Online Reunion

I published a blog in 2010 about the drawbacks of online social networking. Over the holidays though, I had a very nice experience of the positive aspects.

When I used to go to India for prolonged periods as a child, I had made a friend who was basically a young university student who lived in my cousins apartment complex. I was about 7-8 years old at the time, and while it may seem weird to people here, it wasn't that uncommon for boys/girls to befriend someone who is elder to them there as an adopted 'big brother/sister'.

After my return, we kept in touch via letters, and he sort of became my pen pal. However, as with most things, over 20 years, we slowly lost touch. I had heard that he got married and had moved to the US. I remember him occasionally, as I used to have alot of fun going to his place and irritating him especially over game after game of Carrom Board (strangely, he never complained though).

Last week, out of the blue, I got a Facebook Invitation from him. I was totally shocked and pleasantly surprised that he had managed to track me down. He is now well settled in the US, and ironically now has 2 kids, who are close to the same age I was when I used to visit him as a kid. It was really a joy to get back in touch with him, and see how his life and family had progressed. I would love to meet up with him in the future, now that we are back in touch. It was indeed a very nice online reunion. :-)