In Defense of Orkut

As promised - something funny or at least I hope so -

A: Hi all!!!
Here is another exciting game but only ppl with brain can play it, so let's see who all play it.
Rules: All the words must finish with Y and the first must begin with the letter before Y.
Example: HAPPY - the next word must start with P and finish with Y....ok?

A: technology

B: GUY

A: unity

B: trinity

C: tiny
.
.
.

Ok before you get really confused let me explain what this is all about. This is the world of Orkut – the latest breakthrough in the evolution of man. The thread (if you don’t know the terminology of Orkut then I suggest you stop reading this.) from which I took this extract had around 3000 posts. So I am just showing you the tip of the ice-berg.

“Rate the person above you from 1-10”. This is the title of another topic. Let us take a look at the things that you can consult to make this judgment and this is in case you are thorough. Firstly, there is the picture which more often than not would be of
Brad Pitt
Harry Potter
John Abraham
Shahrukh Khan
OR
Ashuriya Rai
Angelina Jolie
Jennifer Aniston
OR
The picture would be saying:
This persons picture is too sexy to display
Only beautiful people can see my pic
Devil Inside

Ok! I think that’s enough about pictures. You get the picture, right! Let’s look at a few names that people use.
Sweet Girl
King Hamza
Ubaid – the lady killer

Most people rate on this information alone but if you really want to do it right you can open that persons profile for an in-depth look. You are more than likely to find something to this effect.

About me: ma frnds knw me bettr

Movies: Asu billa chor ni

Website: www.dontneedthisshit.com

Go on, now you know everything, you can rate the person above you. Anyways Orkut is not just about pictures and profiles; let’s look at some other stuff. You are now inside my scrap book. Yes, Yes, I am on Orkut and have no intention to leave.

Qasim: I have taken part in the “Kings and Queens of Orkut” contest. Be a friend and vote for me.

Needless to say that I am not a member of the community where this contest is being held and have absolutely no idea who Qasim is.

Faisal: Please become my fan. I am in a race with my friend and the first one to 50 fans wins.

HDD: Today is the universal friendship day. Pass this message to 12 friends and your wish will come true within 12 hours. Otherwise you will have bad luck for the next 12 months.

I received this message from different people at least 15 times in a week so I quite lost track of the universal friendship day. Calculating according to this and other such messages, the amount of bad luck I have accumulated will last me around two lifetimes and I should be receiving a bad news on an hourly basis!

If you are still wondering why this article was titled “In Defense of Orkut” then I am a little disappointed. Anyways for those of you who have to be given everything on a platter. Everything I wrote so far has very little to do with Orkut. It was in effect a commentary on where we are going with our lives. It was an outlook on the sorry state of affairs in our country. All the things I mentioned are more reflective of the ‘values’ and ‘priorities’ of our society. “Pathetic” would be an understatement. Honestly, what do you expect from a nation whose youth is living in the false bliss of alter ego’s.

Finally, I love orkut. It was my only respite in a claustrophobic place called FAST until they banned it!

Fear

We live in a society that is gripped by fear at its lowest levels. We don’t give a shit about what’s right and what’s wrong. Neither are we subject to the laws of morality. All our lives and all our choices are affected by fear, one way or another; literally or figuratively.

Let’s look at the literal side for the moment. Foremost here is the fear of someone stronger than you. Fear of standing up to the common norms of the society though we know them to be completely wrong. Fear of taking a stand and fear of living other than as told.

Let’s flip the coin. What do we get; the fear of losing, the fear of rejection, the fear of living without some kind of backing or support, the fear of our own inadequacy.

What’s the point of making a choice I ask? When that choice has nothing to do with what you see, feel or think. It’s not even governed by what you believe. It is only dependant upon the all encompassing fear. Then we have the nerve to shout about the travesty of it all. When our own actions are doing nothing to change it then what gives us the right to shout!

The irony of it all is when someone else’s choices start to govern our lives and to impede upon our miserable existence; we look for compassion. We squeal and squirm and plead and cajole. We cry and laugh and shout and reason. Then we fall – defeated – failed by our own convictions, appalled at the fact that the choices that destroyed us were made while giving in to fear and were not dependant upon reason or any other more useful human sentiment.

Is it really that surprising or even appalling for that matter. Isn’t this what we ourselves did all our lives. Now that we have lost everything and have nothing to fear, now that we have regained our senses; we may see things differently but that’s no reason to complain. Isn’t this what we deserved all along? I leave you to judge by yourself albeit with a quote.

“Life is simple. You make choices and you don’t look back!”

P.S. I wrote this a long time ago when I was really angry. I feel its now time to share it.