Happy New Year, I don't think! Spent most of it at the std booth trying to call Shahana and the gang for auld lang syne. Everyone in Delhi had the same idea, would've ducked but the greeting cards we posted haven't reached yet. Got through at 1.15 am to find Shahana was asleep. Too many people in line to try the rest. Back at party, someone suggested using a 'cellular mobile' phone. Maybe I should get one. Or maybe they're just a passing fad.
Sick of Netscape Navigator, but this Internet Explorer thing isn't much better. We spent hours trying to download a map today, listening to what some writer calls "the baby bleeps of the modem" as the connection refused to go through. Finally managed to log on—and the map we needed took only 20 minutes to download! You just have to be patient. The designers were trying to download a Sholay poster: one hour on a stable connection, and all you could see was the top of Viru's head. They'll be there all day.
Tried out this new Hotmail application everyone's raving about. It's fun, sending messages to friends that they can read instantly, but 'email' seems so informal. It won't do for serious business, we'll need proper letters
So we finally drive into Manali, and then I see it. Small, hole-in-the-wall that says 'Cyber-cafe'. One machine, privacy provided by a greasy plastic curtain, the owner's doing his puja when I walk in. The charges are lower than Delhi—only Rs 30 an hour! The connections looking dodgy, so I'm going to hit SEND And please tell Mesho to stop sending me mails that contain the Happy Birthday virus, can't have my home PC infected again.
The owner says he wants to open more cybercafes around the tourist spots. "Yeh cybercafe STD booth ko maar dalega," he says. That's a bit optimistic, I think.
Ciao, N
Worried, seriously.
Moron