On my sorority life and reality.

With all my pretensions to being a queen, unqueenly is what you would call me on any average day. I'd like my clothes and accessories to be simple and comfortable,
since I have to run around for cabs, autos and of late, public transport. There is no way I can walk around on pencil tip heels (the roads of Hyderabad would not permit me to do that) nor dress in loud colours (by nature I prefer remaining discreet). So when N sent me a Sorority Life invite on Facebook, I dilly - dallied for sometime and then made the plunge.

Hell, I discovered I could make lots of money just by clicking on those buttons called 'organise events.' Great. Soon I had a bank account, and each time I deposited money, I wished it was for real. I could pass various levels and publish my success stories on my wall. (Friends were flummoxed for sometime.) Somebody would pop up on facebook chat and I would ask them to scoot, coz I was busy playing and putting money in bank and acquiring lots of glam. Heck - I wasn't even gonna wear most of those clothes in real life.

I was hooked. Every morning, I would exhaust all my accrued energy on the game and wait for it to replenish so that I could quickly move to next level. Soon, I got a car, two more and then there was no looking back. For someone who gazes at all the audis and mercs in hyd, this was some kind of vicarious satisfaction.

However, something was not altogether right. I discovered I was losing money and confidence. Further investigation showed that I was being attacked by people whom I didnt even know. Worse...I didnt know how to retaliate. I was informed that I was losing because of my limited house (the number of girls on your side and the glam that they have helps you fend off attacks from others.)

But I grew over it in time. What mattered was the money and glam I was acquiring. Soon with the passing levels, I could play some interesting games which now keep me occupied. Consequently my progress on sorority life has become slower. Now I am a Level 41 Diva and the last I checked, I had close to 5 million dollars in my bank account. Only catch is that all of it is not real.

That brings me to the whole point about this - why at all do we have an online life? Why are we more of netizens and less of citizens? Is it the fact that our online alter ego can be all that we are not in reality? Does it offer a medium which remotely approximates to real life? Is that why we dabble in it? Is that the logic behind our addiction to constantly updating our online status? Or is it just our gregarious nature?

Bhandi Chai

For the uninitiated, bhandi chai is a heaven's blessing on those windy and tiring days. When you can make yourself comfortable and have those few sips of warm tea while the wind goes all about you. Just in case you may think otherwise, bhandi chai can also be had on normal days. Only that on those special days listed above, it tastes twice blest. A lot lot different from the usual mug of tea that has become my ritual every morning and evening. It is sold by those vendors who tend to congregate near bus stops. Along with the palli (ground nut) vendors, they make a killing combination. But lets forget about the palli vendors for the moment and focus on the chai walla.

You just walk up to him, ask for your cup of tea and pay something like one tenth of what you would pay in upmarket restaurants. Then, if it is the university, you can comfortably sit under the tree and take those refreshing sips. And of course, also look around at life in all its hues and colours.

The last time I had bhandi chai, I had to catch an eary morning bus. D's dad insisted on dropping me at the bus stop. The weather was nippy and it was gonna be a good ten minutes before my bus would arrive. 'How about a cup of tea?'he inquired. The cup in question is actually one of those small plastic ones. That was my first encounter with bhandi chai and I was concerned about the hygiene angle. But as those sips went in, I felt a warmth and an assurance that I will make this trip without being frozen to ice.

Today there was too much of information to analyse. I gave up, shut down the system and walked down to the university cafeteria. There was a lot of excitement going on about the student elections, and the policemen looking at everyone as a potential trouble maker. But hell,... who cares. I made myself comfortable with my cup of tea under a tree, savoured it thoroughly. And in the process, thanked the heavens above for those simple pleasure of life.