Vanny Days

I asked Fatty for a topic to write on from V and he reminded me of something from another lifetime. I've taken an additional lifetime to finish this post, and since my excuses are quite weak, I shall keep them to myself.

The world used to be a better place to live in in the age of the dinosaurs, i.e. before the interwebs came upon us. But at the advent of the age of whatever-this-age-is-called, I discovered Social Networking, first in the form of the now obsolete (-ish, lest I offend anyone) chat engines Yahoo! and ICQ, and then graduated to multipurpose social websites. Soon I had active accounts everywhere from MySpace to Hi5. But none of these were as active as my Orkut one, despite the name. I know I'll probably be shamed and condescended to, but I think I was a modest 5-digit-scraps-and-a-few-dozen-testimonials old by the time I deactivated my account about 6 years ago.

A bit of background for this post: I was close to some of my friends from senior college around this time of my life (roughly about 10 years ago). I think this bunch had to deal with a much flakier me, and that's saying something, given my current propensities. I had several whiny phases with them after which most of them drifted away from me and my psycho-ness. Luckily for all of us, I didn't throw a fit and everyone lived obliviously ever after.

Now, Orkut used to be famously infamous for random people forming random groups and inventing random ways of keeping in touch (virtually, of course). It used to be the WhatsApp of the world wide web back then. This was perfect for me, I thrived online (still do, though I use a lot more internet on-the-go now, because no life). My career in online marketing has been heavily reliant on the internet, which is why I'm not quite certain how other people's jobs work. 

Anyway, coming back to the hero (topic) of this post, my friend Aditi (she is a hero too actually) decided to make an Orkut group in remembrance of me (although I was still alive and kicking everybody). I may/ may not have forced her to; neither of us remembers minor life details such as these. She called the group Vanny Days. Vanny was a nickname I hated from the bottom of my bottom, but she wouldn't stop calling me this, even though I threatened to kill myself (she called my bluff). Eventually the name grew on me, and it grew so tall that now I feel incredibly weird when she calls me anything else but Vanny. 

She/ we managed to get 14 [citation needed] people to join this group, and I think the bait was its display picture - a mugshot of toddler Vanny wearing a mildly angry expression. This gave it a slightly terrifying look thanks to my moderately chubby cheeks, stubby (back then) nose and pudgy pout. The pretty pink clip on the top of my head fooled absolutely no one.

I should be seriously worried about my memory, to be honest. I don't remember much of what was said or done in this group. However, I do know there were special warm-fuzzy wishes and messages posted there on my birthdays, at least as long as I had that account. 

Recently when Google announced they will be closing Orkut down, Vanny Days should have popped into my head instantly, but it didn't because my brain seems to have repressed memories of about 90% of my past. Thankfully/ surprisingly, Fatty remembers some of my feel-good memories for me. Now that I'm writing this, Vanny Days (or the idea of it, since that's pretty much all I've got here) will be immortalized over the interwebs. 

Orkut may now die in peace, and take Vanny Days along with it. RIP (and to every aspiring socialite out there: YOLO!).

- V for Vanny Days (My A to Z Challenge)