We’ve all done some bizarre things in the past, some laughable, and others embarrasing and best forgotten. A laughable one came back and stared me in the face recently, and I can’t believe I’d forgotten this.
Like every savvy internet user, I have a e-mail ID that I provide whenever some site asks for one. An ID where I receive all the myriad newsletters, announcements, and other random ignorable e-mails.
Anyway, the other day I logged into the bit-bucket account waiting for a "click here to activate your account" mail, and I came across a whole bunch of mails from a site called "SPN". Now I was curious. I don’t recollect subscribing to any such list. I open one mail at random, and I kid you not; this is how it starts.
"Sat Sri Akal semidog ji. Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!!"
A very Sat Sri Akal to you too, and Waheguru and all that, but exactly what is this very cryptic SPN ? The mail itself did not reveal much; it wished me and my family all the best for Gurupurab. But right there, nestled at the bottom of the mail was a link leading to this site: Sikh Philosophy Network
Now, I’d have passed this off as a prank or something, except the mail addressed me by the standard nickname ("semidog") that I use in all forums. It could still be a prank, so I tried to log into the site, with my "standard" password.
Accepted.
I had a profile on the site! Member since 2nd November 2004, with my date of birth and all. Home address, private messages, the works. Now on the 2nd of November 2004, if I recall correctly, I was in Japan for a 3 week business trip. That was quite a harrowing trip; the airline lost my luggage, I was attending business meetings wearing socks and floaters, and food (or the lack of it) was quite an issue.
That said, I still can’t imagine why Sikh Philosophy might have suggested itself to me. I may have been looking for the answers to life, the universe and everything, or I may have been looking for Tandoori chicken recipes. But do not be surprised if, when you next see me, I’m wearing a turban and break out into Bhangra.
Tunak tunak, tunak tunak, tunak tunak bolo ta ra ra ra.