Gymkhana’s
venture into cyberspace began in the fall of 1998, when a few of it’s
ex-inmates independently set about the task of assigning Gymkhana its own
little niche in hitherto uncharted territory.
So,
what did these pioneers do? Simple enough- they did what every netizen does
first- set up a web-site on one of the many free sites available (for the
record, on tripod.com).
Evolution
came with time, as did the involvement of more Gymkhanites, thanks to swelling
of TCP/IP connections all over the place.
Even
though the web-sites were poorly designed, it was a start. And it was this
feeling of having got a start that encouraged SM Varma’80, JL Singh’65, Sunil
Bajpai’80 and Deepak Sapra’92 to carry on with whatever html experiments they
had started, each of them working independently.
I
believe that the turning point for Gym in cyberia came with the setting up of
LOUNGE SESSION at www.egroups.com , as a result of which interaction between
Gym-netizens got a big boost. The opening lines at the lounge session made it
abundantly clear who the group was meant for--- they said-- “ You have to be a
SAM or SIMI to enter this lounge- if you don’t know whether you are one, please
leave this place immediately”.
With
it came songs (thank God for MIDI, and now for AMP), photographs, phattas,
news, views (from matrimony to Gandhi to Chekov to ragging to World Cup to
traditions to Kargil To Railways to Jamalpur……), tit-bits, Treasure hunts
(organised on Club Day 1999) , Railway station codes, Railway trivia, Socially
relevant questions, name-codes for Gyms in cyberia, discussions on who would be
the greatest Gymkhanite of all times, and lots of interesting, pail-oo stuff.
SAM magazine became on-line, and we heard the guys at Newsweek and Time
shiver…..
The
good thing about this collection of SAMs is that it cuts across the barriers of
distance, with its members spread over 4 continents (at last count – North
America, Europe, Africa and I forget the 4th, …. perhaps Asia …).
Demography of this motley group points to a big chunk from Delhi-centric
organisations like RITES, COFMOW, CRIS,
NRM, BH, RB; another fairly big one from Lucknow – RDSO and the many sheds/workshops/Divisions
in the city of Nawabs, the higher studies group also is a substantial chunk-
what with netizens from Stanford, Tulane, MIT, and from our own, ghar ki
murgi- the IIMs. The floating population includes the many probationers who
frequent RSC/Baroda for their first feel of cyberworld (when they find time
from viewing a particular type of files, that is) and other less privileged Railway
wallahs, whose tryst with the
internet doesn’t last too long… Hopefully it won’t be long before we have only
one un-represented continent in this Gymkhana territory – that continent, you
might have guessed, is Antartica.
That’s
as far as the geographical stats go;
the age profile is no less interesting and varied, with people from the 50s,
60s, 70s, 80s and 90s batches
interacting with a kind of freedom that will be quite difficult to achieve when
they meet in person- the 50s and 60s SAMs have been particularly open in this
regard, and I must mention Mr V. Narayanan ’55, Mr P Ramachandran ’59, Mr G.
Shankar (I think ’59 ), Mr OFH Jung ’
57, Mr JS Chhokar’63 and Mr JL Singh’ 65 for encouraging the freedom of
expression amongst Gymkhanites in Cyberia.
While
most of the people from Gym on the net are there because they are compulsive
surfers, for some it is the ONLY way to keep in touch with the world- two names
that immediately come to mind are Mr R. Chandra ’66 (I think….) and Madhup
Tewari ’89. While the former is in Africa (remote Botswana[still remote
Moleopole]), the latter is in much remoter
Aizwal (Mizoram), so they are making good use of their time on the net.
There
are about a 100 Gymkhanites who have taken to this form of communication, which
is only about 15% of the number of Gymkhanites alive….a figure like that , that
too in AD 1999 doesn’t speak too highly of us. To all of you who are so far not
into it, a few tips-
1)
Try getting an internet
connection wherever you are- if you are in IR, you can quote letter No.
D.O.No.98/C&IS/IT/Group dt. 09/11/1998 by CRB to all and sundry in which
the big boss has advocated the use of internet.
2)
If you are unable to
secure a connection, try using the internet kiosks (similar to STD-ISD-PCOs)
which have sprung up everywhere, offering access at competitive rates.
3)
Once you are
connected, you can find info about
Gymkhana on the net at the following places-
https://jamalpurgymkhana.tripod.com/
http://gymkhana_jamalpur.tripod.com/
4) Enlist in the lounge session at http://www.egroups.com/lounge-session and talk to fellow Gymkhanites at
http://www.egroups.com/group/lounge-session
5)
Make your listing in the
IRIMEE alumni fraternity at http://www.batchmates.com/ by entering Indian Railways Institute in the institution box provided at http://www.batchmates.com
6)
Once you are through
with these basics, let your hair down and bombard the world with your views and
ideas.
Here’s
hoping that you will be reading this on-line, and not on paper.
Before I go, I’ll give you a few common emoticons- use
them….
:-)
smile
;-) wink
:-* kiss
:-( glum, unhappy
:-O shouting
:-b... drooling
=:o argh, disgust
{*} a hug and a kiss
Happy surfing !!!!
See
you on the net….