Curiosity

I know it killed the cat, and that at this point of time I should be more worried about my upcoming term-end exams and that freak-of-a-20-page pending report I still have to work on, but I guess like all curiosities in a horror movie, this one gets the better of me too. Reading up on an article, a little out of the way than usually you come across, cyber crimes - I realised most of what was covered by media, let me correct myself here, ALL of what has been reported to date ever since its advent, has been a single file charade with one species at the middle of it - men.

Online dating, chat rooms, communities on public networking sites, seem to have become breeding grounds for these perverts, an easy access ground to catch hold of an unsuspecting and vulnerable prey. End result - people become sceptical, raise an eyebrow to whatever comes out of such 'friendships'. Even to the extent that more often than not if I go around telling my friends, "Oh I know this person from Orkut", a certain chill ensues through the room, and a look of disgust and "How could you!!" surrounds the gathering. I know it is a lil presumptuous on my part to totally annul such scepticism, however, I have, or rather tried never to be a proponent of hypocrisy. I'll be honest, a lot of my friends, who have really understood me and been in touch for longer periods of time have been made online. Most of them I haven't even met as yet, funnily enough. But then again, am fortunate enough to be choosy while picking friends and in the end have made everlasting friendships - yeah fellahs this one goes out to you - you ROCK ! :)

This might seem to be a devil's advocate posting in favour of online friendships, most possibly, but I'd only do that if Orkut or the like paid me to do so, I don't write for charity! ;) What drew my curiosity was the fact that it was always a stalker, never a stalkress (if such a word actually exists), a pervert, never a pervertress. Is it simply not possible that a girl be hauling guys over the internet dating sites and playing foul?! Or is it they've been doing it and with great efficiency, never to be caught even once?! Or is it, as a male chauvinist would put it, that they never get reported? Do not take this post wrongly, it is not a sexist obnoxious attack on women, on the contrary, it is a question that have been thinking about for the past hour. How exactly is a girl able to judge which guy is authentic online? How can she tell that the person across the terminal, probably on the other side of the world is a genuinely decent guy? PS: All the girls out there, do not answer my question, never know a jackass might be reading my blog ;)

It might seem to be a very irrelevant and inconsequential question to most of you out there, but it probably makes you realise how fickle a relationship could be, one minute you could trust the person completely and the next *poof* its all gone, just like magic. But hey, life wasn't meant to be without risks, and am glad I've taken a lot of risks, and I mean a LOT! ;) I guess it all boils down to how lucky you've been, and more so the fact that the friendships that last the longest are when you connect with each other at a totally abstract level. :P Okay, this is the point where I usually lose interest of my readers, and therefore, I'd close here, a short post I must say :P

As a closing comment, just want to say that whatever might be the common perception, I still value friendships for what they become than how they start off, and I bet there's some nari kalyan morcha, or something of that sort ready with a pack of angry moms or brothers ready to pound me to the core for spreading the message of friendship, so I'd better get back to my report lest I be bedridden for the next few days with the beating ;)