Welcome to Facebook

Welcome to Facebook......

My rendezvous with Facebook team....

" .....Would you like to host a team from Facebook who are touring India at your home for a few hours in connection with their research work? It would be an interactive session of about five hours and you would be rewarded a few hundred dollars for your time." This was how the mail I received on 9th January last year read.

I always fill the plate of my life with every possible ingredient. I am a seeker of knowledge. There is a constant hunger to learn and to experiment.

So I generally am very active online, exploring and participating in many activities, surveys, Q&As - reading, writing and learning. Not only does it open a window to the world and to the people across the globe, I get to pocket a few hundred bucks along the way. Albeit it's not very sought after but having some money coming your way never hurts, does it?

So I was pleasantly surprised when I received the mail and I thought why not. I instantly intimated them about my willingness. Then I was informed that there were many across the country who are eager to participate in this activity and that there would be a screening of telephonic interview.

Ok. Fine.

I was given an international number from which I was expected to receive the call. And that was the time for the butterflies to start dancing in my stomach. No. I was not worried about the questions. I was worried about the accent!!!

I would deviate a little here. I have graduated in English literature, it was my favorite subject in school after maths. I loved reading English books in my teens, used to write in English and when TV came along, it was the English serials to which I was hooked. Infact I would sit with my children enjoying all the English cartoon shows and they caught up the language quite early and thank me for enhancing their vocabulary through those shows. In fact I have no hesitation in admitting that whenever I am upset and sad, in my mind I start talking and arguing and pleading only in English!!!

But the problem was entirely different. Having studied in ಪಕ್ಕಾ ಹಳ್ಳಿ ಕನ್ನಡ ಸಾಲಿ in North Karnataka, I had difficulty in quickly catching on the foreigners' accent. Watching on TV is different from having to follow them and answer to them over phone.

Fortunately for me when the call came, it was from an NRI and other than one or two " would you repeat please " ( psss... That had been taught to me by my daughter...) I sailed smoothly through the interview. 

Soon I received confirmation that I have been selected and this time they wanted me to send a few photos of inside of my home. The set up, where I would be seating and hosting my guests, the light and the space in the house. Well.... I stay in a small but beautiful house and with a trepidation I sent the photos. 

And finally I received the mail intimating the time and the names of my guests. All this while, my family thought that I was just having my routine time pass and nobody actually believed that I would be actually hosting a Facebook team from California. They were indulgent about both my enthusiasm and apprehensions and kept reassuring me not to worry because some local representatives would be visiting me. Even when I told that my guest list included the names of three foreign nationals and one Indian, they just smiled at me and thought that they would let that pass. 

And then the D Day arrived. I am a stickler of timings. And I expected my guests also to be the same. What with the famous Bangalore traffic, I think they were over cautious and in fact arrived a good eight minutes ahead of the schedule.

I had decided to be me, wearing a saree and welcomed them with a Namaste. To my pleasant surprise they had done their homework too and wished me the same way.

I hesitantly started conversing with them and soon we were chatting like long lost friends. Yes, though one Indian accompanied them, the interaction was only with the other three. They were extremely friendly and jovial. They were as fascinated by our home, our culture, our systems and our family as I was marvelled at having them at my home. In fact it turned out to be such an easy and friendly interaction that I confided to them about my apprehension about their accent and luckily for me it turned out to be not an issue at all!!

What followed was a marathon five hours interactive session, the details of which, unfortunately I can't share with anyone. And a little secret here. Conord, who did most of the interaction with me confided that he also felt as nervous about the whole experience as I was, having got up twice in the night, looking at the clock!!!

With all the cameras being set up and lights, camera, action started, my daughter, son-in-law and daughter-in-law who were in their offices were thrilled as the exchange of photos, videos and messages started flowing thick and fast.

It was a great experience indeed, having the team from Facebook around my home, enquiring about everything, appreciating my terrace garden, soaking in all the experiences, and listening, recording and shooting every word I uttered with great attention. 

My son had offered to stay back at home along with my husband to give me moral support and taking photos and videos and mostly reassuring me that I was doing fine.

Finally after five hours of pleasant interaction and having some snacks and juice, they bid us adieu with a promise to share with me the photos they had taken.

Before they left, I asked them curiously as to what led to my fortunate selection in this activity. I would proudly share with you that across the entire country twenty people had been selected based on their own criteria of identifying users who are passionate about their activities and from whom they felt would get good inputs.

The best compliment I received was when my son was all praises about my entire experience, about the way I handled the interview and took me out for a big treat in the evening ❤️