She was a dreamy girl in her late teens living on a staple diet of Mills and Boon and Bollywood rom-com movies. She secretly hoped one day she would bump into the boy and then she would know he is the one. “Grow up and stop reading that many chick-lits” her best friend told her half-amused half-irritated with her. But no sensible advice ever found their way to her romance-obsessed head.
One Saturday afternoon she walked out of the hostel gates to go to the city. She was walking purposefully towards the bus stop. She looked up to see the motorbike entering the college gate. Then she saw the guy on the bike who held the bike’s handle in one hand and the other hand gently brushed his hair. The glass perched on his nose gave him an intelligent look. She stood still staring at him in awe. Their eyes met for a second before he whizzed past her. For her this felt like divine intervention. God was helping her find the love of her life and there was no way this could miss this cue.
Monday morning she walked on the college corridors scanning every nook and corner of the college hoping to spot him. But luck evaded her. Crestfallen she walked up the stairs towards her department. In the department she found a group of people looking at the notice board. “Perhaps checking their internal averages” she thought. Just as she was about to walk to her class, she spotted him standing in front of the notice board talking animatedly to a friend.
“Who is that guy in red t-shirt?” she asked her friend as a matter of factly. “Somebody from the final year” her friend replied in a disinterested tone. “If he is in the final year, he is probably only here for another month or so” she thought. She cursed her luck for not ever noticing him before. Nevertheless she made a few inquiries here and there to find more information about him. By the end of two days from the day she had noticed him she found out his name, place, birthday and even the University Seat Number!
The remaining few days of the semester went in a blink when people opened their almost forgotten books which had collected dust throughout the semester. She also found herself trying to study and grumbling most of the time since very little in the syllabus made sense to her. Her pursuit for him took a back seat for the time being.
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It had been a week since the new semester started. She has already begun sulking. There was no way she could introduce herself to him now that he had passed out of college. The only good thing about the semester was the hostels had Wi-Fi connection. The internet became her best friend in times of distress. The internet provided solace to her mind and soul.
One day during her browsing session, she logged into the then reigning social networking site orkut.com. She read messages on her scrapbook, replied to a few and visited a few friends profiles. A certain profile catches her eye, the name rings the bell. Without second thought, she clicked on the name. She waited with bated breath as the page loaded hoping that it is the profile of the person who she thought it is! She squeals in delight when it turned out to be ‘his’ profile. She thoroughly reads through his profile absorbing all the information it has to offer. His favorite music, movies, communities et al.
After stalking him online for several months, she musters the courage to drop him a message on his scrapbook. She impatiently waited for the reply to come. After days of no reply, just when she has given up hope, he replies. Gradually messages go back and forth for a few days. She is on cloud nine since this development. It has turned out to be better than she had planned.
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But not all goes as she thought it would. The frequency of the messages going back and forth decreases drastically with time. Days pass to months and months to years but the status relationship remains unchanged. A mere acquaintance is what they are. He is a workaholic or just disinterested she thinks bitterly. Perhaps this is for the best she tells herself.
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Years passed. Now they no longer use the orkut.com. Facebook.com has now taken its place. They like/comment on each other’s statuses and photos. They are friends on facebook and acquaintances in reality.
One day his facebook profile announces that he is engaged. “Congratulations” she writes on his wall.
Secondly I overwhelmed to know that this venture did not turn out to be like the many initiatives/ideas that I start excitedly but gradually throw it to the dark corners where it collects dust.
I was even more surprised when I had readers and followers. The word ‘Followers’ makes me feel like a celebrity 
