Monday, November 30, 2009

Maa on Facebook

"This is Hema? The last time I saw her, she was in pigtails. Now she has a daughter who is that big!"
"Yes. And this is Shukla aunty, who still looks the same."
"Who is this?"
"Don't you remember? The Gaurs on the 4th floor? This is the daughter Ritu."
"How did you get the pictures?"
"Ma, this is Facebook.  It is a social networking site. I found a lot of my old friends here. They keep uploading their pictures. And we exchange notes and greetings."
"How did you manage to locate all these people after so many years?"
"My friends found me through friends search."
"Our times were different, we had to send letters. And if the addresses got lost then that was the end of our friendship. Who are all these men?"
"Don't you remember my friends Dheeraj, Aziz and Ajay?"
"Of course I do, they were very sweet boys.This is Ajay? He looks like a panditji."
"That is because he is a panditji now. Well, almost. He has become very spiritual."
"Has he stopped painting? He was so talented."
"No, he still paints. Only, he paints pictures of gods and goddesses. Want to see some of his paintings? He has uploaded some of them here also."
"How come there are so many men here?"
"These are all my friends, ma."
"You have so many male friends? Does your husband know?"
"C'mon ma, I am an adult now. I can have male friends you know."
"Hmmph. This is beyond me, all these men and you. Is your brother also on Facebook?"
"Yes he is, but he is not my friend."
"What? You and your brother are not friends? Is that how I raised you? You do not want to be friends with your own brother?"
"Ma, he is not my Facebook friend. I don't want him here snooping on me. Moreover, if he has not sent me a friend request, it means he also does not want me as a friend."
"This is completely outrageous. I hope your husband is there in your friends list."
"Yes is, but he is not very active."
"What else do you expect? He is a very busy man. He will not spend time on such frivolous activities."
"Facebook is not a frivolous activity. A lot of very busy people are there on Facebook. It helps us to reconnect with all our old friends. It is just that your son in law is not the friendliest of person and does not have many friends. Hence he is never there."
"And what is this red heart doing on your page? It says you have a relationship request pending."
"D sent me a request to be my spouse on Facebook. I did not accept, so it is still pending."
"But he is your spouse. Why did you not accept?"
"I don't want him as my spouse here, OK?"
"This is totally beyond me. You and your strange ways. He is your husband, whether you accept him on Facebook or not. And what does Akhila mean here? Her relationship status reads as 'It's complicated.'
"It means that she is recovering from her divorce and is currently seeing someone.''
"O my god, when did this happen? She was such a sweet girl. I always knew her husband was a moron. How much time do you spend on this Facebook?"
"Not much ma, just log in to tell my friends what I am doing at the moment. Drinking coffee at the Barista, at home teaching the kids, like that."
"Who will be interested in knowing all that?"
"All my friends. They also keep updating, so I know about them too."
"Can anybody open up a page on Facebook?"
"It is called opening up an account  and yes, everybody can."
" Is Vikram on Facebook?"
"Who Vikram?"
"You know, Mrs. Usha Reddy's son? They were on the 6th floor. remember?"
"Oh yes, I remember. She used to send us yummy tamarind rice. I don't know, why?"
"She once taught me to make mango thokku pickle. I forgot the ingredients. If her son is there, then may be you can ask him to be your friend. And then may be two of us could connect after all those years. She was such a fabulous cook, she made lovely chutneys and stuff. And she did ask me once how I knitted those cable sweaters. May be we can be friends on Facebook and share our stuff. Hey, if you are in touch with Mrs. Sharma's daughter, can you then tell her to make an account for her mom too? And remember Mrs Balakrishnan?...."

 November and December are busy months for me. This is what my daughter Ayushi calls the 'guesting season'. As you have guessed, my parents are already here. I am also expecting my friend and her mother from USA, my cousin and her family from Muscat, my brother and his family from Kolkata. So I will be blogging sporadically till December. I will however keep reading all my favourite bloggers. So you keep blogging. Till then, bye....

75 comments:

Sucharita Sarkar said...

All our Maa-s, with their natural predilection for socialising would be naturals on facebook, etc, once they get over the technology-hurdle. See you after the break.

Nupur said...

Me and Hubby dear laughed out :) Nice post and so pretty natural na ? My mum does the same when I tell her about these SNSs :)

Nupur said...

And yeah, Have fun in your 'guesting period' :)

Suree said...

lol....

Sandhya said...

Aparna, you express yourself so naturally in natural conversations! I enjoyed reading this post and my mother also would have asked me to open a page for her, I think!

Feel like joining face book, but I know I will become an addict, like I am with my blog!

Enjoy your guesting period!

Nupur said...

Hey you are awarded at my blog :)

Ava said...

Yeh.. I have so many relatives on Facebook ! But then its such a lovely way to reconnect with people you lost track of.

Your ma should get a facebook page of her own.

SJ said...

LOL!!! Moms are so cute! Have a lovely time with all your guests :)

~G said...

Moms are made of a quarter questions, a quarter suspicion and rest just fun. :) Your conversation with you mom reminded me of how I had to explain to mom what an email is long back. Now she is all tech-savvy, thanks to me. Looks like your mom will end up joining FB soon too :)

Unknown said...

I just laughed out loud. Showed this to didima and boudi as well. My cousin Somnath (Bhombol) too rolled on the floor laughing. In the end, moms are just cute once they get over the technology hurdle. I myself met so many old building friends through the page dedicated to the building on Facebook.

Yeah, have fun while during the "guesting period", though I am aware that it is not funny :)

BK Chowla, said...

It shows the power of communication and her will to connect.
Hope to read your posts from Jan.
You are lucky to have vso many guests at home.

Unknown said...

:)) even i do this stuff... see some snaps of some long lost acquaintance and then shout till my Maa comes and wonders about how i find everyone on ork/ fb. :)

Have Fun with the Guests. :)

Sharmila said...

:-), lol, :-), lol, ... well ... not exactly in that order. Or was it? ;-)
Am not on facebook ... but if I get good cable designs ... I might get easily tempted. :-)

Sharmila said...

And oh ... hang that blogging pen (huh?) .. ok ... your laptop ... and have a great time 'guesting'. :-)

ZB said...

hahaha, i am really laughing out loudly....You brought the flip side of FB...To tell you now, i am kinda bored with FB.

I am just hanging on, coz i need my ex friends( ex-colleagues), perhaps in the future when i start my company. so, its just business interest.I have some good friends when i was with Taj hotels, in Goa. Chefs, Restaurant managers....Thanks FB, i dont have to hunt for Staff. TC, excellent post.:))

oRange* said...

awh, so very cute!
everybody wants to be on facebook these days!

good one, enjoyed it!

The Panorama said...

Ha ha ha! Hilarious Aparna...facebook is really something. Anyway, have a nice time with family and friends and we will be here waiting for your posts:)

nsiyer said...

What a lovely post and so well written. I could actually hear my wife talking to our daughter. Brilliant!

Anonymous said...

LOL! Most of our parents and our their generation seem to be having a great time on facebook :) Just the other day, an aunt had a status announcing her 'marriage' and we had a great time pulling her leg for it :)

Hope you have a great guesting season :)

Haddock said...

All said and done, I find Facebook a bit too open, I mean prying into other people's activities.
And I find it funny when the message comes "so and so has written on your wall"

Shankar.Nash said...

tats a hilarious conversation between u two... pretty usual when the people of past generation come face to face with these kinda new entries...

enjoy the guesting season.. and expect more posts from you after that.. something as gud as one of ur posts about an american family dying to eat the typical indian food (the very first post tat i read and which made me to follow ur blog)

Kavi said...

that conversion will put the most ardent of missionaries to shame !

This was such a riot of a post. I guess you dont play Farmville or somemthing like that on Facebook !

Where people say, ' i bought a tractor or something like that' ! Wonder what your mom would say to that .

And tamarind bill and thokku !! Already mouthwatering.!!

:)

Destiny's child... said...

Mom's everywhere are the same. Even my mom wants me to find people I have never once heard of if I call her to show pics my friends have uploaded..:)
Have fun during the guesting period...

Samvedna said...

lovely post! you write so well, and you are so natural.

Even I keep telling my dil TO Chk someone for me:)..though I am also on face book, but as good as not being there:)

Dheeraj said...

Hello friend :)

G S Pillai said...

You'd asked about my being there on facebook last week. May be you could appreciate why the average socially challenged moron finds facebook a bit too difficult to put up with. :-)

sujata sengupta said...

why the hell did you have to show off your fb page to mejoma...I would never dream of such torture to my mom..my mil and mom would be gloomy for the rrest of their lives spelling doom on my married life!! Hope ma and mejoma dont talk about this!!

Anonymous said...

I felt like I was reading out a chapter from my own life. Word to word, the same reaction. Except for the sharing recipe thing.I don't think she is interested in using it, she barely manages to check her mails :). My mom is joining us today, I think I will spoil her this time. And I am thinking of adding my sisters too. GOD HELP ME!!! Recently I found one of my cousins mom on Facebook...He He

Have fun hosting....Come back soon..

Tomz said...

So, you successfully gave your mother an entry into Facebook. Well, it all looked like a script done for some family film.
The conversation was all natural, exactly how a today's mother would talk about her daughter's contacts.
I remember a few posts ago, how much worried were you when you narrated about your teenage daughter's friendships.
The worry will be the same as long as you are the daughter of your mother.
And the worry will continue through generations.
And your mother was enough intelligent to understand that her daughter is now an adult..

Aparna said...

Hi Sucharita, I know the older generation would be a major hit on all the networking sites, if only they get over the fear of the computer:)

Hi Nu,thanks for the award. I am really looking forward to the guesting season!

Hi Suree, thanks.

Hi Sandhya, get on facebook, it is fun though addictive.

Hi Avdi, friends with whom I never thought I would reconnect again have been found on facebook. It has been really great.

Hi SJ, thanks:) moms are indeed special.

Hi G, she will join if only I operate the computer for her!

Hi Akshay, on the contrary, the guesting period is going to be real fun. I love having people over.

Hello BK Chowlaji, yes I know I am very lucky, a lot of people visit us through out the year and we all love it.

Hi Purnima, looking at the snaps of old friends are funny at times. I have a photographs where we all look like socially challenged dolts!

Hi Sharmila, what are you doing? Get on Facebook!

Hi ZB, so far facebook has been interesting for me. Don't know what will happen after a few years though!

The Holy Lama said...

Ahaa. I just met the Facebook ambassador. Enjoyed the read.

Aparna said...

Hi oRange, thanks!

Hi Panorama, I am planning to blog, though not very frequently. Blogging is almost as addictive as facebook!

Hello Nsiyer, thanks. Mother daughter conversations are always fun!

Hi wordsndreamz, aren't these relationship status amusing at times? Thanks, I am sure I will have a rocking guesting season.

Hi Shankar, thanks. I hope to post off and on. Let me see how entertaining my guests are this time!

Hi Kavi, no I don't play farmville or else I sure would have written things like that! I am looking forward to some mom made pickles and chutneys! They are simply divine:)

Hi Haddock, I guess it depends upon what you write on your wall. Most of us keep writing rather inane and innocent stuff and there is really no invasion of privacy.

Hi Destiny's child, all mothers are the same, I am sure.

Hi Antarman, locating some long lost friends give me a high! Thanks.

Hi Tararumpumpum :) Did you manage to see Ajay's gods and goddesses?

Hi Bluebird, if you were on facebook, sending you that message would have been so simple! Do you know after the last post my facebook inbox was flooded with messages expressing concern over what was happening? I was really touched as these were all my blog readers and they had never met me. I was amazed to see so many so called strangers taking that effort to get in touch with me about something that was not really a part of their lives. You and socially challenging? Hardly...so get on facebook!

Aparna said...

Hi Sujata, my mom thinks I am rather fickle and all the men on my facebook are prospective boyfriends!

Hi Jyothi, you are adding your sisters as friends? Well actually, having the sisters there can be fun.Brothers on the contrary spoil the whole thing by snooping!Have fun with mom:)

Hi Tomz, mothers will be mothers and daughters will be pests!

Hi Holy lama, thanks:)

Sumandebray said...

Guesting season? thats a new terminology for me. So when are you going to be guested?

Nice post..

Kavita Saharia said...

Aparna,as usual a fun post right from beginning to the end.I was smiling through out this one. I did this mistake by showing my mil few pictures of one of the friend..now she is addicted to the various updates,pictures of all the relatives present.in FB.FB is fun !
Have a wonderful guesting season...sis from Muscat? lemee guess.hmmm!

Urmi said...

Very nice and sweet post. Facebook is a wonderful media of getting connected with all people. Nowadays everybody is addicted in either facebook or in orkut. Have a lovely time with your family members.

G S Pillai said...

am there on FB already, but am just there. May be i'll start spending some time there.

RGB said...

3 cheers to FB and more cheers to ur post! When I told my mom the other day that one uncle was very active on FB, she asked 'what abt orkut?' I said 'yeah, that too!' Addictive, yet worth it. Helps u stay connected with long lost friends!

Swatantra said...

What a cute conversation!!

Deepanjan Ghosh said...

You have so many male friends? Does your husband know? - ROFL!!!!!

Bhavya.B said...

He he ...nice post .
have a nice time with your guests around.

R. Ramesh said...

lol:)

Blunt Edges said...

first i thought it was a conversation between u n ur daughter!

entertaining as always :D

Gauri Gharpure said...

it's strange how socializing has seen a sea change.. we are lucky to witness a time of transition..lovely post

Maddy said...

Hahahah! Thats was a funny reading.Thanks for sharing the conversation

Timeless Memories - My Bygone ! said...

Hm... preety natural reaction the way my ma & pa reacted.. nw they r better tahn me with technology...

Tomz said...

And you have been challenged by somebody here in the comment section...

http://myvanitymoments.blogspot.com/2009/11/you-are-wrong-you-are-right.html

phatichar said...

LOL..nice. I remember having a similar conversation with my mother about the page 3 mug-shots - 'who are these, why are their names here, do we know them, are all of them celebrities, but I don't know any of them' kinds...

To be very honest, I myself havn't really figured out facebook and other 'social networking' sites, maybe I'm old fashioned too..

Gymnast said...

Lol..but my mom's on facebook and has forced me to be her friend and keeps reading everything!!

Nona said...

They don't change! Despite growing up, we are still kids to them!

But your maa is pretty cool! She recognized the potential of FB fast! :)

Enjoy the guesting season! Have fun.

Aparna said...

Suman, the guesting season has already started. I am so happy!

Kavita, it is actually a lot of fun, for mothers as well as for us to see how the old acquaintances have changed over the years. And you have guessed right.

Babli, thanks.

Bluebird, I am on Orkut too, but I feel lost there, FB is more my thing!

Swatantra, thanks!

Double Dolphin, yes my husband knows :)

Bhavya, thanks.

Ramesh, :)

Blunt edges,well, it could have been my daughter and I too:)

Gauri Gharpure, thanks.

Maddy, thanks.

Devil incarnate, its all about loving your technology!

Tomz, I replied :)

Phatichar, It took me a while, but I finally figured out FB.

Gymnast, I am my daughters friend too on FB.But I make it a point not to go to her profile page!

Nona, Maa is a fast learner! Thanks a lot, I know I will have lots of fun.

Sandhya said...

Congratulations Aparna on the Spicy Sat. Award! This post of yours, deserve it! I loved this post!

Anonymous said...

That was such a lovely conversation,Aparna. I remember how my Ma and even my Pa-in-law had such similar queries. Then I convinced them to open accounts on FB and now they are the ones who update me with its features :D

You have fun hosting. Will look forward to reading you on the other side.

Congrats on the Blogadda pick. The post deserved it :)

Siddhesh Kabe said...

hey dis was a ossum article...so true...

u know my mom found out I had a gf as she made some comments on my activities on facebook...:D

this is cool...

not accepting hubby on facebook...too good man...:D

ossum.

Cheers,
Ravan

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Onkar said...

Very realistic post.

Shail said...

My first time here. That made a fun read. :-))))

...and congrats on the Blogadda pick. Well deserved.

Manish Raj said...

Ha ha ha...very well written Aparna..thanks for sharing..

Srivalli said...

hilarious!..glad I discovered your space..will read more in leisure!

Calvy said...

great post!
I'll show it to maa:)

http://calvy.wordpress.com

BlogAdda said...

Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that your post has been selected by BlogAdda as one of the top posts for this week's 'Spicy Saturday Picks' here http://blog.blogadda.com/2009/12/05/indian-bloggers-with-best-blog-posts-2

Do mail me at harishkrishnan at blogadda.com for more details.

Smita said...

Hilarious post Aparna!!!

lol @ not wanting ur hubby to ur spouse on FB ;-) and your son in law is not the friendliest of person is priceless :D

Aparna said...

Sandhya, thanks. I did not even know about the blogadda pick until you told me. It was a pleasant surprise.

Deepsspeakingup, It is fun to watch our parents stumble into the cyber world! Thanks, the blogadda pick was a surprise.

Thanks Ravan, and welcome to my blog.

Thanks Neeraj, I am rather busy these days, will definitely try to get in touch with you.

Onkarji, thank you.

Shail, thanks and welcome to my space.

Manish, thank you so much. I am glad you liked the post.

Srivalli, welcome to my world...

Thanks Calvy.

Thanks Blogadda, It was a huge pleasure to find my post listed there. I am honoured.

Smita, thanks. It is true, my husband is not the friendly sort!

Aparna said...

Hey....FB is the place...

Get your mother a FB account...I am sure she will love it....

And ofcourse enjoy your "guesting period".

Aparna.

Deepa Jagarlapoodi said...

Hi Aparna,

I got to know this blog through SG's blog...Nice to see this Blog..

Deepa Raman.
http://lifestylecoutures.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

ROFL ,It happens to everyone.Best thing is don't try to explain all these things to elders :)

How come there are so many men ..it happened to me to(instead of men ,women)

eye-in-sty-in said...

that was so much fun to read... my mom is afraid of the computer as she'll contact swine flu thru it!

I did get her to open a yahoo id though... :-)

ani_aset said...

i was reading this..and i remembered how i had to take my mom through orkut once..showing her pictures :P..lovely post

aMus said...

what a fun post...imagine if all teh mom's were let loose facebooking, they would unearth all the lost relatives and the relatives of relatives of relatives :)

happy guesting...sounds so much fun...

and congrats on teh blog adda pick...

Anonymous said...

enjoy your vacation with your parents and all the relatives
and cherish each and every moment and the sweet memories of the time spent with all of them will make you smile even in your depression phases

Vasilika said...

I happened across your blog and read this post and it was hilarious! I have had many variations of that conversation with my mother, and grandmothers. I really enjoyed your writing.

Anonymous said...

Nice Blog.. Pl do visit my blog..

Anonymous said...

Mothers should be BANNED from facebook... they can be so annoying! From personal experience, I speak!

I sympathise!

Aparna said...

Thanks everyone for writing in.
APARNA,

Deepa Raman,

Anishthomas

Eye-in-sty-in,

Ani-aset,

Anjugandhi,

Vasilika,

Willdiehard,

Unsungpsalm.

Thank you for your appreciation. I am grateful.

Nishant said...

Have fun in your 'guesting

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