The Art of Virtual Fooling

The online world is full of deceit and lies... the only one who wins in this rat race is the one who excels in the art of virtual fooling.....

Out of boredom and lack of a time consuming hobby, I decided to add another couple of bucks to the phone bill, and went online. Finishing off with the daily task of deleting junk mails from my inbox, I decided, since I had nothing better to do, to logon to a chat room and talk to people soaked in boredom like me. Almost immediately a swarm of messages attacked my screen. The Hi Doll’s and Wanna Chat’s were ignored almost as immediately as they came.

After about 36 seconds of my quest for quitting chat windows, I came upon a guy (devilish_smile20), who had unlike others, not used a “hi” or a “hello”, or even assumed that I was willing to let him call me “doll”, just sent a single line, “Is it my imagination, or is your presence making my heart go beating faster”. It was not the pickup line that got me interested, but the urge to give back an answer that would make him quit the window himself, that forced me to reply. So, thinking for a moment, I smiled to myself as I put down, “Its your imagination”. And there I was again, focusing on quitting the chat windows and looking around for a decent person to chat with. However another 13 seconds later, I and devilish_smile20 were back in the chat window shooting off witty replies back at each other, and surprisingly, unlike the other guys I had chatted with over the months, he was very good at expressing himself and shutting me up occasionally.

Quite impressed by his way of replying back (not to forget, his English), I decided to come down to serious business. And so there we were, shooting questions at each other. I grabbed a bag of chips and a can of coke, and relaxed in my chair as I answered and asked questions. After asking questions about my whereabouts and my family members, he finally asked me my age, which caused the chips and coke I had drained down my throat to lurch in my stomach.

Typing down a 14 and nearly pressing the “enter” key, it struck to me that he’d probably say a polite “bye” leaving me in the room of swarming hi’s and asl’s. Thinking for another moment or two, and after arguing with my consciousness enough, I finally sent a 17, judging by his nick, he must be 20. And the reply was, a smiley face. He told me he was 20 (as if I was not smart enough to make it out already), and briefly explained his interests, emphasizing upon the fact, that he was a bachelor and did not have a girlfriend.

On being asked about my love life, I denied the fact of having a boyfriend (its easier to do that, than to cook up stories about an imaginary love of your life). That was followed by a smiley face from his side again. I told him I was in grade 12 (its easier to describe a place where you are already, than to make up something about a college). I was glad he suppressed his disappointment (if any).

And so I was, making up nice stories about my interests (as if I am the coolest girl on planet Earth), I told him I am tall, fair, slim and quite good looking (which was again, followed by a smiley face). He was no less in describing himself quite a lot like a “hunk”. Oh well, many smiley faces and little sweet lies later, we realized we had a lot in common (rather, he realized).

After about talking for another hour or so, devilish_smile20 logged off promising to catch me online next day. And so he did, the next day, and the next, and the next, AND THE NEXT! And the following days regularly we talked. I had the time of my life, fooling this guy, who was well educated and who I would consider the “smart types”. And so it came, another few days later, another bag of chips on my lap and coke flowing down my throat, he asked me out. And I nearly spilled out the coke in my mouth. I fumbled as to what to write, and I knew it had to be something smart, something good enough to be a “no” and still polite. But funnily enough, I said “sure”. And we fixed a nice place for a nice lunch (I refused the dinner idea) and a nice date to see each other.

Surely enough, I did not go, only to be flooded by emails that night by him complaining about waiting for two hours before he left, not to mention a gift he’d bought for me. And that’s when I felt very guilty for doing that to him. I talked to him that night making up a story for my absence (“We had visitors, and mom would just not let me go anywhere”). He confessed that he thinks he’s in love with, of all the people, me, and that’s when I shut off my computer in confusion and guilt. I did not have the nerve to logon again and explain the situation, because what I had done was anyway not worth forgiveness. The month that followed, I changed my nick in the chat room and tried my best not to let the flooding mails in my inbox from him bother me. Finally, I confessed to my good buddy, Shashank the guilt I was feeling and the need for apologizing. He laughed it off introducing to me the fact that he had two virtual-affairs with two girls much older to him and he had also actually been pretending like a girl and making lots of guys gush after him everyday.

He told me its cool, big deal, it’s a lot of fun, and no one’s serious. But somewhere within me, I felt he was serious (the first time, someone actually told me he loves me, boyfriend sense). And so I called up my yet another good buddy Smriti, and since she’s never been online, she assumed it must be serious, scolded me a lot, and told me to confess to him.

And so there I was, in the familiar room again, and finally in the same chat window sharing with the familiar pal. However, my hi was replied by an “asl?” which put me in anguish almost instantly and I shut off the computer and resolved to give Smriti a hard time.

Lying about ones age, or even sex, is common on the Internet, especially among the teenagers to get a little attention and have their share of “fun”. Taking it seriously however, is not really a part of the game. There are practically so many people there, who are there, just for fun. Surely enough I would not ignore the fact that a friend of mine, did fix up with a guy finally, after lying to him for weeks before she confessed her age. But he was a hell of a nice guy to forgive her easily, and yet love her. And so, they’re happy for now (if not forever). It all begins with a little lie, leading into a series of lies, finally ending in flirting for the heck of passing time.

A person can act like the most happening person in town when he/she might not be even recognized in the neighborhood. Deceiving and flirting are just a part of the game, but yet, only a few people admit the truth, while most find it convenient enough to continue, till it bores them to death. Taking the “online game” too seriously, has nothing but perhaps heartbreaks in store for you. You might end up becoming best friends with someone you learnt to respect over the net, but surely enough, that’s a big “might”.

Its not important if someone tells you he’s six feet two, he cant be five feet three! And its not important if she says she’s slim, she gets trousers her size when she’s looking for one! Its all “virtual” and that’s something each one of us needs to know. Don’t just trust your instincts (I bet all the people I made fools of trusted their instincts to trust me), trust the truth. And the truth it, that in the virtual world truth doesn’t have a place, there’s enough lie to hide it in the background.