It was during a regular Internet browsing and searching session on a lonely lunch hour afternoon in June 1998 when I happened to stumble upon Gupshup. I was just perusing through some search engine results for Pakistan related sites, I came across TOPP (The Official Pakistan Page), i.e. pak.org. Needless to say, it seemed like a kewl desi hangout place, albeit a quiet one. Discussion forums were sort of a novelty back then… and this was the first one that I participated in. I was starting to get a little bored of the IRC scene.
I remember there being four or five sub forums/sections on Guspshup – yeah dat was it!
My first conversations on GS were with Muzna and Boss, and sometime later with Hayaa, DesiBehna and Khalifa, and Shirarty. I really miss those unassuming, warm and friendly interactions with them – and for some odd reason, most of the ppl were in Canada! Even better I thought! I’d really found a virtual home. Later that summer, I got to meet Muzna, Boss and Khalifa. In addition to a few others, we became a pretty regular offline group meeting almost a couple of times a year.
In the early days, I was a hard core participant in the Poetry section. There were a few of us who posted regularly in the poetry section - NaikLarki, Sabah, Rameesha, Hayaa and Mahnoor being the other regulars. Sometimes, we used to hangout in the Poetry section all day!
So after being online for a few months… Muzna and Azkar sanctioned my authority over other becharey ginney-chuuney guppies, and I moderated the Café and the General sections for quite a while. At the beginning, Café was called “Meeting New People” 
I continued very active participation in GS, both online and offline, for a good three years. In 2001/2002, due to time constraints, I became more of a passive member / lurker and assumed the role of a silent moderator. Starting 2004 onwards though, I became active again, especially with the overhauling of GS and all the new projects that were being planned for paklinks.
So looking back, I feel like I’ve grown up with Gupshup. Almost 11 years on the site, I’ve made a lot of acquaintances, extended relationships to the offline world, built strong friendships with a few gupsters, and had rather eventful episodes with other members. All in all, a worthwhile 11 years!
For those of you who’re wondering what Pak.Org andGupshup looked like back then, here’s a trip down memory lane (courtesy WayBackMachine). Click links below to check out the website interface starting 1998:
1998
2000
2001
Here are screenshots from 1998 and 2000:
