The cafe with a difference
By Sonoo Singh

THE City Beautiful, which was at one time seen as the ‘city that always sleeps’, today appears to glitter and gleam like any other metropolitan town. No more shying away from the latest fads and fashions — be it the disco culture, the pub-hopping culture, the presence of haute couture, or even the steady rise of the latest gizmos starting from the lowly pager to cyber cafes.

A few years back the word ‘cyber cafes’ would have meant something from the X-Files but with words like net-surfing and e-mailing becoming a part of our daily lingo today, such cafes certainly do not evoke a surprised response. What better than securing a job on the net, with the click of a few keys, over a cup of hot coffee; or filling up your admission from the Melbourne University sitting here. Or even making friends all over the world and chatting up with them!

Going back into history, it was in the ‘60s that the American Defence Ministry developed the Internet to set up a computer network without a central server. Today, this same Internet has much more than 35 million users world-wide. And Chandigarh certainly does not seem to lag behind this ultimate ‘marvel’ in communication. Swanky and smart cyber cafes, which also have now become the happening new joints ‘to-be-seen-in’, have fast appeared in the city. Interestingly, not only are the ‘young and the restless’ seen in these cafes, but all age groups are present in strength.

"It is now no more a problem to keep myself up-dated on the latest. I can download the latest happenings via the Internet and access any medical site, related journals etc’, says Dr Jayant Banerji, an avid Internet-user.

"It is doctors, people looking for avenues to go abroad and, of course, a few curious ones who actually frequent the cyber cafes. E-mail till date is the most popular use of the Internet. But people are hooked into general browsing as well", said Vandana Bhardwaj, who runs a cyber cafe with her husband in Sector 9. "People generally come with specific sites in mind and it is only young schoolboys who might look at music videos, posters, cars or other such sites. Recently, a lot of people came to us to download the Canadian Immigration Forms that were not readily available", she added.

With the surfing charges ranging from Rs 80 to Rs 120 per hour, most people find this a convenient way of keeping in touch with the latest around the world. "I’ve had people coming all the way from Amritsar to import onions from Pakistan via the Internet. People also come for trading of shares, and, of course, sites for chatting and matrimonial are highly popular", said S.S. Grewal, who runs his cyber cafe in Sector 17. "I have a list of 9 people who browsed for jobs and have now flown abroad", he added.

"I saw in the papers that the government has now started a site on environment and forests. What better way for businessmen to know about various projects and then even fill business tenders for the same with just a click of a button", remarked Aswani Jain, a private builder, who is now sure that he is hooked to the Internet.

Coffee, tea, samosas, burgers and access to foreign journals and newspapers, jobs, mail-mates, scholarships. Not to forget that a click of a few keys can even provide access to dirty jokes, X-rated sites and even the birth of a child! But all cyber cafe owners insist that browsing of such sites is certainly discouraged, if not prohibited. Anyway, who would have the courage to look at ‘Baywatch’ beauties, if the aunt sitting next to you is browsing her favourite religious site?

"Browsing various sites is still not a very common thing for most who visit cyber cafes. People prefer to stick to E-mails only", said Vikas Chopra, who has opened a cyber cafe at his residence in Sector 20. "Most people in the city are familiar only with the E-mail. And with a price tag attached not many go in for general surfing", added Amandeep Dhaliwal, a webmaster at a computer centre. A frequent E-mail user, who is doing her PG second year in Fine Arts, Panjab University, Nidhi, said, "I don’t know much about computers, so I stick only to mail".

But for those wanting to be in tune with the latest buzz-word called cyber cafe, it sure is a happening place. Be it sending singing and dancing greetings, or finding soul-mates, or looking for the right jobs at the right places, or even finding out about the latest Sting or the Subha Mudgal song — all this and much more is done on the net. Happy Surfing!