Dirty Rotten thingies!

Nope, I am not talking about me. So, we moved to our new house. Everything looks new and shiny…I wonder how long it is going to stay that way. As days passed in our new haven, and mom continued with her decorating, we chose to ignore the racket that used to go on near my bedroom window. They were city pigeons, using my window as a rent free sexual refuge. At least they were getting some. Then after three weeks in our new apartment, we received two guests.

They are one day old baby pigeons. They are the ugliest things I have ever seen, and I even said that aloud, but I think, momma Pigeon didn’t like it. She filled my window with nose hair burning shit. Now, my mom, who thinks of herself as Mother Teresa, decided to feed those little fuckers, along with the free house. She would place a cup of water and seeds near them, every day, and I swear to god, Momma pigeon, and many of her baby daddies would gorge on the free food. Fucking freeloaders. You might wonder why I am so angry at those ugly pigeons, right. Well, here is the thing. I always wanted a dog, but mom used to refuse point blank. Her excuses ranged from, “we can’t afford to have one” to “I am feeding you, just be grateful about that...” And, here, these ugly, smelly, pigeons have enforced themselves on us, and mom actually adopted them….sheesh! C’mon, a lab is so much cuter than these unsightly thingies.

But, then something bad happened. Two mornings ago, my mom found the baby pigeons dead, and momma pigeon was missing. I swear to God, I was depressed. I had invested so much time in hating them, that I suddenly started missing them. I was going to click a picture of their dead bodies, but mom thought it would be rude. D’uh! They are dead! D-E-A-D! You can’t be rude to something that is not moving. But the look on her face ceased my intentions.

Ever since the pigeons died, I have noticed my mom looking at me in this strange, suspicious way. I think she feels that I killed her precious pigeons. I mean, ok….so I was mean to them, and would make creepy noises to scare them and call them ugly to their faces, but still, I did not kill them. But since we don’t know the cause of their death, or the mystery behind the missing momma pigeon, I guess the doubt is still on me.

And yes, you just read a blog on ugly, DEAD, baby pigeons.

Boo!

Ok! I am convinced that my house is haunted! Yes, there is a ghost co-habiting this house with me. And this ghost is tech-savvy and likes ketchup! In one week itself, I experienced two utterly bizarre incidents.

Creepy Incident one: I am having one of those lazy naps of mine in the afternoon. Nobody is there at home. Everything is quiet. I am fantasizing about Seth Cohen, and out of the blue, BANG! No, it wasn’t a gun shot. Something fell down in the kitchen; I just didn’t know how to describe it best. So, moving ahead, when I went to the kitchen to check what the noise was about, I was surprised to see a container (which contained oregano, by the way. I don’t know why I felt the need to tell you that but I just wanted to share) fallen down from the upper shelf. Well, we don’t have any mice here (thank god for the pest control program that we paid for!) and I was alone in the house, so how did this thing fall? Well, if that wasn’t creepy enough, there was ketchup all over the floor and in the container. But the fricking ketchup bottle is kept on the opposite shelf. How did the ketchup get on the floor and on the container???

Creepy Incident two: Yesterday, I got a birthday reminder on my cell at 9am. Apparently, it was Deepa’s birthday. I don’t know any Deepa. I ignored. Then within ten minutes, my mom got a birthday reminder on her cell. Again about Deepa’s birthday. She doesn’t know any Deepa either. And the most freaky part is, my mom doesn’t know how to activate a reminder on her cell (yea, my mom is technologically challenged. It runs in the family.) Who is this Deepa? How did she manage to get her birthday reminders in our cellphones?

Does this mean that my Ghost’s name is Deepa? So that means my ghost is a she. Crap! I was so hoping for some hot male ghost. So, since ghosts can move around anywhere, does this mean, my ghost must has seen me taking crap, or the time when the sandwich fell on the floor and I was too lazy to make another one, so gave the same one to my brother. Hopefully, my ghost ‘Deepa’ is a nice lady ghost and would keep our secrets. I would be happy to share more ketchup. There is more where that came from!

Will you be my FRIEND???

Today, if one needs to get in touch with his or her friend, there are multiple options available- phone, email, sms, and even social networking sites. Social networking sites are websites where one can create ‘profiles’, add friends, comment each other, write testimonials, and blog. Popular social networking sites are Myspace, Orkut, Facebook, Friendster, etc. Most of these sites started in US, but they have won over the Indian youth. So much so that, Orkut was named the Youth Icon by Mtv for 2007. But is this ‘Icon’ really safe?

It’s relatively easy to create a profile on such sites. It doesn’t require one to be tech-savvy, and the membership is free. This has attracted majority of our youth to join these sites, to keep in touch with their current friends, search for the old ones, and to make new ones. But what exactly drives us to create an account in the first place? An average Indian teenager has many things on his/her mind. There is school or college, homework, assignments, projects, coaching classes, extra-curricular activities, and so on. The teen is burdened with so much work, that interaction between friends is limited. Here, these sites come to their rescue. They help in maintaining their social network and even increasing it, however only virtually. A boon for otherwise socially awkward teenager.

Apart from the academic examinations, today’s youth has to give another kind of a test. The popularity test. It is much of a necessity for teenagers to adhere to the popular norms and trends, just to fit in. These sites provide the ‘space’ for individuals to express themselves, chalk out their likes- dislikes, and their thoughts and views on varied topics. This is also the ‘space’ where one implements their impression management techniques. The profile of an individual speaks for him/her, so, it is of utmost importance for that person to create an appropriate impression. One may upload pictures, videos; exaggerate one’s qualifications or reading prowess, or the type of music that they listen to. These sites are like popularity contests, where the number of friend one has, or the number of testimonials, determines the winner.

But what many love about these sites is the privacy that it provides. Essentially, they are open to public, but these sites give teenagers to engage in their networking without any supervision from their parents. It’s a kind of privacy that every teenager yearns for. But this privacy is non existent. Anyone can read one’s profile and have access to their private information, friends, pictures etc. It’s a playground for sex offenders, which questions the safety of these sites. India is just waking up to cyber crime, and much worse, cyber bullying among adolescents. Fake profiles, hate groups and embarrassing blogs are just some of the means of bullying that takes place.

Apart from the compromised safety, these sites are creating socially inept youth, for them initiating and maintaining relationships is limited to the virtual world. It creates a feeling of loneliness, as it lacks the warmth of physical interaction. It makes one lethargic emotionally. It has become essential for research in this field to determine the increasing popularity of these sites among the youth and what is it that attracts them there. It is important to get them back to reality, leaving behind the lonely virtual existence.