In the late 1990s, we were introduced to computers in the workplace, but we could not learn much because they had very specific uses.

Somewhere in 1999, our family acquired its latest and proudest possession—a PC with a great hard disk of 4GB, and an internet speed of a mind-boggling 52 kbps. One had to dial up and wait, chin in hands. If someone sent you a full-size photograph, it would take five minutes to load. To get an internet connection, we had to travel at least 10 kilometers.

And my younger son wouldn’t even allow my wife or me to touch it. But we were excited too, right? Of course, he tried to teach us the basics of how to use it, and that was the end of his tutorial.

After he left for the USA, my wife and I had a field day—or rather, many days—tampering with, exploring, and almost destroying the computer. I bought big books on the internet, Windows, etc., which I never read.

Then, we decided that doing is learning, so I experimented with various menus and applications, tried to figure them out, and later explained them to my wife, who picked it up very fast.

One day, when I didn’t know what MSN Messenger was, suddenly a screen opened up like magic, and I read: "Vijay, my son, says 'Hi Appa. How are you?'" I was shocked. What was this? I fumbled around and found a way to reply and typed, "I am fine. Over." This went on for some time. Then my son asked, "What is this 'over' business?" I explained, "This is the way I am telling you that my message is over, like a walkie-talkie!" Many learning points there—and so the journey began.

The realization dawned: You can become buddies with even unknown people, provided both parties agree, and you can exchange views without ever seeing each other’s faces. Great, yes, but also dangerous, as it seemed to me. As the world shrunk with the expansion of the internet, it became a powerful tool to connect across countries, nations, continents, seas, people, races, and cultures, cutting across all barriers. Two people—unknown, unseen, and unmanifested—could communicate. This created a parallel universe where you were not pre-judged on anything but were judged solely on what you said. This mix of power and poison, mind expansion and space contraction, being near yet so far, always left us older people with a mix of fear, anxiety, and excitement.

As we got used to this new reality, it became clear how it could be put to excellent use. With time, discussions with knowledgeable people, and personal experiences, we slowly learned how to avoid danger. The learning process continues.

With social media taking root, how easy has it become to locate our bosom pals, school friends, and acquaintances?

I will talk about how I enjoyed this parallel universe.

To be continued... 20. Parallel Universe - Digitally Speaking - Part 2