Why am I online?

Ever since internet came to India, I have been bit by the internet bug. It started with a dial-up text account that did not have any graphics (500 hours for Rs. 500). Even though there were no pictures, text was enough to keep me engaged. Soon, graphic accounts became inexpensive and I was hooked to the pictures I could see from around the world. And then came broadband which let me surf the net online for hours without worrying about the phone bill or finishing my hourly limit...

Soon, classmates and friends started mocking me about what I did online for hours. Never mind, that they were online too for those many hours which is how they knew I had been online for that long! They felt it was rather boring and pointless to be surfing the net. I, on the other hand thought otherwise. As a kid I loved to peruse the 25 volume World Book encyclopedia we had at home. It brought the world into my room from where I could read about places, events, people, technology, science, arts all at once. It made me more aware of the world, taught me about different cultures, lives, ideologies etc.

The internet helped me to expand my knowledge even further. It is faster, updated more regularly and endless. I can get real time news of events taking place far away, news, views, analysis. Not only that, I can read about what ordinary citizens of the world think about them. Through videos, I can see what is happening elsewhere in the world. I am hooked on to Britain's Got Talent which viewers in Britain upload on youtube for the rest of the world to see. Susan Boyle would not have been a phenomena without the net. It has also helped me keep in touch or bring back in touch with people in other countries...so I regularly chat with friends in Nigeria, Pakistan, Spain and the US. I can read reviews about books or movies that I plan to read or watch. Or StumbleUpon new sites.

Find new recipes, health facts, a new story to read, cartoons, comics, play a game, catch up with friends, research about new restaurants, book tickets, manage bank account, video chat with my nephew in the USA, gossip with office friends while working......the list is endless of what I do and can do online! I would say its brought me a step closer in becoming a global citizen...

Doctor Fish

The plant and animal kingdom is full of examples of symbiotic relations where both living organisms derive benefit from each other. For example, in school, we read that birds feed on food pieces stuck in crocodile’s teeth. This way the crocodile gets a free dental floss and the bird gets food.

Other examples include bees helping flowers to pollinate while collecting honey, clown fish living in sea anemone and protecting each other from predators, fungi on plants roots that help plants get phosphate and nitrogenous compounds in return for food supply. Humans too have a mutualistic relationship with bacteria living in their intestines that assist digestion.

A few days back I discovered a new relationship between human and fishes. No, not humans eating fish (can’t see how the fish would benefit from that!). It’s the age old fish therapy for a softer and smoother skin that originated in Turkey. So, as part of this symbiotic relation and coming closer to nature, I was urged on by my friends to dip my feet in a tank of 300 live fishes who feasted off the dead skin on my feet. True to their name, Doctor Fish got down to business quickly biting off the crusty and flaky skin. I must admit I was very scared initially, but later it felt like tiny machines working on my feet. I later found out that these species of fish are found in Turkey and are also used to cure skin diseases like psoriasis and eczema. Another unique health cure and another symbiotic relation that I liked!