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Tuesday, September 30, 2014

A testimonial to Orkut.

Despite having received many requests to divulge my love story, I dint oblige as I have no mushy, tear-jerking, heartwarming story that can make anyone go ‘Awww’.  It does not have any typical cliches or thrilling twists that can make it worth a read forget interesting. To top it all, our parents did not make a hue and cry when we decided to get married, and that was the last nail on the scope for telling my story. Had they rejected my wish to marry him, I could’ve portrayed them as villains and blissfully get my character some sympathy and support. Oh well, the guy turned out to have a nice sense of humor, so life with him is not as boring as our jab-we-met version would have turned out.

We knew each other since day one of joining the same organization as trainees. Orkut was the Facebook of those times. Not having an account on Orkut was totally uncool. People started going places and buying stuff just to show off on Orkut, exactly like how it is now. Phones with 2 Megapixel cameras, polyphonic ringtones…mobile companies were bombarding the market and our minds. Nokia 3310 and Sony Walkman were dying a slow death. The only thing that remained the same was our stipend. Sigh. Scraps, testimonials, profile visitors…it was a happening time of our lives.

Soon we were friends, and added each other on Orkut, which is like a conservative form of live-in of those times: D From mere friends to Orkut buddies! You know what that means? It means he can see my photos! MY PHOTOS! :D

Many friends wrote me testimonials even without me having to buy them treats. And that really meant a lot to me. So one day I asked him to write me a testimonial, which looked like this.



Orkut used to have a wider page, and it actually fit what he actually meant by that . It reads ‘Princess’. On further interrogation it was revealed that he copied it from some other profile. (I told you, he is not the sky writer or Archies greeting card types). Copied or not, I got a testimonial! Yay! Fine by me! Thus started a full-fledged exchange of scraps, sms jokes, riddles and chain mails.

Orkut continued in the background, when we got married on Facebook and brutally ditched it. We moved on, forgetting conveniently that which brought us closer. Having experienced both Orkut and Facebook, Orkut always felt like an authentic coffee place, sepia dipped in memories, nostalgic and calm with the sound of sea in the background. Facebook is noisy, high profile and the place one saves the orange lipstick for.

It is time to say Goodbye to our first (virtual) hangout, the only remembrance of the unromantic, uncreative, blatantly copied ‘Princess’ testimonial. It was my only chance of showing my Dad-worshiper son that his Dad did not write me a testimonial, and when I asked him one he copied it! Now how will I start to explain to him what ‘testimonial’ means?

Goodbye, Orkut. I can’t forget you. Or the fact that you stole my only chance of getting some brownie points from my son.


18 comments:

  1. Haha yes i was an avid orkut user. I used to write testimonials just to get one in return :-P

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    1. Me too... and thousand plus scraps made me a celebrity !

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  2. Hehe.. some men!! Even I have all my orkut testimonials saved. I did flaunt them on the blog too! Surprisingly the Boy wrote me the sweetest testimonial. He can write once in 5 years :)

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    1. Once in five years for his lady love is awesome ! Some people cant write even once in a blue moon !

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  3. Good old Orkut days! The lengths we went to get testimonials :D Also the number of scraps were directly proportional to the coolness factor!

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    1. Oh so true...we were all local celebrities with those scraps some of which just said 'Hi' . Oh who cares it is still a scrap and we are counting it :D

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  4. Hehehe Aaron needs to know the truth, doesn't he? :D

    Gosh I remember flaunting the testimonials I received and now I cringe thinking of them.

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    1. LOL..I will tell him one day, with the back up and screenshots I took... I just wish he'd take a moment and understand what I'm trying to say !

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  5. 'sepia dipped in memories, nostalgic and calm with the sound of sea in the background'...Beautiful thought Anita.

    Isn't it ironical that we can't help donning that dash of orange lip-stick even today, as we pay the last of our nostalgic tributes to Orkut!

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    1. True Amogha, Facebook has made the world a fake place where real emotions and feelings take a backseat and all that is left is pomp and show.

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  6. A nostalgic feeling about orkut!

    thanks for sharing

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  7. Oh! those funky testimonials!! Orkut was really addictive!

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    1. Yes it was ! Like every addiction, we got over it .

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  8. Ahh...change is the only constant. Imagine, one day we will be writing the obituary of Facebook! BTW, I did not have an Orkut account.

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    1. Really ? Haha I did and was very active too ! Yes one day we will write an obituary for Facebook, and laugh at ourselves for the selfie obsession and weird duck faces..!

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  9. I used to be an avid Orkut user till facebook happened and all my friends switched.. I had only 2 options then - continue with Orkut rather alone or join the FB bangwagon.. Like most, I decided on the latter.. The testimonial part is what I will surely miss.. Loved that feature and still dont know why its not there on FB..

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    1. True Binu it should be there on fb... there should be something for people who are not selfie obsessed can show off , right?

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