The name:
Shammi Kapoor
Claim to fame:
Best known for his inimitable 'Yahoo' cry in Junglee (1961). Other movies include China Town, Teesri Manzil and Rajkumar. Won the Filmfare Award for 'Best Actor' for his role in Brahmachari (1968). Currently serving as the Chairman of the Internet Users Community of India (IUCI).
When did you get introduced to the Net? Do you remember the early days?
It was way back in 1993 when Apple had provided its Macintosh users a special service called eworld. You had to subscribe to it, of course. Eworld would give us access to everything - email, online publications and even a mart. It was only in 1995 that VSNL began offering Internet in India. At that time, I introduced a few of my friends to it and we formed the Internet Users Club of India (now called Internet Users Community of India). We'd hold regular meetings way back then to share our experiences.
What do you enjoy doing online?
I surf a lot, mainly for news and sports. I follow golf, football... in fact all kinds of sports.
What's your daily routine like?
Whenever I have time I pop into my computer room and log on. I spend anywhere between three to five hours online.
What's your idea of a perfect Web site?
It should have all information at one place. That saves me from going from site to site looking for different things. Eworld was a perfect model in that sense. Yahoo! and Apple are two other well-structured sites.
Do you have a daily fix?
I usually check out Yahoo!, sometimes Netscape and for India-related news, I go to samachar.com.
What about your own Web site, www.junglee.org.in/? How involved are you with it?
(Laughing) I made the Web site from scratch by looking at the source code of other people's pages, about six years ago. I had no idea about HTML and coding. I kept building it up, whenever I had time, adding photographs and other information.
Have you used the Net to buy or sell anything?
I've ordered books from amazon.com, especially those that weren't available here. I haven't encountered any problems so far. Once, I ordered a pack of DVDs that took a while to arrive, so I wrote to them asking about my order. They apologised and immediately dispatched another set. So I ended up getting two packs and had to return one.
What do you love most about the Net?
The fact that it keeps me occupied (I'm retired now, as you know). Also, if the technology is available, why not make use of it?
What do you hate about it?
I don't like spamming. Most of the popups that flash on the screen are annoying too.
Any interesting experiences?
An old friend got in touch with me through the Internet and we made contact after 50 years! He came across my site and wrote to me. He's settled in Pakistan now. The technology gave our friendship a new lease.
If the Internet didn't exist...
I'd be back to square one! Maybe pick up a book or do something else. After all, we must remember that there was a time when it did not exist!
