Baby, baby, it’s a wild world

Sachin Tendulkar made his debut on Twitter Tuesday midnight — 36 hours later, as I write this, his followers have exceeded 1 lakh.

By the time you read this I am certain he will be the most followed person on Twitter. His entry underlines our growing affection for all things virtual — For a society in transition, the web, suddenly, is where the action is right now. If its controversy one wishes to track (Lalit Modi’s Pandora’s box first opened on Twitter) it’s here, if it’s your favourite celebrity’s blog outpourings (straight from the heart, or else his publicist/ghost writer’s heart), ditto. Sensing the current, canny marketing teams are making sure movie promotions come with a web address or a link to a page on any popular social networking site. And then there’s YouTube for timely ‘leaks’ of promos to further interest in soon-to-be released films.

The always enterprising entertainment world is, at present, buzzing with ideas of how best to tap this as-yet-free medium to maximum advantage. So many eyeballs (globally!) so little time.

Meanwhile, as with all paradises, there are pitfalls — Celebrities often run the risk of an impersonator masquerading as the real thing. But where there’s a problem, there must necessarily be a solution. Enter picture uploads, to ensure fans know the real thing when they see it. And as we all know, pictures say more than words ever can. Which fan would’ve thought that Tendulkar had such a keen sense of humour? Under a picture on Twitter of self holding crabs, the little master writes, ‘Wonderful 2 b holdin crabs 4 change n not eatin them. 4 the record my wife is scorpio n not cancerian.’ Followers are clearly delighted. For the moment, alls sunshine in the world of virtual reality — Social networking sites, take a bow.

Aside from all the action in cyberville, it’s heartening to know that lion numbers are up in the real world. The Gir sensex places our furry friends at 411, up from around 350 in 2005. Which is a good thing — in all the fuss about tigers; (though I am not suggesting for one moment that tigers be ignored, all endangered species must be protected) the lions of India somehow don’t seem to get enough attention. 411 lions (2010 census) against a reported 1411 tigers (February 2008 in a recent report). You do the math. And then, the politics of it all — Gujarat and MP are currently slugging it out over the relocation of a couple of prides of Gir lions to MP. Erstwhile royalty of Wadhwan, and son of the region’s first forest conservator, Jai Singh Jhala, who resides in the Gir area, expressed the concern of the populace, when I spoke to him: “There is very little poaching in Gir. The people have learned to live with the lions.”

And Sunday is Mother’s Day. Cause for celebration, because the last few days have seen very few events and parties: not sure if it’s summer somnambulance or just that the city’s vacationing. And please don’t buy into how one doesn’t need a special day for mothers, because Mother’s Day should be celebrated everyday: it would be wonderful were it true, but really, even for a country who holds the ‘mere paas ma hai’ adage sacred, does it really happen? I would say, instead — Go ahead, pamper mommy!