I am a fairly recent convert to FB, but surprise surprise, my acquaintance with Farmville was almost a year ago, when as I was sitting at my pod, slaving over stupid emails and dousing fires after creating them at work, I heard snatches of conversation around me…. “Could you water my crops please”? Hey, a black sheep wandered into my farm “ Hey, can you add me as your neighbor” to “ Do you think, you could send me a cow” to finally “ Ma’am, can I add you as my neighbor” My head popped up surprised – u want to be my neighbor ? – where –how, what , when…certainly – why not…? But… errrr…guess what – I dunno what you are talking about….There was this shocked silence with the entire aisle looking at me thinking – Man, who is this woman…? Is she ancient or what…? She does not know FARMVILLE…what kind of a loser is she….I gingerly whispered into the silence “What does one do to get onto FARMVILLE”..Now, the silence rolled into rolling eyes, gaping mouths and exchange of glances –Ma’am – are u saying that you are NOT on FACEBOOK…. At that point, I fell off the popularity charts and the top mantle with a big thud and have been relegated to the has beens desperately trying to prove to my largely with it kool and yuppy team that I am with it…..unsuccessfulllyyyy…
And so…began my initiation to the world of FACEBOOK. Imagine my surprise, when instead of musings of the mind, mental babble and social cackle, I find my wall filled with requests for sheep, ponies, horses, grass, butterflies , horses, cows, pigs, coins, easter eggs, stallions,fertilizers, fuel… the list goes on…I mean..I have 20 requests from people who want me to be their neighbor and other requests from folks who want all of the above from me….Wall postings are all about multiplication of chickens, collection of eggs, milking of cows, foaling of mares, ploughing of fields, harvesting of crops when I am expecting meetings of the mind, connecting with lost friends, sharing of thoughts, reviews of books and movies and so on… Did I hear a collective haruuummppph and a huge Yeehaw from all my pals…. I am sure I did… :-)
When you wake up to the sounds of horses neighing, and pigs oinking and cows mooing and you realize that you are not in a dream and they are all emanating from a virtual farm where folks are busy milking cows, collecting eggs, seeding their fields and the sound of tractors is what is the background music at the breakfast table and at lunch and at dinner..you know that you are fighting a losing battle…..but wait, I am still digging my feet in my concrete jungle…and howling in protest at all you farmers out there…
To date, I have resisted all attempts to join the Farmville community or the Fishville community or whatever despite all the enticing attempts by loved ones, the beguling requests by all my friends, the begging by my eight old son, who gleefully told me last night that he completed building his stable for his 40 horses and who by the way, has great difficulty in completing his class work everyday.
However, here are my pseudo intellectual musings on this fanatical movement of Farmvillers, an attempt at exploration on what it is that is making an entire world go absolutely mushy about chickens, cows and whatever…here is my take…
At the core of every human being is a secret desire to go back to a life which is much simple than what we are actually living in. We live in concrete jungles, in high rise apartments and the reality of owning a 1000 sq feet apartment takes an entire lifetime of paying through your nose…let alone trying to own a FARM. We wake up to the sound of your beeping cellphones, eat breakfast out of a box, drink milk from a carton. We then double bolt our homes, turn on alarms, drive in our fuel guzzling cars, breathe in carbon monoxide, switch on ozone depleting AC’s and drive to our workplaces of glass and concrete. At work, we commune with blue screens, enclosed in pods and the conversations that we have are with virtual people sitting miles away through emails and Instant messenger. A lot of us work far into the night and we return from work and again escape into a virtual world connecting with virtual friends through virtual space…How many neighbours do we actually know, except the faint nods that you exchange when you go up and down the elevator. Our kids, for example may never even have seen a cow or a horse, or a pig, or a geese in reality, except for pictures on again – the internet…, let alone a tractor, a seeder, a maple tree, an avocado tree or what have you.. To most of us, even owning a house is a difficult reality… you want me to own a farm.. Wow… if only….I could…
Ask any of us urban animals – what our retirement plans are and I bet my last penny that most of us will say – I would like to retire to a rural place, have a farm and live off the land. That is the secret yearning that all of us have . at the core of our hearts, we pine for a life so simple…to breathe an air so fresh, to walk on fresh green grass, to smell the fragrance of flowers, to drink in the beauty of flowers blooming, to dip our toes in flowing streams and feel the rain on our lips. We want to milk cows, grow sheep, plant crops, have horses to ride away into the sunset with and live in a villa on top a hill overlooking your acres and acres of farms, watching sunsets and sunrises….and watch your kids gambol in the fields with geese, ducks, pigs, chickens, dogs, ponies, pigs et al…What a superb flight of fantasy…hmmmmmmm….screech…..welcome to reality – or rather virtual reality, where the only fields you and I are ever going to see are going to be guess where – YeeHaw on FARMVILLE…
What an absolutely brilliant concept.. I am awed by the sheer brilliance of the folks who came up with Farmville. No wonder, you have millions of people who are slaving away at being farmers and sons of the soil. Farmville satiates the inner yearnings of all of us basic humans to essentially reach out deep down and be the people who we really are and who we want to be…
Where else can you own acres and acres of land, grow all the crops that you have always wanted to, become rich by selling the produce in an open market system. I mean, you have neighbours who come and plough your fields and feed your chickens. In reality, your neigbour – wazzat – do I really have a neighbor…? What does he even look like…?
Who ever said that grass needs to be only boring green and hay needs to be yawn -yellow…. My farm allows my grass to be blue and hay – I have all the colours of the rainbow..
Guess what – I own cows and not your boring black and brown variety… I could’nt be bothered making chocolate milkshake and strawberry crush for my kids, so, I went and got myself chocolate and pink cows, which give me at one pull – voila, chocolate milk and strawberry milk… J
And by the way, did I say I have chickens…? Of course I do… I have always loved the fairy tale of hens laying golden eggs and now… they do… YeeHaw
Lets not forget my pigs – My pigs are not the dirty smelly variety, wallowing in mud.. They are a lovely pink and they go oin oink and they give me truffles… So there…
And did I tell you about my horses….? What are u saying, you poor thing – you don’t even have one stallion.. I have so many of them and I plan to race them and my mares – have you seen them.. they come in all colours to match with my nail polish..
Let me come to my crops.. I have put to rest all antediluvian ideas of crop farming, soil analysis, climate analysis etc. In my farm, I can grow everything… from tulips to roses, to corn to daffodils, soya beans,water melons, grapes, morning glory, asparagus, egg plants, strawberries…So much for – different crops for different regions and all that old wives tales..As for my trees, I have tropical ones like plantains, coconuts, lime trees to cool cherry trees, apple trees, olives, figs and on and on…Whatever I want, I plant and I grow and I reap and I harvest and I make piles and piles of money..and you slave 12 hrs a day for a ego maniacal slave driver in an organization that owns you for what… ? That’s it – you poor sod..
Let me tell you about my friends and neighbours – we water each others plants, we fertilize each other’s crops, we feed our livestock, we walk in and out of each other’s property, we help each other build our barns and stables and villas and what is that – a French maison.. wow, how lucky are we..? You mean to say that your friends are virtual, your kids are too busy to have friends, and your friends will no longer be your friends if you ask them for help…and it has been ages since you gave or received any gift from your friends – how sad is your life – you loser…and if your dog wandered into somebody else’s house, they will file a complaint – WHAT…? You have to call your friends before you go visit them? What are you, a disease.. ?
What are you saying? Who said that I cannot have sea gulls and penguins.. Course I can have them.. course I had to get sea gulls from Europe and penguins from the Arctic circle but they are flourishing on my farm.. So, there…I wanted them and they are here…and why should I not have cottages and schools and villas and Indian homes, if I want to on my farm… and do you know, how we love those of stories of treasure chests and gold coins.. I find them all the time on my farm…
I have swings and roundabouts and see saws and ferris wheels and pagodas and autorickshaws.. whatever I yearn for, I get.. and I earn getting it as well…
Who wants to get back to your boring world… It is so predictably black and white and grey and it is populated by robots like you who live in a virtual world, with virtual friends, having virtual relationships and leading virtual lives…
My world on the other hand is filled with colour and vibrancy, growing lives and lands, real people and warm friends, perfect animals who give me all that I need and more.. I have an idyllic life, beautiful villa, ponds and lakes and flowers of every hue… and I certainly do not want to get back to your dull and dreary real world…
Did I hear somebody say – Welcome to my real world of Farmville…. The joke’s on me, my friends.. the joke’s on me.. YeeHaw Yeehaw…
All you Farmvillers – May your tribe increase….and may you go forth and spread your seeds by blowing them in the wind and watch them take root….. Hmmmmmmmmmm
And so…began my initiation to the world of FACEBOOK. Imagine my surprise, when instead of musings of the mind, mental babble and social cackle, I find my wall filled with requests for sheep, ponies, horses, grass, butterflies , horses, cows, pigs, coins, easter eggs, stallions,fertilizers, fuel… the list goes on…I mean..I have 20 requests from people who want me to be their neighbor and other requests from folks who want all of the above from me….Wall postings are all about multiplication of chickens, collection of eggs, milking of cows, foaling of mares, ploughing of fields, harvesting of crops when I am expecting meetings of the mind, connecting with lost friends, sharing of thoughts, reviews of books and movies and so on… Did I hear a collective haruuummppph and a huge Yeehaw from all my pals…. I am sure I did… :-)
When you wake up to the sounds of horses neighing, and pigs oinking and cows mooing and you realize that you are not in a dream and they are all emanating from a virtual farm where folks are busy milking cows, collecting eggs, seeding their fields and the sound of tractors is what is the background music at the breakfast table and at lunch and at dinner..you know that you are fighting a losing battle…..but wait, I am still digging my feet in my concrete jungle…and howling in protest at all you farmers out there…
To date, I have resisted all attempts to join the Farmville community or the Fishville community or whatever despite all the enticing attempts by loved ones, the beguling requests by all my friends, the begging by my eight old son, who gleefully told me last night that he completed building his stable for his 40 horses and who by the way, has great difficulty in completing his class work everyday.
However, here are my pseudo intellectual musings on this fanatical movement of Farmvillers, an attempt at exploration on what it is that is making an entire world go absolutely mushy about chickens, cows and whatever…here is my take…
At the core of every human being is a secret desire to go back to a life which is much simple than what we are actually living in. We live in concrete jungles, in high rise apartments and the reality of owning a 1000 sq feet apartment takes an entire lifetime of paying through your nose…let alone trying to own a FARM. We wake up to the sound of your beeping cellphones, eat breakfast out of a box, drink milk from a carton. We then double bolt our homes, turn on alarms, drive in our fuel guzzling cars, breathe in carbon monoxide, switch on ozone depleting AC’s and drive to our workplaces of glass and concrete. At work, we commune with blue screens, enclosed in pods and the conversations that we have are with virtual people sitting miles away through emails and Instant messenger. A lot of us work far into the night and we return from work and again escape into a virtual world connecting with virtual friends through virtual space…How many neighbours do we actually know, except the faint nods that you exchange when you go up and down the elevator. Our kids, for example may never even have seen a cow or a horse, or a pig, or a geese in reality, except for pictures on again – the internet…, let alone a tractor, a seeder, a maple tree, an avocado tree or what have you.. To most of us, even owning a house is a difficult reality… you want me to own a farm.. Wow… if only….I could…
Ask any of us urban animals – what our retirement plans are and I bet my last penny that most of us will say – I would like to retire to a rural place, have a farm and live off the land. That is the secret yearning that all of us have . at the core of our hearts, we pine for a life so simple…to breathe an air so fresh, to walk on fresh green grass, to smell the fragrance of flowers, to drink in the beauty of flowers blooming, to dip our toes in flowing streams and feel the rain on our lips. We want to milk cows, grow sheep, plant crops, have horses to ride away into the sunset with and live in a villa on top a hill overlooking your acres and acres of farms, watching sunsets and sunrises….and watch your kids gambol in the fields with geese, ducks, pigs, chickens, dogs, ponies, pigs et al…What a superb flight of fantasy…hmmmmmmm….screech…..welcome to reality – or rather virtual reality, where the only fields you and I are ever going to see are going to be guess where – YeeHaw on FARMVILLE…
What an absolutely brilliant concept.. I am awed by the sheer brilliance of the folks who came up with Farmville. No wonder, you have millions of people who are slaving away at being farmers and sons of the soil. Farmville satiates the inner yearnings of all of us basic humans to essentially reach out deep down and be the people who we really are and who we want to be…
Where else can you own acres and acres of land, grow all the crops that you have always wanted to, become rich by selling the produce in an open market system. I mean, you have neighbours who come and plough your fields and feed your chickens. In reality, your neigbour – wazzat – do I really have a neighbor…? What does he even look like…?
Who ever said that grass needs to be only boring green and hay needs to be yawn -yellow…. My farm allows my grass to be blue and hay – I have all the colours of the rainbow..
Guess what – I own cows and not your boring black and brown variety… I could’nt be bothered making chocolate milkshake and strawberry crush for my kids, so, I went and got myself chocolate and pink cows, which give me at one pull – voila, chocolate milk and strawberry milk… J
And by the way, did I say I have chickens…? Of course I do… I have always loved the fairy tale of hens laying golden eggs and now… they do… YeeHaw
Lets not forget my pigs – My pigs are not the dirty smelly variety, wallowing in mud.. They are a lovely pink and they go oin oink and they give me truffles… So there…
And did I tell you about my horses….? What are u saying, you poor thing – you don’t even have one stallion.. I have so many of them and I plan to race them and my mares – have you seen them.. they come in all colours to match with my nail polish..
Let me come to my crops.. I have put to rest all antediluvian ideas of crop farming, soil analysis, climate analysis etc. In my farm, I can grow everything… from tulips to roses, to corn to daffodils, soya beans,water melons, grapes, morning glory, asparagus, egg plants, strawberries…So much for – different crops for different regions and all that old wives tales..As for my trees, I have tropical ones like plantains, coconuts, lime trees to cool cherry trees, apple trees, olives, figs and on and on…Whatever I want, I plant and I grow and I reap and I harvest and I make piles and piles of money..and you slave 12 hrs a day for a ego maniacal slave driver in an organization that owns you for what… ? That’s it – you poor sod..
Let me tell you about my friends and neighbours – we water each others plants, we fertilize each other’s crops, we feed our livestock, we walk in and out of each other’s property, we help each other build our barns and stables and villas and what is that – a French maison.. wow, how lucky are we..? You mean to say that your friends are virtual, your kids are too busy to have friends, and your friends will no longer be your friends if you ask them for help…and it has been ages since you gave or received any gift from your friends – how sad is your life – you loser…and if your dog wandered into somebody else’s house, they will file a complaint – WHAT…? You have to call your friends before you go visit them? What are you, a disease.. ?
What are you saying? Who said that I cannot have sea gulls and penguins.. Course I can have them.. course I had to get sea gulls from Europe and penguins from the Arctic circle but they are flourishing on my farm.. So, there…I wanted them and they are here…and why should I not have cottages and schools and villas and Indian homes, if I want to on my farm… and do you know, how we love those of stories of treasure chests and gold coins.. I find them all the time on my farm…
I have swings and roundabouts and see saws and ferris wheels and pagodas and autorickshaws.. whatever I yearn for, I get.. and I earn getting it as well…
Who wants to get back to your boring world… It is so predictably black and white and grey and it is populated by robots like you who live in a virtual world, with virtual friends, having virtual relationships and leading virtual lives…
My world on the other hand is filled with colour and vibrancy, growing lives and lands, real people and warm friends, perfect animals who give me all that I need and more.. I have an idyllic life, beautiful villa, ponds and lakes and flowers of every hue… and I certainly do not want to get back to your dull and dreary real world…
Did I hear somebody say – Welcome to my real world of Farmville…. The joke’s on me, my friends.. the joke’s on me.. YeeHaw Yeehaw…
All you Farmvillers – May your tribe increase….and may you go forth and spread your seeds by blowing them in the wind and watch them take root….. Hmmmmmmmmmm
