BENGALURU: I first heard of the internet from an uncle. “You’ll be able to chat with anybody in the world,” he said, as I processed the word ‘chat’ for the first time. “You’ll be able to see anybody and talk to them,” he prophesied, even if it would take the world a decade to fulfil his vision. The internet first came into our lives surrounded with whispers of excitement. I remember being thrilled about getting my first email ID, and watching along the years as the logo on my digital letterbox went from R to Y to G. Much of my early days on the internet were spent in talking to kind strangers. I began blogging and discovered that I could write when strangers expressed their appreciation.
Orkut was the first mix of digital and virtual world in our lives, and it helped me connect to my high-school crush. The internet was a space where you could express your talent, or meet strangers, or waste time on asinine hobbies. At school, the internet was spoken of in revolutionary terms. We were informed that e-commerce would transform the world in every way, and that borders would vanish.
Around the beginning of the previous decade, the internet began to get ‘too real’. Everybody you knew in life – however briefly – entered into your corner of the internet. And along with them, came their opinions. Friends began to take positions on opposite sides of the fence, and one began to follow people based on ideology, rather than familiarity. And somewhere down the line, the word ‘internet’ was often followed with suffixes like ‘addiction’, ‘trolling’, and ‘depression’.
As someone involved in standup comedy, movie reviews, and newspaper columns, I have to put myself out in front of the public nearly every day in some form or the other. And social media is the most powerful tool to reach out to people. To expose myself to people on a daily basis, knowing fully well how toxic the internet is, took a toll on me. And that is when I realised something. Your corner of the internet is akin to a garden. You need to tend to it; weed out the unwanted bits, and nurture the bits that make you happier. If left unattended, it is going to transform into an Amazonian jungle with vicious creatures lurking within.
I began to wonder what it was about the internet that I had originally loved. People appreciating my work, and giving me the love and confidence to pursue my passion as a profession. At the risk of sounding narcissistic, my favourite thing about the internet was the kindness of strangers appreciating my work. And so I decided to give back.
These days, I explore the distant corners of the internet thanking people whose work has given me joy. Musicians with a few hundred followers on Spotify, YouTubers passionately making videos without bothering about riches. Bloggers who inspired me to take up writing, and humorists who made me look at the world differently. I went about thanking them personally.
The one common reply from them (apart from ‘thanks’) was that it ‘made their day’. I’m on a spree, and would recommend it to you as well. If there is somebody’s work that gives you joy, send them a note. In your own way, you’ll be making their corner of the internet a little brighter. Now, if only I could meet my Chinese friend from Yahoo Messenger, and apologise for making him listen to the entire soundtrack of Neal ‘n’ Nikki!