Charity takes the backseat for cricket-crazy tweeple

NEW DELHI: In India, cricket hijacks everything. This time it was a global charity event. Known as the Twestival, the event spanned over 150 cities, including seven in India, to raise funds through a tweetup, or a meeting of people through Twitter. While a record number of tweeple got together across the world, the India-Australia quarterfinal match ensured that attendance was sparse in Delhi.
Started in London in 2008, Twestival went global with local volunteers organizing fundraising tweetups, a meeting of people through Twitter.This year's gathering was labeled "Twestival Local". As opposed to the earlier, global Twestivals, which raised funds for a single international non-profit organisation, the one this year raised funds for a local NGO.
The Delhi Twestival 2011 screened the cricket match to make sure people came in. The NGO was Protsahan, a 10-month-old organisation in the field of children's literacy. While last year's Twestival was held in a south Delhi café, this year it was at a plush bar in a hotel on Ashoka Road.
Much has been said about Twitter's egalitarianism and the way it has democratized the process of information sharing. Organiser Mohak Prince felt that the venue did not undermine those qualities at all. "The location is central, and the entry is free. I don't think it should make any difference," said Prince, who describes himself as a "community evangelist". Around 50 people had turned up for the event by around 8pm for the 6 pm event.
A live stream of tweets was projected on to a screen. Three other screens showed the nail-biting game. Few listened as Protsahan founder Sonali Kapoor introduced her NGO over a faulty microphone. While the MC announced the names of the raffle winners, people cheered out of turn and context whenever India nearly saved a wicket or scored a four, making it harder for the organisers to hold the participants' attention.
Cartoonist and stand-up comic Rajneesh Kapoor was in action for barely five minutes, but had the audience in giggles. If anyone noticed that the jokes at the Twitter festival were mainly about Facebook and YouTube, it wasn't very apparent.
There was something in it for everyone. "I got to know about this event through Twitter. It sounded pretty different. The fact that they have come together for a social cause interested me. But I came mainly for the match," said tax consultant Kumar Vivek, who had come with a group of cheering friends.
Entrepreneur Saurabh Parmar had come looking to network offline for business. "Of course, we're networking here as well, but the fundraiser is our primary concern," he said. Vasu Jain, a 24-year-old software engineer, too had his task cut out. "I'm a Twitter addict. I came for some offline networking with people I know through Twitter, and also to enjoy the match," said Jain.
India went on to win the match and it was a "win" for seven Indian NGOs too, as the country managed to raise 2,533 US dollars -- that's nearly 16 thousand rupees per city, as per figures in the festival website. However, Vaijanthi K M, who had helped ordinate the event, said that India had managed to raise about Rs 6.8 lakh by Friday evening. Saudi Arabia was the top grosser at a whopping 58,154 dollars.