How did you find Sulekha?

by Guest Thu May 26, 2011 6:10 am

I first came across this site late 90s/early 2000s when someone sent me a link to some article on this site. Ive been hooked ever since. I used to be active on chat more than on CH.

by Guest Thu May 26, 2011 6:42 am

same here. i was introduced to this site by a poster called champa bilwakesh who was my friend in another forum. she gave me a link to this site. that was in '99. i never visited chat except on one occasion. i was away during the chat days.

by Another Brick Thu May 26, 2011 6:57 am

i do not recall how i came across sulekha forums. i must have been looking for apartment reviews now that i recall when i joined it.

i am from the batch of 2006. i think MD, carvaka and tracey trivedi are also from the same batch.

by Guest Thu May 26, 2011 7:19 am

I used sulekha 05 to 07 for random nanny classifieds. But had no idea about the forums. In early 2007, I stumbled into its blogs when Googling something. I tried to follow some of the bloggers into ch but had no idea what was going on (guess the format then was too confusing). I have no recollection who those bloggers/chers were. I stumbled into forums again in November 2007, guess I understood the format this time and thought this was a warm friendly family oriented desi site. Hahaha. Well, I guess that day it must have been so.

by Merlot Daruwala Thu May 26, 2011 9:16 am

Another Brick wrote:i am from the batch of 2006. i think MD, carvaka and tracey trivedi are also from the same batch.

I stumbled on Sulekha blogs by accident in early 2004 and started blogging under a different handle (which I haven't used for 7 years now). And then I got bored and drifted into CH where people seemed to be having a lot more fun. QueerBee was the reigning namecaller even at that time.

But the tone of interactions on CH needed a persona very different from the genial, easygoing image (close to my real life nature) I'd build up among the bloggers. So one evening, while under the influence, I created this handle. That was in Spring '05. Carvaka was around long before that and used to post under his real name those days.

by Another Brick Thu May 26, 2011 9:22 am

Merlot Daruwala wrote:That was in Spring '05. Carvaka was around long before that and used to post under his real name those days.

oh ok. i don't recall seeing your posts when i came on sulekha first. i recall seeing PP's posts but i thought he was new to the forum because at least one regular, prolific poster had expressed his happiness about talking to PP.

by mickeybrowneyes Thu May 26, 2011 9:41 am

nutmeg wrote:I first came across this site late 90s/early 2000s when someone sent me a link to some article on this site. Ive been hooked ever since. I used to be active on chat more than on CH.

I chanced upon Sulekha in 2002 - it was the summer of 2002 and I wanted
to read more about life in US from an indian perspective. I don't remember the exact link that brought me to Sulekha but, I was hooked onto the Indian Writing that thrived on the scene then...

I read most of the blogs then and there was this huge following for Mahadevan Ramesh and later fizo_al for his/her stories. I wrote 2 blogs myself - a short slide-of-life story
one of which got decent reviews. I rarely used Sulekha Chat, would follow CH and F*@*company message boards regularly.

Some CH/Blog posters I enjoyed interacting with then were Uppili saar, RupaNYC, Anant(?), QB (yes in '02-03), AS, Ashini/CB and the inimitable Mo as frequent posters...it was a lot of fun.

It's been on and off since then - easy come easy go...

by Marathadi-Saamiyaar Thu May 26, 2011 10:27 am

Talking about Uppili, I think he mentioned once that it was in 2000. was referred to an article by his IM pal Varsha (one of his earliest) from another site. One of the smartest girls in his book who was located in Europe at that time. She would visit only the Blogs and would kept providing him the links on the IM. But, he found the Chat room and then the CH. At that time, there was very little overlap between the Blog, CHATroom, and CH. the CHAT crowd moved wholesale into CH after it was shut down (a temp chatsite created by AS survived for about 6 to 8 months).

He practically interacted with most without any preference to region, religion, or race (yes, there was even a Hindi speaking Puerto Ricon military woman). BTW, it was in 2005 (or so) that he started posting pro-hindu posts as a response to incessant barrage of anti-hindu posts by sissyphean. Till then, he was not into those posts.

by charvaka Thu May 26, 2011 10:32 am

Another Brick wrote:
Merlot Daruwala wrote:That was in Spring '05. Carvaka was around long before that and used to post under his real name those days.

oh ok. i don't recall seeing your posts when i came on sulekha first. i recall seeing PP's posts but i thought he was new to the forum because at least one regular, prolific poster had expressed his happiness about talking to PP.

I first saw Sulekha in 1999. I used to lurk on CH from time to time when I was in the US. Then I moved back to India and forgot all about it. I even posted a one-off blog in my real name in 2001 right after 9/11, and stopped checking Sulekha soon after. Then I moved here for school, graduated and found myself living in San Francisco in 2006. And I didn't know where to buy Indian chillies. I googled and found CH and posted the question. I got two responses, if I remember right... one was QB, and the other was PI. Then I became a prolific poster.

You are referring to VC, I guess. I hope with the new format, he will make a comeback!

I didn't know you had only a small headstart on me here... even in 2006, you seemed to know all the history from the way you made fun of people here.

by Impedimenta Thu May 26, 2011 11:25 am

2005 sometime. out of sheer boredom, i tumbled upon CH. hated my first two avatars so kinda blocked out all that:-)

by charvaka Thu May 26, 2011 12:25 pm

Impedimenta wrote:2005 sometime. out of sheer boredom, i tumbled upon CH. hated my first two avatars so kinda blocked out all that:-)

What was your avatar before G3?

by CroMagnon Thu May 26, 2011 2:45 pm

I came to Sulekha to post a classified for sub-leasing my rental apartment. Somehow stumbled upon forums.

I used to be active on Orkut forums and was losing interest in them around that time. Saw a post which interested me. If I remember correctly, it was a post about someone asking advice on whether to learn Ayurvedic medicine. I replied "Yeah, if you want to be a snake-oil salesman!"

Then I saw a few topics on religious conversions which interested me. CH was more colorful than the Indian forum I moderate on Orkut and people were smarter so I got sucked in.

Since I came from the world of social networking, I used my real name as my first handle. After a long post (started by Tracy Trivedi) about my real "self" which made many eYeballs roll and set many hearts aflutter, I changed my handle to Cro-Magnon.

by mickeybrowneyes Thu May 26, 2011 2:53 pm

CroMagnon wrote:
Since I came from the world of social networking, I used my real name as my first handle. After a long post (started by Tracy Trivedi) about my real "self" which made many eYeballs roll and set many hearts aflutter, I changed my handle to Cro-Magnon.

I remember that post by TW. You did come from social networking world but, cmon man - how many folks call have a first name of "Flim"?! :-)

Did anyone's CHandle really feel like real name?

You weren't the first and probably won't be the last person so join SuCH with your real name and then later change it to something else...

Now, pliss suggest more and help me find a new CHandle!

by Nila Thu May 26, 2011 4:18 pm

I was looking for H1 sponsors in 2001 and bumped into sulekha and was reading "Your Take" section religiously and later CH and then Chat...

by Guest Thu May 26, 2011 4:45 pm

None of you got a personal invite from Satyanarayan Prabhakaran? Tch tch..
I got an email from Team Sulekha (they didn't celebrate the woman in me then) to check out Sulekha articles. Guess they sent it to all the people who shopped at India Plaza. I was bored, checked out the site. Like it, stayed. Quit, came back. But it's no longer an addiction. Don't feel the connect with any people.. made a lot of friends through CH long long ago. These days I don't need feel the need to see any of you for coffee. You guys manage to program my microwave remotely, thanks for that.

by nevada Thu May 26, 2011 4:54 pm

Everyone is so sincerely "revealing" how they were seduced by Sulekha.
What is this, a confession couch?

by doofus_maximus Thu May 26, 2011 4:57 pm

nevada wrote:Everyone is so sincerely "revealing" how they were seduced by Sulekha.
What is this, a confession couch?

casting couch is something I am interested in.. not confession couch

by Guest Thu May 26, 2011 4:58 pm

doofus_maximus wrote:
nevada wrote:Everyone is so sincerely "revealing" how they were seduced by Sulekha.
What is this, a confession couch?

casting couch is something I am interested in.. not confession couch

A tell all.. that requires creative writing under assumed handle. Akka will be very mad at you if you did it and your microwave will die on you.

by Guest Thu May 26, 2011 9:58 pm

I knew of Sulekha right after it was created (1998 or 1999?) through a good friend of ours who is one of the founding fathers here. He used to be a prolific poster here as well. He asked us to join the forum. I did not join then but used to read the articles/forum occasionally.

Mid 2001 or so, I started posting on cryptic threads and discovered chat as well. I had zero layers of deception in those days and was very open about my details. Chat was a reasonably fun place with a lot of interesting personalities. In addition, there was TS and a few other abusive handles who used to put up stellar performances every other day. We used play scrabble, 20 questions and such. I made a lot of good friends during that phase.

I went away by 2004 or early 2005 and returned again late 2009, cloaked in layers of deception.

by Hellsangel Thu May 26, 2011 10:01 pm

blabberwock wrote:

I went away by 2004 or early 2005 and returned again late 2009, cloaked in layers of deception.

Too late to hide from some, no?

by Guest Thu May 26, 2011 10:07 pm

Hellsangel wrote:
blabberwock wrote:

I went away by 2004 or early 2005 and returned again late 2009, cloaked in layers of deception.
Too late to hide from some, no?

I don't think I was intentionally "hiding" anything from anyone. It is all a matter of perception. I did not feel the need to volunteer irrelevant personal information about me on a public forum. On Chat, it was shared with individuals in the course of a conversation. Plus it was a rather closed space with a few people around, unlike a forum where your posts are archived forever and read by all and sundry.

Of course, nothing can be hidden from you, we know that.

by charvaka Thu May 26, 2011 11:58 pm

blabberwock wrote:I had zero layers of deception in those days

by Nila Fri May 27, 2011 12:12 am

Talk about deception...kinda same here.

I remember I used to spend more than 6 hours on CH with different handles...even had handle name(s) that sounded like Male. Then later kinda deaddicted and completely quit for about 4-5 years and back on from 2009. Those days were fun and was entertaining...there used to be a psychopath called DD (Deported Dude) - he promoted the forums and might have got exhausted. He was the sole reason everyone visited, my views. RG vs DD, Nisha Vs DD, Churi Vs DD, VC Vs Lady Jawan...also vara, malar and someone used to post daily quotes and there used to be so nice articles...QB was posting as pagli and used to be very funny...her interactions with pagal and Upilli, GC ufff....don't remember much.

The deaddiction was way too easy after reading a guy's post about he hasn't washed his jeans for about a week and left the TV on the whole night coz he was buzy working and was talking about getting married.

by SomeProfile Fri May 27, 2011 1:03 am

Sasthi wrote:
The deaddiction was way too easy after reading a guy's post about he hasn't washed his jeans for about a week and left the TV on the whole night coz he was buzy working and was talking about getting married.

Damn! That's all it would have taken to keep you off our forums? Why didn't we know this before you started killing threads?

by doofus_maximus Fri May 27, 2011 11:21 am

who washes their jeans every week..

jeans can take any amount of dirt.. It is science..

by charvaka Fri May 27, 2011 11:23 am

doofus_maximus wrote:who washes their jeans every week..

jeans can take any amount of dirt.. It is science..

And it is better for the environment.

by doofus_maximus Fri May 27, 2011 11:24 am

i think i came to know about sulekha through one of the cricket forum I used to frequent (It was moderated by Prem Panicker I think). There was a link to sulekha in that and I clicked and was a lurker forever till may be a couple of years ago when I delurked. Even then I used to post only on cricket posts.

My very first interaction outside of cricket was with Bittu and TW...
It took me a long time to figure out the dynamics..even now I have no idea.

by Guest Fri May 27, 2011 11:25 am

Sasthi wrote:
The deaddiction was way too easy after reading a guy's post about he hasn't washed his jeans for about a week and left the TV on the whole night coz he was buzy working and was talking about getting married.

ok, maybe the jeans part sounded ugh but what's the connection with tv on all night, busy working, and talking about getting married? And why did all this made you leave CH? Many other posters have posted ugher stuff (read any of bittu's sexcapades), why this particular person/post?

by Guest Fri May 27, 2011 11:27 am

doofus_maximus wrote:

My very first interaction outside of cricket was with Bittu and TW...

kewl, what was the interaction? You remember? You might lose CHaunty brownie points if you can't remember what I was wearing that day. Razz

by doofus_maximus Fri May 27, 2011 11:44 am

i might lose the brownie points if I tell you what exactly transpired between you , me and BB..

it was a thread in which you can tell if a coffee bought in starbucks is good or bad or something like that just by weighing it in your hand.. affraid

I went off on a torrent of abuse towards the lack of science behind it..if you remember that then you have good memory Smile

by Guest Fri May 27, 2011 11:47 am

doofus_maximus wrote:i might lose the brownie points if I tell you what exactly transpired between you , me and BB..

it was a thread in which you can tell if a coffee bought in starbucks is good or bad or something like that just by weighing it in your hand..

I went off on a torrent of abuse towards the lack of science behind it..if you remember that then you have good memory

I never participated in any such thread... prove me wrong.

by doofus_maximus Fri May 27, 2011 11:54 am

i don't think I can prove that you participated in that thread or disprove it.. long time ago.

Bittu boye came to your (or some one who started that thread) rescue.

by Guest Fri May 27, 2011 12:04 pm

Tracy Whitney wrote:
Sasthi wrote:
The deaddiction was way too easy after reading a guy's post about he hasn't washed his jeans for about a week and left the TV on the whole night coz he was buzy working and was talking about getting married.

ok, maybe the jeans part sounded ugh but what's the connection with tv on all night, busy working, and talking about getting married? And why did all this made you leave CH? Many other posters have posted ugher stuff (read any of bittu's sexcapades), why this particular person/post?

My point exactly - and therefore that new topic thread! SIs I tell ya... :-)

by Guest Fri May 27, 2011 1:02 pm

doofus_maximus wrote:i don't think I can prove that you participated in that thread or disprove it.. long time ago.

Bittu boye came to your (or some one who started that thread) rescue.

these are what doofus + starbucks give

(I was raj shree here) http://forums.sulekha.com/forums/coffeehouse/damn-this-cold-913533.htm

no me http://forums.sulekha.com/forums/coffeehouse/i-just-frickin-realized-867115.htm

no me http://forums.sulekha.com/forums/coffeehouse/Slumdog-Millionare-winning-so-many-awards-911894.htm

others are new

by Nila Fri May 27, 2011 1:02 pm

doofus_maximus wrote:who washes their jeans every week..

jeans can take any amount of dirt.. It is science..

I think he was wearing the same jeans for about 2 weeks.

by Nila Fri May 27, 2011 1:03 pm

Richard Hed wrote:
Tracy Whitney wrote:
Sasthi wrote:
The deaddiction was way too easy after reading a guy's post about he hasn't washed his jeans for about a week and left the TV on the whole night coz he was buzy working and was talking about getting married.

ok, maybe the jeans part sounded ugh but what's the connection with tv on all night, busy working, and talking about getting married? And why did all this made you leave CH? Many other posters have posted ugher stuff (read any of bittu's sexcapades), why this particular person/post?

My point exactly - and therefore that new topic thread! SIs I tell ya... :-)

You do have a valid point - he was Telugu!!

by Nila Fri May 27, 2011 1:07 pm

Tracy Whitney wrote:
Sasthi wrote:
The deaddiction was way too easy after reading a guy's post about he hasn't washed his jeans for about a week and left the TV on the whole night coz he was buzy working and was talking about getting married.

ok, maybe the jeans part sounded ugh but what's the connection with tv on all night, busy working, and talking about getting married? And why did all this made you leave CH? Many other posters have posted ugher stuff (read any of bittu's sexcapades), why this particular person/post?

He was the BBC and Discovery watchng junk..., I guess. He was wishing he had a wife so that he might have someone to wash the jeans and switch off the TV. That made to picture the real persona behind the masked handles and it was so ewwwwwwwww. Since I was in the deaddicting mood...I made up to imagine only negative things and it worked.

by .|Sublime|. Fri May 27, 2011 1:12 pm

Tracy Whitney wrote:

these are what doofus + starbucks give

(I was raj shree here) http://forums.sulekha.com/forums/coffeehouse/damn-this-cold-913533.htm

no me http://forums.sulekha.com/forums/coffeehouse/i-just-frickin-realized-867115.htm

no me http://forums.sulekha.com/forums/coffeehouse/Slumdog-Millionare-winning-so-many-awards-911894.htm

others are new

well the important thing is to be happy that the two of you have met.

by Guest Fri May 27, 2011 1:23 pm

Sasthi wrote:
Richard Hed wrote:
Tracy Whitney wrote:
Sasthi wrote:
The deaddiction was way too easy after reading a guy's post about he hasn't washed his jeans for about a week and left the TV on the whole night coz he was buzy working and was talking about getting married.

ok, maybe the jeans part sounded ugh but what's the connection with tv on all night, busy working, and talking about getting married? And why did all this made you leave CH? Many other posters have posted ugher stuff (read any of bittu's sexcapades), why this particular person/post?

My point exactly - and therefore that new topic thread! SIs I tell ya... :-)

You do have a valid point - he was Telugu!!

My valid point was pointed at you, na...you know naa..:-)

by doofus_maximus Fri May 27, 2011 2:26 pm

Tracy Whitney wrote:
doofus_maximus wrote:i don't think I can prove that you participated in that thread or disprove it.. long time ago.

Bittu boye came to your (or some one who started that thread) rescue.

these are what doofus + starbucks give

(I was raj shree here) http://forums.sulekha.com/forums/coffeehouse/damn-this-cold-913533.htm

penguin poop in antartica using a special technique.. their buttaxe muscles project the poop a few feet away from the body as they excrete.. so that their poop doesn't get frozen on their butts.. may be you ought read up on it and work out your buttaxe muscle.. That penguin research won the Ignoble awards few years ago..
can't believe I posted this

no me http://forums.sulekha.com/forums/coffeehouse/i-just-frickin-realized-867115.htm

no me http://forums.sulekha.com/forums/coffeehouse/Slumdog-Millionare-winning-so-many-awards-911894.htm

others are new

by Guest Fri May 27, 2011 2:27 pm

doofus_maximus wrote:i might lose the brownie points if I tell you what exactly transpired between you , me and BB..

it was a thread in which you can tell if a coffee bought in starbucks is good or bad or something like that just by weighing it in your hand..

I went off on a torrent of abuse towards the lack of science behind it..if you remember that then you have good memory

The interaction was between me, you and bittu. It was abt the difference between latte and cappuccino. I was explaining that latte is more milk and less froth and cappuccino is all frothy, hence latte is more heavier than cappuccino. If you hold a cup of latte, you should feel as if you are holding a glass of milk. If you hold a cup of cappuccino, you should feel as if you are holding almost an empty cup coz it's going to be that light in wt. There's nothing unscientific abt it. For the record, many yrs ago, I was trained thoroughly for a week by Starbucks on the science of coffee (ironically, I'm not a coffee drinker)---everything from the different kinds of coffee beans, how and where they are grown, their characteristics, their unique aromas and tastes to the difference between lattes, cappuccinos, frappuccinos, etc and also how to make them, etc.

I was trying to explain the same to you that day, but you started acting smart and tried to prove that I'm talking nonsense. I tried to be patient and polite, but you kept on going. Bittu couldn't take it and came to my rescue and you got more abusive (don't know why. maybe you had a very bad day or your ego was hurt) and said something abt me doing something to bittu's balls or penus. I was shocked and left the conversation.

by Rekz Fri May 27, 2011 2:45 pm

Im so shocked...doofy u were a bad guy too pale

by Guest Fri May 27, 2011 2:52 pm

found one from FOUR years ago, I wasn't even on this site then.. and no bittu in this thread: http://forums.sulekha.com/forums/coffeehouse/all-fuddy-duddy-coffee-drinks-explained.htm

by doofus_maximus Fri May 27, 2011 2:56 pm

Oh it was kinnera eh.. funny how I assumed it was TW/Rajshri and thought that was why she was not very communicative in threads started by me ever since then.

well I still say that human hands can't differentiate that weight difference, unless you buy super large latte vs super large cappucino..

I think BB's involvement in the discussion triggered something ..as I used to kinda got annoyed by BB and Propa when I initially started CH.

Lol @ Rekz.. yeah I was badass... now can you disband the 1 person fan club.

by Guest Fri May 27, 2011 2:57 pm

doofus_maximus wrote:Oh it was kinnera eh.. funny how I assumed it was TW/Rajshri and thought that was why she was not very communicative in threads started by me ever since then.

Yeah I am always not too communicative initially.. you either gotta give me a couple of months or a couple of vodkas... vodkas usually leave me embarassed later.

by doofus_maximus Fri May 27, 2011 2:58 pm

Tracy Whitney wrote:found one from FOUR years ago, I wasn't even on this site then.. and no bittu in this thread: http://forums.sulekha.com/forums/coffeehouse/all-fuddy-duddy-coffee-drinks-explained.htm

looks like this is the notorious thread..but looks all mangled..

by Guest Fri May 27, 2011 3:26 pm

doofus_maximus wrote:
Tracy Whitney wrote:found one from FOUR years ago, I wasn't even on this site then.. and no bittu in this thread: http://forums.sulekha.com/forums/coffeehouse/all-fuddy-duddy-coffee-drinks-explained.htm

looks like this is the notorious thread..but looks all mangled..

yep.. it was shaken and kinnera, not me and bittu... you had a threesome and you even forgot with who. Mad

by doofus_maximus Fri May 27, 2011 3:27 pm

no no.. that thread was much longer than the one which is up now..
I think it was BB..

who knows..

by Guest Fri May 27, 2011 3:56 pm

doofus_maximus wrote:Oh it was kinnera eh.. funny how I assumed it was TW/Rajshri and thought that was why she was not very communicative in threads started by me ever since then.

well I still say that human hands can't differentiate that weight difference, unless you buy super large latte vs super large cappucino..

I think BB's involvement in the discussion triggered something ..as I used to kinda got annoyed by BB and Propa when I initially started CH.

Lol @ Rekz.. yeah I was badass... now can you disband the 1 person fan club.

For a long time, I thought that it was max in his alter ego who took out on me for all the heated conversations I used to have with him abt sanskrit, tamil, aryan invasion, etc Very Happy

. That thread was actually started by you. And poor bittu wasn't too bad to trigger the wrong buttons. He said something abt you being an IIT guy (he probably thought you were max too) and what a pain you guys are or something like that.

by Guest Fri May 27, 2011 4:00 pm

Rekz wrote:Im so shocked...doofy u were a bad guy too

Yeah, that was so bad that I couldn't forget even after all these yrs Very Happy

. And he for one doesn't even remember who he abused. Bery bad!

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