Hello, my name is...

Introductions can be tricky, especially if you don't agree with a stranger's suggestion about how to go about it. Age for instance, is never a good starting point...

I normally don't have a problem with introductions, however, at a recent informal gathering I did.

In a confining space strewn with mere acquaintances, a safe opening would've been "I've lived in Dubai for ..." followed by a few areas of interest and maybe about how I earn my bread and butter.

I was happily corralling these mental notes till someone from the group yelled, "State your age."

Immediately I saw the hazard and the utter worthlessness of the suggestion. The information you divulge by way of introduction must be useful. Useful enough for people to get to know you a little and more importantly, useful enough for people to want to get to know you better.

To me age hardly qualifies.

Firstly it is an apparent, in-your-face indicator of the passage of time, and unless stated in the context of achievements and milestones, it doesn't prove its rigour or relevance. Think of a Young Achiever's award for the arts or how you managed your family's finances as a teenager.

Secondly, I suspect, age is weighed and measured against what is considered acceptable in society. Think of all those time-appropriate slots for career, marriage, kids, etc. If you say you're single when others your age have college-going kids with graduation funds, you may be pilloried or pitied.

And lastly, what if your age is a lie stretched ever so slightly? You may never be as guilty as a perjurer, but when discovered, your acquaintances-turned-friends won't be too pleased. Or if accepted as the truth, there could be invidious comparisons of all sorts.

Thus I concluded age is a dangerous gambit at best, an ineffective one at worst.

It is an ad hominem approach. It is like a Chapter 11 solution for those whose communication channels are socially bankrupt.

Convinced with my private dialectic, I ignored the suggestion with a polite smile, and continued with the safe opening I had in mind at the outset.

The incident got me thinking though. What would be an effective, impregnable introduction in a group of assorted strangers? Especially when face-to-face contact and cues of body language, and tone and intensity of speech leave you unguarded and vulnerable?

Your introductory monologue must connect you immediately. The setting demands it. After all, it isn't about six degrees of separation between people because these strangers are less than a few feet away.

Luckily, the awkwardness in introductions in a social setting is almost absent in cyberspace. Digital interaction offers an inviolable shroud of confidence and effectiveness. And you can seek help from smileys, exclamation marks and a good-looking profile photo courtesy PhotoShop.