Beef Vindaloo

The Indian internet market continues to baffle everyone from Silicon Valley to Bengalooroo. While the world enthusiastically leaps onto the internet future, India wakes up to the same technology only after 13 years have gone by. In a desperate bid to attract Indian consumers before the next website, websites have customised and localised their sites to suit the peculiarities of the subcontinent. The latest in this attempt is the ultimate virtual world, Second Life. Linden Labs announced that the India-specific world of Second Life would go live in a few months and constitute of three things that define Indian culture – Bollywood, slums and call centres.

“Market research indicates that the reason that more Indians have not taken to Second Life like the rest of the world is because they do not feel a connect with the online world,” said a spokesperson from Linden Labs, “what we wanted to do then was create an Indian Second Life where people could explore their alternate lives in a more contemporary Indian setting.” Second Life India would therefore include everything Indian – from the Bollywood casting couch, to slum gangs and riots. “We want a regular office going guy to sign on to Second life and be someone he couldn’t in real life.” People will have the opportunity to pick a call centre job where they would get paid thrice their current salaries to get abused by white lower class Americans or they would have to steal electricity if they want to switch on the in their footpath shanty.

The taste and flavour is uniquely Indian. Where else would you be able to create your life as a struggling Bollywood star and perform favours in order to get a film role. “Everyone has dreams and given the world of today, most people wouldn’t be able to live out that dream; that’s what Second Life India aims to do.” Linden Labs also plans to put a uniquely Indian twist to the game and give characters the opportunity to kill people, destroy public property and commit acts of violence and arson if they feel that have been slighted. “Violence was something we didn’t have much of in Second Life and the few murders really did shock the online community but that would be different in Second Life India.” What remains to be seen then is the amount of reservation for locals Second Life India would allow.

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