Starting from the year 2000, the second Monday of February is observed as the Clean out Your Computer day. While a few pockets in the West strictly observe this day as a holiday, a handful of Coimbatorians celebrated the day by religiously cleaning up their computers.

Of course, there were many who admitted that they didn’t know about it at all.

Computers have become our gateway to the virtual world. How often do we clean it up?

Homemaker Durga Ramesh has a majority of her relatives living overseas. It is through her computer that she keeps in touch with them. This resident of Race Course, who is in her 30s, was told about the day by one of her relatives. “One of my cousins told me about the day and asked me to clean up my computer, and I did. I am not a technical person. So I just worked on the basics like removing all the unwanted apps and files, checking if the anti-virus is updated, and wiping the exterior of the computer clean,” she says. Adding that her banker husband is too busy with his work to care, Durga says that she enjoyed removing the clutter from her computer.

R. Manonmani is studying her Masters in Computer Applications in a city-based college. “I thought that only Valentine’s Day was celebrated in February!” she admits. “Now that I know, I’ll spread the message among friends.” The budding techie plans to educate the people on the various do’s and don’ts in keeping their machines neat and clean, inside out. She is positive that she won’t miss the day in 2017.

For college student Mathew Paul, every day is a clean-your-computer day. “For those who are in love, everyday is like Valentine’s Day. I do not need to wait for Friendship Day to hang around with my bunch of friends. Similarly, computers are machines and they require attention and care from the user. Why do you need to dedicate a day to clean your computer?” Mathew asks. Seconding him is his friend Feroz Khan, who jokingly says “All these things simply come and go. Such trends are nothing but aping the West. Do we have a clean-your-motorbike day or clean-your-car day too?” Feroz asks.