Shreya Sharma was not addicted to surfing.But ever since she got to know of the website secondlife.com, she has turned into one.
Twenty three year old Shreya Sharma (name changed) is self-confessed net junkie. Not that she always loved surfing. But ever since she got to know of the website secondlife.com, she has turned into one.
Says Shreya, “Such websites are plain amazing as they give one an opportunity to not just take on a new name but they also help you lead a parallel life; one that’s a lot more exciting than its real counterpart.”
Indeed, when you can start all over again — right from going to school to getting married, the temptation is difficult to resist, to say the least. Manoj Sahni, 18, (name changed) agrees that an alternate online identity is that much more fun.
“It gives one a lot more freedom and for a change, one can do things which would otherwise not be accepted,” he notes. Which is probably one reason why even celebs find the idea attractive. On the Hollywood front, there was Halle Berry who, not long ago, admitted to having anonymously joined internet chat-rooms in order to escape her famous persona.
She is reported to have said, “I have gone online before in search of anonymity and an attempt to leave celebrity out of it and just have a normal chat.”
Closer home, fashionista Sabina Chopra finds virtual reality websites quite fascinating. “I know a lot about the concept of leading a parallel life — where one has more control over things and can hence, fulfill one’s aspirations. It is definitely appealing,” she says, adding that she plans to join a website like secondlife as soon as she ‘gets the time’.
TV actor Shveta Salve thinks that it would be a lot of ‘fun’ to take on an alternative identity. “Why not? It sounds interesting,” she reasons. Then there are those who don’t buy the idea. Actor Barkha Bisht loves surfing but taking on another identity is a strict no-no. “I can’t imagine doing it; it’s just not me,” she emphasises.
Echoing her sentiment is jewellery designer Shaheen Abbas, who admits that while the concept is bound to have its share of takers, she can’t warm up to it. Whatever be the case, alternative virtual identities (and lives) are certainly the talk of the town.
p_vidya@dnaindia.net
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