There are some appliances / applications that are so helpful that over time, we just end up relying completely on them. For eg. the cellphone. Before it came into our lives, I had atleast
10 phone numbers committed to my memory. Today, all I can remember is the landline numbers of my parents, inlaws, sister and ofcourse my own Chennai number.
It is tougher with the 10-digit mobile phone numbers. The only mobile number I can reel off from memory is mine. If someone asks my wife's cell number or my Dad's, I would be clueless. Once I reached Kerala by train and needed to call my wife to ask her to come pick me up from the station. But since my cellphone battery had lost its full charge, I had no way of knowing
her number to call her.
Had to then call her parents (who were surprised to know that I did not know my wife's phone
number) and get her number from them. Ofcourse, they also did not have it committed to memory - they got it from the address book. :-)
Similiar is the experience of most netizens with Google. You want to know about something,
the first thing to do is google it. See, it became a verb too. Just like "xerox it" is used liberally
in India (not sure if it is used in other parts of the world also).
So, when my friend called to tell me that our common friend's wedding reception would be at
the Tag Centre in Chennai, the first thing to cross my mind was to google the place to locate where it is situated in Chennai. As if reading my mind, my friend said, "I have no idea where
this place is. Will ask around. And I am sure you are already googling it as we speak". :-)
My googling-mania became a kind of a running joke with my auto-forum mates after I
googled WTPT. I am not sure about you guys/gals, but when I first heard this acronym,
I had no idea what it meant. Ofcourse, I tried to challenge my mind by thinking what it
would be representing, but failed to find a logical expansion for it, given the context in
which it was made.
It was a Friday evening a year or so ago and I get the following message from one of my
auto-forum guys : WTPT ?
Just 4 letters. The ? indicated that it is a question. But what the hell does WTPT stand for ? Ofcourse it being Friday, I could guess that it was about the weekend get-together that we normally have - basically comprising of some good Signature whisky, nice eats and finally a
light dinner. And all this interspersed with lots of talk - about cars, bikes, etc. And yes, a bit
of talk about women too. :-)
After a few minutes of mental struggle, I automatically reach for the keyboard and google WTPT, with the sure belief that Google will deliver. But no, I do not get the full-form for
WTPT. Quite a let-down actually, given that I had come to depend on Google so much.
Anyway, I get another SMS a short while later mentioning the time and venue for our
weekend party. While there, I tell the guys about how I could not find what WTPT stands
for inspite of googling it. This leads to allround laughter for a few minutes and comments
about how those in the IT industry are so hooked to PCs, google & stuff. Finally the mystery behind WTPT is revealed - Where's The Party Tonight ?
Is this what it all was about ? Something so basic and simple and I could not get it. Anyway,
even a year later, when talk at our weekend night parties drifts to the internet or google,
the joke is on me. So much for being a google-believer.
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