how to use the XBOX or the PS3s and amaze at their kids as to how easily they handle the consoles!!

Life is all about learning, and am so proud that I learnt the art of surfing, all by myself and not just by ‘googling’ or going through a ‘wikipedia’ information page.

And am still discovering……………….. :) :)