One boring evening, I accidentally chanced upon "Talkcity." Thanks to a simple set of instructions, I began jumping from one channel to the other, making chat buddies from different parts of the country. And before long, I was throwing in cyber jargon with ease. In reply to a joke, I sent a noticeably large "LOL" and smiled politely [J] at people who were entering the channel that I was in.

During one of these entertaining evenings, I noticed "Orknob." I don't remember how we got friendly. He asked if I wanted to go on a cyber date and I played along, describing the exquisite red gown that I was wearing. He picked me up in his exotic car and we drove through the universe and reached a dhaba where I was given a meagre meal! It was fun and we said goodbye to each other after exchanging email IDs. After that, I forgot about my first cyber date and continued with those hourly chat sessions every evening after college.

And a week later, I got Orknob's email. It centered around a message that was made using names of popular Hindi movies. My only reaction to that was "Huh."

He replied with an explanation that was followed by an introduction. A twenty-eight-year-old architect, he worked in Delhi and claimed that he was the greatest movie buff ever. His name was Arnab and it was pronounced "Orknob" (that explained any doubts about his nickname). I replied with my introduction and before we knew, we had become email buddies. The chatting ceased, but the emailing increased. Most often the mails consisted of interesting accounts of everyday events. But then, we also told each other about home, our past and future aspirations. Our opinions on popular songs differed, but we discussed them nevertheless. We discussed movies and sometimes attempted to teach each other our respective mother tongues.

I looked forward to those long newsy emails each day and always made sure I sent as long a mail, with as many interesting anecdotes. We shared joy and sorrow, and sometimes I wondered if there was anything we didn't know about each other. Orknob was my "Bestest" Friend.

We loved to discuss the future. If it wasn't marriage and career, it was about books we would write. I promised to devote an entire chapter on him, while he generously offered to write an entire book on me. But we never felt the need to meet. We were the greatest of friends on the Net and we didn't want to spoil it by meeting. So when he spoke about coming to Chennai to sign his book on me, he also specified that I'd be mothering my child in another part of the world. And when we discussed each other's marriage, he said that we'd be present in each other's wedding in the form of a halo. I often threatened to visit him in Delhi, but both of us knew that we didn't ever want to meet up in real.

Pictures were exchanged of course. Most events were photographed and sent across. So I knew of his new tie, his nephew and the Holi celebrations.

Then the inevitable happened. I moved to another place to study and he moved to Calcutta. He didn't have constant access to Net. So the emails began to get smaller and soon the numbers were reducing. After another month, I wasn't getting any email whatsoever. But I still knew of special occasions, such as his wedding. Sometime in the recent past, he got married. A bright red invitation came with a letter that reminded me of the task that I was to perform as the halo. I threatened to show up and that was followed by an emphatic NO. I didn't show up of course, but performed my task by wishing him good luck on his special day.

Now we rarely see each other online. The emails have stopped completely. I sent him a favourite book for a wedding present. And he replied on receiving The Inscrutable Americans, inside which I'd scribbled my best wishes.

Now he is busy being the family man, and I'm busy finishing a course and building a career. Neither of us look to each other for empathy and friendship any more. Neither do we look forward to long newsy emails. We are both busy with different lives that we aren't able to share with each other. But Orknob is always going to be the special friend that he was, unless of course he forgets to perform his task as the halo during my special day!
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