The Chatroom - Then & Now
I discovered chatting back in 1999 when I started working for a R&D unit of a US based product development company. Like most startups, the work took its own sweet time to flow down, till then we were asked to update our skills and so some self study and send daily reports of what we learnt. The team comprised of three women and each of us was equally innovative, creative and naughty when it came to sending daily timesheets. Needless to say that with the luxury of an ISDN high speed internet connection, all we did was chat. It was like a drug, an addiction which always left us wanting more. I discovered the true meaning of the word 'disconnection' back then.
MSN Chat rooms were my favorite haunt (not sure if they exist now); it seemed like my gateway to the world, so many different people from so many different places who were quite eager to exchange views. I met a fireman from New York who had lost his girl friend in a fire, an engineer who specialized in lift doors, I have always been petrified of getting stuck in between but he reassured me that there is nothing to worry! I met a stand up comedian from South Africa and a Dutch fashion photographer who worked for JP Gaultier. The Indians were very forgettable barring one, who was working in Brunei. Maybe it’s not fair to generalize but I found that people outside India were quite willing to have general conversations but people from India were mostly looking for some 'cyber'.
Work and the Boss's strict eye cured us of our chat addiction soon enough, the withdrawal symptoms were worse than that of alcohol or drugs though! Idle curiosity took me to a Yahoo chat room recently, the differences are as follows: now all people are looking for 'cyber', same sex preferences are openly evident and so are fetishes and queerness of all kinds, its a happy hunting ground for pimps who 'sell' their 'variety' online. Another new phenomenon struck me as laughable, male prostitutes; men have at last caught up on the last female bastion! Obviously these days the chat rooms are not a place for cross cultural exchanges but more a place to feed baser instincts, enter at your own risk!
MSN Chat rooms were my favorite haunt (not sure if they exist now); it seemed like my gateway to the world, so many different people from so many different places who were quite eager to exchange views. I met a fireman from New York who had lost his girl friend in a fire, an engineer who specialized in lift doors, I have always been petrified of getting stuck in between but he reassured me that there is nothing to worry! I met a stand up comedian from South Africa and a Dutch fashion photographer who worked for JP Gaultier. The Indians were very forgettable barring one, who was working in Brunei. Maybe it’s not fair to generalize but I found that people outside India were quite willing to have general conversations but people from India were mostly looking for some 'cyber'.
Work and the Boss's strict eye cured us of our chat addiction soon enough, the withdrawal symptoms were worse than that of alcohol or drugs though! Idle curiosity took me to a Yahoo chat room recently, the differences are as follows: now all people are looking for 'cyber', same sex preferences are openly evident and so are fetishes and queerness of all kinds, its a happy hunting ground for pimps who 'sell' their 'variety' online. Another new phenomenon struck me as laughable, male prostitutes; men have at last caught up on the last female bastion! Obviously these days the chat rooms are not a place for cross cultural exchanges but more a place to feed baser instincts, enter at your own risk!
Comments
Probably in 1999, the exposure wasnt there, now a days everything has a dot com attached to it.
To some extent it also depends on what nickname you write for your self in these rooms, and the rooms you are entering in. Though I agree, Yahoo dot com is crap now.
Now things are so different, I occasionally get surprised when someone new to chat enthuses about it. I don't mean to sound aged, but the fun people have really abandoned it. My theory is that they are all turning to blogging :-D
@Just Another Blogger: Chatting is an addiction which usually will fade over time. Now the a/s/l question makes me puke!
@Sue: Its not age, its outgrowing things. Totally agree, blogging is a far better way to express and share ideas. We are the smarter ones!
Its so interesting to read of thimes past , which i have not experienced and also of things that you have done and the newness......
Nice nice :)
@Sandeep: Public chats were more fun, now that seems to have evaporated altogether.
@Nautilus: I know! Even I used to frequent the Indiatimes bengali chat roms - it was fun. You are right - priorities change, demand son one's time increases and interests change as well. Well you can go into one and experience th emess for yourself!
@Nidhi: Thanks Nidhi! I am floored :)
agree with sue & you--the cool ones all upgraded to blogging. :-)
Currently, he hardly is ever on chat unless he is abroad on projects.
@Kausum: I would have loved to see the incident :D
Bloggers are the ones who need more intellectual stimulation which they do not get from chatting or orkutting.
And blogging doesnt require all that much intellect(i mean so much intellect that orkutting will hamper it), you arent working on a rocket project you know , you're merely jotting down u r thoughts on issues which concern you or experiences from daily life.