In fact, even as the husband-wife team behind SMART, Ajay Shah and Lata Krishnan, justify the acquisition of their company by arguing that they stand to gain immensely from the mammothorganisation they will now be umbrellaed under, a new generation of Indians is clearly exploring the advantages of jumping ship, forsaking multimillion-dollar stock options in first generation Internet companies to follow their dreams of specialisation, zaniness and innovation beyond cyber pass. The dream story of the moment -- and remember, even that is a very long time in Silicon Valley -- seems to centre on twentysomething Nirav Tolia and his young buddies, two of them too of Indian origin, who are sharing the bounty that is e-commerce. But the buzz is not so much about the fact that their site, Epinions.com, will not sell, or for that matter auction, anything at all but will be a web of opinion on what can be bought at other sites. If business @ the speed of thought is the catchphrase today, Tolia and co have abided by it amply by securing $8 million in financing and getting their company going in just 12 weeks.

Interestingly, this new flexibility and speed offered to those in the know has led to a fairmeasure of unease. As Po Bronson wrote about Epinions, ``Watching an instant company get built (is) slightly disorienting. Silicon Valley is sustained by the myth that you can come here from anywhere with sheer smarts and a firm handshake and make good. Second-generation Internet companies seem to seriously tip the favour to those already here.'' But then, even as despair is voiced over brainy Indians being rendered redundant after frenetic work on smoothing out Y2K glitches comes to a close, this advantage conferred by being entrenched will no doubt be exploited by them. Indeed, the stereotype of an Indian as a software whiz is now part of American popular culture, as can be gauged from highly successful romantic novels aimed at cosmopolitan yuppies like Shiva Dancing. Ajay Shah and Lata Krishnan's dream run has only added to the romance.