[Reader-list] Famous on net, anonymous in life

[Adreesh Katyal]

Famous on net, anonymous in life

CHARLES ASSISI
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2005 11:54:06 PM ]
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1212792,curpg-3,fright-0,right-0.cms

Jivha has always been a popular name on the net but his sudden
disappearance has baffled the online community. In his late twenties,
he studied engineering and eventually graduated with an MBA from IIM
Calcutta; a voracious reader; is avowedly agnostic, though given a
choice he'd be Hindu; and has no hobbies except trawling for news.
Ironically, nobody knows what his name is in the real world.

You could say the same of Kiran Jonalagadda. Online, people call him
Jace. He doesn't particularly cherish his privacy. There is not an
iota of deceit in him. Unsurprisingly, the 26- year-old
Bangalore-based technology buff is hugely popular online. His blog on
www.livejournal.com/users/jace is accessed everyday by a few hundred
people. Follow his online trail and you'll find him everywhere.

On other people's blogs, on mailing lists that furiously debate the
merits of PHP versus SQL or the subtleties of service on Air Deccan
and SpiceJet; in archives of online conversations that date back 10
years.

Try communicating with him over the phone though. The superbly
articulate online personality suddenly morphs into a painfully
exasperating man. Almost a social recluse, Jace acknowledges he is
deeply introverted. "I don't use the phone because it forces me to
speak,"he says helpfully. Is that why you maintain a detailed blog
then? "Yes. A significant part of my relationships are sustained
online."

Unlike young men his age, he hates going out on testosterone-induced
beer binges over the weekend. "I usually end up on various mailing
lists or just reading a book,"he confesses.

 What about a girlfriend? "I met her online."Of course, it isn't
exclusively online anymore, he hastens to add. As for earning a
living, he detests the routine. He offers his services as a freelance
consultant to start-ups, at a time and pace he chooses. "I need
freedom from the pressure of having to something right away."

Then there's Chandrashekhar Bhosle from Mumbai. FreeGeek on the
Internet, traces of the 28-year old's existence can be picked up on
www.freedomink.org. Connected to the Internet for anywhere between 8
to 12 hours everyday and hugely popular, he doesn't think much of
discussing his life and work in a public space.

"I'm in the market for a house 1 RK / BHK / Studio apartment.
Preferably new construction at or before Andheri on western line and
at or before Chembur on central/harbour in a large residential
complex. Any tips?"

Why? "I write better than I talk,"says he. Which is why, he too, like
Jivha in the not-so-distant past and Jace for as long as he can
remember, maintains a complex ecosystem of online relationships.

To an observer challenged by the dynamics of online life, all of this
may sound surreal. Neither do these individuals cherish their privacy
nor are they devious. Why live two lives then?

 Probe deeper and a few clues emerge. This is a world deeply
reminiscent of the sixties. Citizens hold libertarian views, have no
political affiliations, do not subscribe to any religion, are deeply
interested in the culture of our times, contemptuous of the mainstream
media and bound tightly by intellectual arrogance.

Jivha once wrote, "I cannot stand idiots. I cannot tolerate stupidity
almost always."Jace concedes: "I have an issue with people who don't
agree with my point of view."And FreeGeek admits bluntly to smugness.
"What's wrong with that?"asks Nishant Shah. A researcher at the Centre
for the Study of Culture and Society, he argues succinctly.

"Arrogance is the defining characteristic of any community.

The feminist looks down on the bimbette and the biker on the car
driver."His point is just this. People behave the same, whether online
or offline.

As for those who choose to stay online, there is no dichotomy between
both worlds. One is just a subset of the other.

And Jivha's disappearing, that is in the very nature of electrons.
They are hopelessly impossible to put a finger on. It always seems to
appear in and out of existence. Like Jivha.