Online meets are organized very often in different places around the world all the time. Such meets helps in cementing & strengthening the rapport which exists between members of a forum/community. Such meets also help in making new friends who share similar passions like yours. It had been a long time since anybody on our ThinkDigit forum arranged a Mumbai meet. Last week itself a guy opened a thread regarding the same and the rest is history.
To start with we managed to grab only 6 members for the meet due to the exam season. We thought it won't be fun with so less people but that didn't deter us from taking the meet. Finally we scheduled to take the meet at Dadar on Sunday i.e. 14 December.
Here are the six geeks who came at the meet:
(From Left to Right - Gautam, Rohan, Vishal, Tech$oft, me, Rhitwick)
Rohan Shenoy - Rohan Shenoy is an aspiring doctor residing in Thane with tech as his favourite hobby. He is a genius web coder cum ethical hacker and knows a lot about computing world which no doctors would know.
Rhitwick - Rhitwick too resides in Thane. He works in TCS and side by side he is good at computer troubleshooting too.
Vishal Gupta - Vishal Gupta is from Vashi, a 25 yr old working at Patni. Not a forum regular but played an active role in keeping us entertained throughout the meet.
Ankit Samant (Tech$oft) - Ankit Samant is from Mahim and he's currently in his final year of diploma in printing and technology. His passions include gaming and mobiles.
Gautam (Confused) - Don't get fooled by his username. Confused isn't confused at all and he was the person who started the meet. He was the one who proposed the meet in forum. Gautam is doing electronic engineering in Ranchi and has been in Mumbai (hometown) for his vacations. Gautam's passions include gaming(virtual cum real) and photography.
Gaurav Prabhu (Cool G5) - I hope I need no introduction. For those who are unaware, I am doing my graduation & am from Dadar the heart of Mumbai. My passions include computing, photography and partying.
Before the meet:
The days before the meet were the most hectic as nothing concrete was decided due to shortage of time. It was Gautam who started the thread and then I pitched in. The meet plan was drafted by me and I was happy to garner a positive response from the other members. After some buzzing IM sessions, ringing phone calls the meet was decided to be carried out on Sunday. The meeting spot was Dadar station and the time was 1:30 PM in the afternoon.
Gathering outside Dadar station:
We all were to meet at Dadar station and then carry on to Shivaji park. I and tech$oft were the first people to arrive. We stood near kabootar khana and after a couple of minutes Gautam arrived. It wasn't difficult to recognize him as just an eye contact did the trick. After some 10 minutes, Rohan arrived alongwith Rhitwick, thus making the tally to five. Now just Vishal was remaining and he came sooner inspite of the megablock on the harbour line. While we all were waiting for Vishal, we got another member for our meet. He came besides us & started gazing us with an innocent cute face. He was ready to join but got impatient waiting for Vishal and left.
Six geeks away to Shivaji Park:
Being a Dadar resident, I was required to lead the meet. I took the charge and we all proceeded to Shivaji Park to get some snacks as most of us had come without having their lunch. After having some frankies, sandwiches and sugarcane juice, we began to walk round the Shivaji park's boundary. It was a quiet sunday afternoon and we all were lost in discussing random topics. From tech to life, microsoft and linux - all were discussed in ample details. After a while we went on to relax at the Dadar chowpatty and had a great time there. We all adored the beauty of the Bandra-Worli sealink and enjoying the fresh air. Then we took a lot of snaps out of which one was a timed one. The timed one required a bit of tinkering but mine and gautam's efforts paid off with a wonderful snap.
Away to Pheonix mills:
Later we decided to visit big bazaar (pheonix mills) and were off to it in a flash. Being sunday, pheonix mills was bustling with shoppers & mall junkiez. We roamed for a while and then went up in a balcony to enjoy. It was a pleasant atmosphere there. We had ice creams & everyone was enjoying it. Nobody complained of tiredness & all six members appeared charged up.
Goodbye:
After enjoying for close five hours, it was time to end the meet. Though we all didn't wanted to leave pheonix but had to. Still we were chatting outside the pheonix mills premises for around half an hour. At that time everybody was seen in a low mood. It was obvious - Having enjoyed so much, we didn't noticed the time fly so quickly. But being spent so much time together, we developed some good bond between ourselves and that helped us to overcome this low mood. It was a day which six of us would never forget throughout our lives. Everybody then left home with a great smile on their faces & with the eagerness of the next meet along with the xperia xperience in their hearts.
Moments of the day:
If there was anyone who was all pumped up for the meet, it was Rohan Shenoy. From the start till the very end, he had a lovely smile on his face. He was at his best that day. Who would have think this is the same, studious guy from the forum? I think all members enjoyed his company, so did I. Rohan potrayed a different side of his to all of us. Those who didn't come for the meet are sure to miss Rohan's bindaas attitude. He surely had an Xperia XPerience.
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Vishal Gupta was a livewire. We chatted a lot about things which we would never even dare to discuss in forums. Then there were some gags being played on Tech$oft on which everybody arosed in splits. Poor Tech$oft he slid within his shell due to this. Being the eldest guy, it was good to gain some experience from him.
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Rhitwick and Ankit were the two guys, who conversed very little throughout the meet. I don't know the reason behind it, but I presume they preferred to enjoy xperia alone.
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Gautam was rocking in his own style. He was the guy besides me who was doing all the photography. It was nice of him to take some good snaps which will be in our memories. He was in a sporty mood and I had a great time chatting with him. He even enjoyed a bit of air hockey at the phoenix along with Ankit.
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Been geeks we all knew what 3G stands for? Still we asked about it to the attendant at Xperia Counter. The response was such that we all erupted in loud roar. Here is a brief summary of the conversation Rohan had with the attendant;
Rohan : What is Turbo 3G?
Attendant : Turbo 3G is a technology by which you can open mp3 files very quickly in your mobile. Xperia has turbo 3G.
I think, there is no need for me to explain further.
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Who said SE Xperia X1 is a flop? If you were to ask us we won't deny it. Even though majority of us are Nokia lovers, but I hope everyone becoming an SE lover after the Xperia Xperience.
The ThinkDigit Mumbai meet was greatest, longest and the best meet ever in the history of Online meets. Had fun of Life !!
Mumbai Rocks !!
For more meet pics, read the post here :
http://gauravlive.com/2008/12/19/thi..._meet_14dec08/
ThinkDigit Forum Mumbai Meet - 14th December 2008
Re: ThinkDigit Forum Mumbai Meet - 14th December 2008
@rohan: seems like u've lost some weight 
Re: ThinkDigit Forum Mumbai Meet - 14th December 2008
.Was too busy studying. 
joking lol
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