Resource from Tribune-

In today's life where new techlonolgy(internet etc) gives us full freedom to search new things or to enjoy our life in a comfortable way but it has lot of disadvantages if it is not using in a proper way especially for young children.Today everyone is busy on Orkut or My Space.com.Forget spending huge bucks on red roses, fixing your hair for a date, blowing kisses or giving tight hugs, love in today’s technology-driven world has come to acquire a different meaning altogether. Social network sites (SNS), fancy profiles, web cams, emoticons, chat rooms, e-mails and more, Gen-Y is falling in, and out of love, at the mouse’s click. These are the times of cyber love, where SNS are playing Cupid. But, then do love affairs that blossom in the virtual world last or do they fade away as flings?‘They last,’ believe and hope these city’s love-struck, whose relation blossomed in the dotcom planet.

Falling in the net? Keep these simple precautions in mind and your eyes open before you commit in the virtual world: * Screen names, identities can be fake. * You can never be sure that the person on the other side is a guy or a gal. * Be careful of not letting strangers extract useful information out of you or take advantage of you. * It’s advisable to meet your virtual date in a group and in a public space first. * If you’re being stalked or see trouble, inform your parents, friends or seek help from the site itself.

We speak to them (names changed on request) and find out more about falling in love, online that is. A distance of more than a thousand miles and a time zone gap of a few hours between them, yet each time Smriti sees Rahul (online) she gets butterflies in her stomach. It began with Smriti sending scraps from here to Rahul, studying in Australia, on what was happening back home. “We would talk about his friends, family, geri route, CCD, FR and all that he missed about Chandigarh,” says Smriti. Soon, their chat sessions and e-mails became more about likes and dislikes. Six months later, they spoke to each other for the first time, and two months later met. “I would go mad thinking what if we don’t click when face to face,” recalls Smriti. “But then, at the same time I was sure about ‘us’, for we’d come to know each other so well over the past one year,” she adds. Hmmm… so is it that meeting in the real world doesn’t count at all, we wonder. “It does,” say Kriti and Arjun who met each other after almost a year-and-a-half after they had met on Orkut. “We behaved like strangers on our first meeting,” says Kriti. “It was easy to chat for long hours, but very different face to face,” chips in Arjun. And, what was it that prompted him to get talking to a complete stranger? “We were members of the same Orkut communities like rock bands, dog lovers and Bollywood,” he says. So do common interests still hold true? “Yes, of course,” they say. Kriti and Arjun are now busy working out a plan, online again, to disclose their relationship to their parents. And till then Kriti, working in a city BPO, and Arjun, a CA in Bangalore, are happy meeting on Orkut.

Now, while most of these Orkut struck stories have characteristic scripts that begin with a friendly Hello scrap and is followed by exchange of e-mails, digitalised pics, long hours of chatting and finally a meeting, this one comes with a twist.

One look at Neha’s profile on Orkut and Vikram knew love had arrived. “I began by sending scraps to all her friends and found out everything about her – hobbies, favourite colour, nature and more,” says Vikram. Five months later, he sent her a mail that included her portrait and a poem penned down especially for her. “I was caught unawares, so was both shocked and scared, it was almost like being cyber stalked,” says Neha. “It was only after a while that I agreed to speak to him,” she adds. Another happy ending is that of Supreet and Rajiv, a city-based teacher and bank employee respectively. “Our friends still find it hard to believe that we met on Orkut,” they smile. Six months back, Supreet dropped in a message to Rajiv asking him to help in a school project, and well, as they say, the rest is history. But, what if you don’t click in the real world? “The heartbreak is as real,” says Aakriti, who broke off with her guy after a year of online relation. “We are still friends, but guess we mistook the excitement to see each other as love,” she shares. So, will she invest her time and feelings in a similar relation again? “Why not, it would be wonderful to meet Mr Perfect online,” says Aakriti. So does cyber lover come with a warning then? “Yes”, say these couples in unison. “After all it’s sightless love, where your imagination and words rule,” they say. “But then, on the other hand, cyber love is all about inner beauty first, then the rest,” they log off!