This has always struck me whenever I return from a PG meet. The camaraderie that exists between people who are absolute strangers, physically, is really amazing. One rarely feels outta place with the crowd. Its like those ‘ol lost friends who meet up after some time and carry on with their conversations just where they’ve left it. Struck me the very first time I met someone from the forum – Allwin, more than an year back. Fact is, I rarely went thro’ a formal mutual intro sorta thing. Not that all of us know each other completely, but rather related to the fact that we recognize the person for what they are, thro’ the light of their posts. Inasmuch as some people might say that online identities are misleading in most cases, I’d very much beg to disagree. From what I’ve noticed, it has been so only in very very few cases!!

Had someone told me coupla years earlier that I’d be traveling close to 600km to meet a bunch of absolute strangers, I’d prolly have laughed him away. But that is what precisely happened when I went for the Bangalore meet!! Here was I going all the way to Bangalore to meet a few dozen people of whom I’d met only a handful before (Allwin, Uday & Shameek). But, as was expected, that just wasn’t to be a dampener. Had a swell time there meeting up a lotta oldies and regulars. Have at various times tried to understand how/why this community feel exists at the forums. Whatever the reason for it, ’tis has always been a very pleasant experience meeting people from the forum. Gives a wonderful insight into the person behind the nicks/posts.