He flashed me his 25-year-old smile: "I was slightly miffed at the raw deal Indian youth were getting from conventional media -- both in terms of what they were being portrayed as well as the lack of an unbiased space for them to express themselves. I had searched for such a space while growing up and felt stilted by its absence. That's what made me do it."

'It' was fresh lime soda. Not the drink, but a Web site as refreshing.

Published by Parmesh and edited by Gulnar Mistry, a college student, it has been a platform for 'youth expression of all types' for just over two years now. And all types is right, considering they come in droves from all around -- Indians, NRIs, and non-Indians in 65 countries -- logging on with something to say.

"Attired in white, with socialism as bait, they set out on a cynical sport...vote hunting." That's Mumbai-based Randeep Wadehra being pessimistic. Eila Moorefrom Scotland is in angst mode: "Searing like my pain through the thick sickening rage around you, you're gone again. Burnt and forgiven." Then, there's American Joanna Grome who mixes metaphors: "I am bread rising, a bare tree in winter, the first snow's quiet. I am frozen wings of insects, like icicles, waiting."

It's all there -- longing, bonding, sexuality, love, patience, wisdom and noise -- carefully categorised into columns, features, fiction, poetry, art, reviews and a whole bunch of opinions that don't really fit in anywhere else.

Then again, that's what this whole thing is all about, isn't it? Finding a place for what doesn't fit in. Parmesh agrees, sort of: "There's more to youth culture than what's 'trendy' and 'hip'. It's about the expression of ideas, about realising they have something to say and exploring options. And it is a beautiful thing when this happens. That's what drives me -- the desire to empower young people to take charge of their own lives."

It wasn't always like this though. Parmesh came to the Internet as a complete novice, way before the VCs packed up and the pink slips arrived, when the Indian dotcom boom had just begun. Funding was difficult. Media groups thought the concept was too 'high brow', and suggested modifying it to include pop star pin-ups and lists of 'what's cool and what's not'. "Ultimately, they wanted to make it just another vehicle talking 'at' young people, not 'with' them. And I didn't want that."

He's succeeded, too. It is, after all, difficult to imagine pin-ups of Britney Spears and NSYNC sharing bytes with Kartik V's digital art, Jerri McCall's oil paintings, 'trance-induced' graphics from Goa or Pinaki Chakravarty's attempts at capturing beauty in black and white.

At one corner a lad called Tushar Joshi laments the stagnancy in music; at another, someone called Shruthi G. Krishnan puts up an ode to cockroaches; yet another page has a guy called Kartik Nair discussing euthanasia. Amit Lata's not too fond of Harry Potter, while Biff Banglesack puts forth his hypothesis on Canada.

An eclectic mix? You bet. There's also a bulletin board where you can find postings on everything from 'does god exist' and 'suicidal tendencies', to 'gotta do this b4 i die', 'smelly cat' and the rather vague 'I LOVE TECHIES'.

Parmesh and Gulnar operate from their respective homes. An office is unnecessary because technical maintenance and updating aspects are outsourced. The two classify submissions, edit, group and publish selections every Friday. "We started out being 'alternative'," adds Parmesh. "But two years of media interest in India and abroad have made us mainstream enough to be considered 'cool'."

Offline, regulars have met, initiated friendships and developed a sense of camaraderie. Freshlimesoda has grown beyond a Web site, and is definitely a community. Tomorrow? Who knows. Corporate backing would be good, but even if it doesn't happen, the site "will 'bubble on' for as I can sustain it," promises Parmesh.

And so he goes back to his PC. Trying to figure out what the youth are trying to say. Trying, in his own special way, to give them all a voice.