You know there is a corny saying, “Count your age not by numbers but friends"? If that were true, we'd all be hundreds of years old already! We can't be sure about our monetary riches, but when it comes to friends, aren't we all loaded? Childhood friends, school friends, society friends, family friends, college friends, train friends (!!), tuition friends, office friends... just about wherever friends! Then we had pen pals – remember going through magazines or those fun papers and a stamp size pictures with name, address, hobbies, etc and making friends? Well, the pen didn't prove to be mightier than the PC and internet and pen pals were replaced by chat rooms and instant messengers – the time and age of ASL, LOL, BRB, kewl and so on and so forth.



Then we took a step further in the Cyber Civilization and there was an avalanche of a new phenomenon – the SNS (Social Networking Sites). Making friends got easier and more active. Now there's no need to send a message in a bottle even if you're a castaway. Make sure you have a computer and internet connection and you are all set! There are like a gazallion sites in India alone where you can put up your personal profile – everything one needs to or even doesn't need to know about you. Post your picture... No, actually, even if you upload a pic of Aishwarya Rai if you are a girl or Johnny Depp's if you are a boy, it doesn't really matter. There, you have a new set of friends – online friends. You could be in Kashmir and yet have a friend in Kansas who you interact with like you would with your neighbour. And actually do a lot more activity than you would with your neighbour. That's because most of India friendship related sites have a lot of activities to make your friendly interaction more fun. Typically, scrapbooks, photos, blogs, communities, videos. Phew! And a lot more. You get to chat, see their world and show yours, let them read your mind and just hang out in the cyber world! And your school, college, train, work, etc friends may constitute a modest 50 in number but look at your friend list on your SNS... how many? 250 maybe and still counting? That's not all! You may know most of them individually.

These SNS are also a good Lost and Found kinda exercise when it comes to friends you have lost touch with. Update your school name, college name or workplace or do a simple search with your friend's name or details and you have found him / her again. Then after all the What's up? How have you been? Where do you live? What do you do, you even get to connect to thousands of other people through your friends.

The Indian friendship or Indian dating sites are an arsenal! There are so many mind blowing (pun very much intended) people that you can pick and choose from. Who needs to go fishing to a disco for a partner when you have so many 'I'm looking for a date' folks right here just a click away? And it works! It's all so convenient, na? Millions of eligible single-ready-to-mingle dudes and dames, check compatibility with them, get to know them and when you're ready, the sweet first date happens. And there are so many success stories in this. The fishing (inter)net has got many a lonesome hearts hooked up. If you are discreet and well versed with internet safety, there is a whole new exciting world waiting for you – whether you want just a friends to chill out with or are looking for someone special. So, go and enjoy and add a few more hundred years to your life.

Oh, time to go... someone just scrapped... Gotta reply!