A thunderbolt from clear blue sky!. Review on Orkut

Friends are like stars, you don't always see them, but you know that they are there!That said, let me start with setting the expectation of the reader right. This review does not cover Orkut in a way that can be referred to as a user manual. It has been here for longer than I've known and there are thousands who understand and use it better than myself. This review talks about the basic idea behind Orkut as well as how it worked for me, hence it is subjective.

The Idea: We all know that Internet is a great way of transmitting information from any place on Earth to any other and thet too at the speed of light (read instantaneously). Websites and email services made sharing of information independent of time and place. The concept is simple - a server stores information and people from different places connect to that server to extract it. This gave birth to virtual communities - be it of geeks or freaks!

Orkut: The brains behind Orkut went a step ahead and built a framework where people known or lost in the real world can create a virtual home for themselves and connect. It would give some value to those who are otherwise in touch as well, but the value to those who had lost touch otherwise is incalculable! Read on to see why I say that.....

Scene 1:

Year : 1991

Place: Kanpur ( a city in North India for the benifit of those who threw their atlas in the dustbin at school)

Occassion: First day in Engineering College

Hundreds of wannabe engineers met for the first time at the college campus, and underwent ragging as well as education simultaneously. 4 such guys (lets call them A, B, C, & D) , now classmates, came in touch with each other and started their friendship. That friendship grew by the day and then by semesters. Soon the 4 four were each other's all time best friends - friends who stood by each other come what may. These guys were great competitors as well, as all vied for the top ranks at the same time. It was an extraordinary demonstration of understanding, helpfulness and confidence in each other. 4 years passed, the course got over and all got placed through campus. All 4 moved to different cities .All saw a great future ahead and vowed to keep in touch via letters, as you would realise that there were no cell phones or popular email access then (1995).

Scene 2:

Years: 1995 - 2007

Place: well .....several places!

Life went ahead. "A" chose software engineering over Chemical Engineering and soon lost touch with B, C, & D. No letters could be exchanged, as physical addresses changed sooner than what one could keep track of. Parental addresses changed too. The characters "A", "B" & "C", started realising that they have lost touch, something none had expected or wanted. After all, true friends are not easy to find. All started search for each other, and continued it for 12 long years, but to no avail. During these 12 years, each of them got married, one by one, and sorely missed the company of the other 3 at that juncture. Life moved on and the search continued.....

*Scene 3:

Year:** 2007

Place: again 3 different places (or call it Orkut)

"A", being a software engineer, was the most net savvy. He had explored several options to search of his freinds' profiles over the web, and in the process created a profile on Orkut. On 21st Aug 2007, his profile was noticed by "B"!. And the rest is history! The feeling of meeting one's best friend after 12 long years can not be put in words. What's more, "B" had the email ID of "C" that was given to him in 1995 itself (till the time both were together). "A" sent a mail to "C" as well, and bang came the reply on the very next day. 3 freinds got reunited in less that 24 hours, thanks to Orkut! All are extremely happy, as this seems unbelievable.

Now let me put names to the Characters:

A= Your's truly - you may have guessed!

B= My friend Pankaj

C= My Friend Anurag

What about "D"? I did not mention him under scene 2 or 3 both.

Well yes, He passed away 9 years ago, and I am left heart broken, as the other 2 were when it happened. I wish I had never come to know anything about him. I could have lived with the thought that the star is somewhere in the sky! I can't forget that day - I was happy and sad at the same time.

Orkut again: The scrapping feature of Orkut is being used well by 2 of us today, as we are not in the same country, while the third is in touch through cell phone. We are still finding out ways to meet up in the real world as soon as we can. We have used Orkut to communicate, share photos etc and find it very useful.

I understand that there would be 100s of similar Orkut stories. I could not appreciate them until this did not happen to myself. I have also been guilty of commenting on other Orkut devotee's reviews saying that it has not been of any use to me. Not any more! I know how much I have missed my friends - I used to see them in my dreams and wake up with a heavy heart. My wife knows it all.

There are other sites like FaceBook, Brijj, LinkedIn, that have similar features, but the lack the general appeal and hence the critical mass of Orkut.

The look and feel of Orkut has changed recently, but it still has the same clear blue sky ambience - and what hit me that day was a thunderbolt from there!