Chetan Bhagat and his books

Chetan Bhagat has been my favorite author after i started reading his books and i am reading them over and over again. His books don't have the stylish vocabulary like other English authors, but the way he has written the stories -- AWESOME is the word for that. It makes any reader to read his book and stay glued. I started with Five point someone. I was reading this when i was on my vacation for my marriage. After my haldi ceremony i had two days where i wasn't really allowed to do anything. I was not even allowed to meet my would be husband. So, i started reading this book, chapter by chapter and yeahh i don't wanna lie but i finished the book within 2days!! I was so much into the characters that i felt as if i am right there in IIT,Delhi and seeing Hari, Ryan and Alok. That's the charisma of this writer. He brings the characters alive.

I wrote an email to Mr. Bhagat and he was kind enough to respond back to me within 15days. I was so excited when i read his email. I purchased his other three books and started reading them. According to me undoubtedly his best book is FPS. It was like a blockbuster hit. The book didn't really guide anyone how to get into IIT, but it definitely helped students to understand the pressure of IIT or any such college and how can you fall on your face if you want to play against the system.

Second one is 2 States. It was his story of how he married his wife Anusha. This story looks like any ordinary guy's story. First you fall in love with a girl and then realize how difficult it is to actually materialize the relation. For we Indians, as he mentioned on the book cover,

Boy loves Girl. Girl loves Boy.
Girl's family has to love boy. Boy's family has to love girl.
Girl's Family has to love Boy's Family. Boy's family has to love girl's family.
Girl and Boy still love each other. They get married.

This was how Ananya and Krish got married in this book. The beauty of this book is how he has depicted the incidences where he goes to chennai and tries to woo her parents. The process of convincing parents is the best part in this book. The second best part is how they stick to their relationship after getting jobs and after finishing their studies. It is an eye opener for people who fall in love first and then realize that they cannot convince their parents and they break their relationship. At the end they get married and live happily ever after, just like we see in most of the movies. There is going to be a film on this book very soon.

Third one is 3 mistakes of my life. Well this book wasn't a humorous one. It was a pretty serious book. It is a story about a common guy from Ahmedabad who wanted to commit suicide after getting disappointed with his own life. This story is heart touching partly because i am an Amdavadi and i too underwent the trauma of earthquake and the riots just like Govind in this book did. But in his life he struggled alot to open his sports shop and how his dreams shattered when the building collapsed with the earthquake. But he didn't give up and he succeeded. I really appreciate Chetan ji to write a story like this. Even if its not about cool stuffs like IIT or call centers. It is a life lesson for many people. I tried to find that guy online using all sources orkut, google etc but somehow i couldn't track him down. I just wish if i could meet him once when i go to ahmedabad. He is the real life hero.

Anyways that's all for now. Waiting for more books from him. I emailed him asking what is his next book goin to be. But i m still waiting for his response. I am following him on twitter so that i know his updates..

Thoughts about Indian reality(or unreality ??) shows

"Mujhe talash hai ek aise jivan saathi ki, jiske saath main puri zindagi beetana chahti hoon".. these were the words of Rakhi sawant (with kal ho na ho music in the background) when the show "Rakhi ka swayamvar" started.

Welcome to the new era of indian television shows, The Reality shows. They are getting more hype in Indian tv industry after the huge success of indian idol, Kaun Banega Crorepati and MTV Bakra. Before then most of the indian tv serials were packed with the saas - bahu gossips or family oriented serials. But now its the time for the reality shows. They are increasing TRP ratings of the channels airing them. Hence, they are jumping into this league. There are wide variety of reality shows starting from "sach ka samna" to "rakhi ka swayamvar" to "indian idol". The television channels are busy in hunting for new themes and concepts for the reality shows.

But think about the impact it is making on the audiences and the contestants participating in them. For shows like Indian idol almost more than half of Indian youth population want to participate and become indian idol. They go live on the TV for audition and some of them get humiliated from the Judges. Some pass through this stage and actually enter the competition. But the way of rejecting candidates is not so sensible for the shows like Indian Idol. By public voting they eliminate the candidate who gets less number of votes. I think that is really stupid ! How would a general public know the knowledge of music and who is actually a good and talented singer. People vote usually to support contestant of their city or region which is really unfair for a talented singer with no such support. So, when a candidate gets rejected after reaching to a higher level because of this, it might dent the candidates psychology for sure. In my opinion, it should be 50-50 percent votes from public and judges to take a fair decision.

Lets talk about other shows such as "Rakhi ka swayamvar" or " Pati patni aur woh" ... These shows look like they were already scripted. There was no point of calling them as reality shows. Plus some bunch of guys have to propose to Rakhi and woo her to make her fall in love with the guy. Earlier in this show she promised that she is going to marry the person who is selected in the end. But turns out she just gets engaged, reason ( she needs more time....... WTH ???) What is the reason for the show then..... Isn't she famous enough to get an appropriate groom by herself.. Its just a television masala for the guys who want to see a bunch of contestants getting insulted from her. These type of tv shows are not doing any good to the public.

There are many shows nowadays which is encouraging our young generation to use bad words easily in public, or raise their hands against a girl or behave immorally in public. Where are the standards of these shows ??? They are degrading the quality standards for indian audiences.

Also, shows like "sach ka samna" are becoming more raw and personal. They intervene in celebrity or politicians life and ask the questions that could make them stand naked in the public. In the entire show, they ask 21 questions that probe into their personal history and darker side of their public image. However, some decent shows in this league are "Koffee with Karan", "Rendezvous with Simi Garewal".

MTV roadies have their own history of controversies. Season 1 was well received by the audiences. But slowly it is encouraging the contestants in using foul language and indulging them into unnecessary fights and making a big fuss about it on the TV !

However, reality shows have been a boon to the TV channels with increased TRP ratings and enormous advertising revenues. But they should realize that it shouldn't impact young audiences or participants even inadvertently.

Are we too dependent on computers?

My weekday starts with a cup of coffee and an online newspaper on my laptop. Then i rush to my office and again sit in-front of my computer for the next 8-9hours. I come back to my home and again sit in-front of my laptop to check my personal emails or for blogging or for seeing videos. Even in my weekends i end up spending around 4-5hours in-front of my laptop unless i am out of my home. I am using laptop to such an extent these days that i have started developing Carpal Tunnel's syndrome !

This isn't just my story. This is the story of everyone these days who are addicted to the computer technology or the software professionals like me.

Don't we all realize how much we are depending on computers these days ???

We are so addicted to computers, laptops and palm tops these days that we literally use it everywhere in our life. Nowadays, even cellphones are converting to mini laptops so that we can use it wherever we cannot carry our laptop. We use it even if we just have to chat with our girlfriend ;-) Have you ever realized that sometimes we unnecessarily use this technology and have forgotten the taste of our nature and actual world. By playing Farmville every day we consider that we are great farmers, but what about the actual farmers who spend their whole day soaking in the sun and harvesting their crops !

Welcome to the modern age of computers, laptops and palmtops that have created virtual world around us and we are actually enjoying that part of the world the most.

If we see the brighter side, then Computers have proved to be a boon to the human life. We cannot imagine our life without computers. Our life has become very simpler and easier because of them. Computers are being used in almost all the areas of our life. They are used to manage large and useful data without having to store piles of paper. They are used in the flight control panel, to maintain the aircraft speed and other things. Some times unknowingly we make use of computers like if we go to grocery store and use credit card to make a payment then computer processes our information and completes the transaction. We can get the latest news on computer about the world. We can send and receive messages from any corner of this world. It has made our communication very easier. We can use computers to even make calls to our friends living in another part of the world. We can even shop by using internet and we can get our goods shipped.

The biggest change that computer has done to our society is that it can be seen everywhere now. Computers are seen in any workplace from banking office to a library. It is replaced by the piles of accounts and pages of data being maintained till now. Nowadays they are entering our schools so that our children don't have to use a notebook to do their assignments. Instead of that they will have the fancy netbooks that they will carry to the school. So, virtually laptops and internet has conquered many areas of mankind. In this way computers are becoming more powerful and functional and closer to our daily life. So, the sound of the keyboard typing and mouse clicking are a normal occurrence in every household.

Hence, the computer has affected various aspects of our life and has advanced our society to the future!

3D TV - Is the world ready for this technological change ?

3D movies that swept our movie theaters are now stepping into our living rooms. In this era of blu ray movies and high definition digital movies, world should now be ready for the high definition 3-D movies. This technology is slowly going to roll out by the end of this year and by the next couple of years this is going to be a part of everyday's life. According to an estimation 3D TV will be in everybody's household by next 2 years. All the major TV companies are jumping in this league. With the combination of power packed blu-ray player that enables 3D technology, TV and the glasses the system will be delivering seamless full screen, 1080p picture in each eye !

Due to more number of 3D animated movies releasing each year, the popularity of 3D technology has become very much. There are several methods being used by the television manufacturers to create 3-D images on the TV. This technology picked up hype when the movie Avatar got released and 3D technology has become a top agenda among all the broadcast and TV industries. If you wanna survive in this competition, swim along with the waves !!

Blu-ray player should be capable enough to create 1080p images and it should be able to send the information about which image is meant for which eye to the TV that is capable of displaying 3D images. To recreate the images TV should refresh at the rate of 120 times per second with alternating frames for left and right eye. TVs include a converter chip and necessary software required to break down the signal for left and right eye. To get the true 3D content, you need to access 3D broadcast programming and a 3D blu ray player ! You are all set.

3D TV is definitely the future of TV entertainment but the revolution is however in its infant stages for now. But the wheels have been churned. So, people just wait and watch how this technology is going to conquer everyone's household !

Mystery of Haunted houses - Can science solve this ??

Today, I want to talk about the mystery behind the haunted houses in this world. For many hundreds of years, people are hearing stories about haunted houses( houses occupied by the dead), mystery spots or mystery islands ?? The famous example of mystery island is the Bermuda triangle. Planes and ships are believed to be vanished once they reached Bermuda Triangle. Coming to haunted houses.. are these really true? Are they actually occupied by the ghosts?..do they exist in reality? These are the questions that have baffled the scientists around the world. Even they don't seem to have a proper answer or explanation on this. There are innumerable books and stories written on haunted houses and ghosts. So, people tend to believe in such superstitions.

What is a ghost ? What is a haunted place ?

A ghost is believed to be the soul of the dead person that returns to this world. Since, ancient times we believe that the soul of the person departs from his body, once he is dead. The spirit goes either to the god or wanders somewhere in the nowhere island ! A ghost is believed to make its presence by appearing as a figure or a light of some kind. Hence, haunted house is the official place of the dead. Many stories of ghost sightings are either made up to make it appear scary or else they are just imaginary.

Is there anything that Science can do to solve this trivial question ??

There are thousands of people who claim to have ghostly experience in the haunted house or in the deserted places. We can take an example of the Winchester haunted house in San Jose, California that has become a tourist attraction these days !

Winchester house is a mansion that was under construction since 38years (from 1884- 1922) !! But now this house is haunted and is believed to be occupied by the ghosts of the individuals who died from Winchester's rifle. There is a myth that Sarah Winchester had to construct a house and never cease building it, otherwise the spirits that killed her husband and her family would come after her, too. So she started constructing this maze like mansion with full twisted stair cases so that the spirits would get lost but never find her. The house was built upto 7 stories but now it is only 4 storied building. The house has 47 fireplaces, 10,000 window panes, 2 basements and 3 elevators. Many people have reported to have seen ghosts and images moving inside the building at the night time.

Scaryyyyyyyyy...isn't it ???

The Android Attack !!

The Android and Apple war ! How can i not write about the most happening thing in the technology. Let me tell you i don't work in a cellphone company, so these are the views i am presenting based on market reviews, customer reviews and my own farsightedness. However i think now its time for us to switch to either of these two ...

The global smartphone market has become a cheesiest sci-fi war ! Every quarter a new phone is released and the companies have to make new strategies in their on going products. But Apple has enjoyed its days. Now, its the turn of Androids. They are definitely the future cellphone technology. According to a market survey global smartphone companies are increasing revenue of the market by a healthy 50 percent every year. Most of the mobile device vendors are now switching to Google's Android operating system. Because of this rapid Android success to the mobile vendors, its competitors are now facing problems. Once a popular phone Blackberry is now little obsolete in the market. Poor thing but just few years back it was considered to be the most professional smartphone ever. There is a competition between the cellphone carrier companies as well. Verizon has been marketing its latest Motorola Droid phone aggressively, forcing other companies to think about marketing android based phones or else they will loose their market shares.

HTC and Motorola are the two companies who are concentrating only on android based phones now. As a result, other companies like LG and Samsung are also planning to jump into the race. Google is coming up with new upgrades to Android that might give tough competition to its competitors. Just few minutes back i came to know that Google has launched - Voice actions and Chrome - Phone services.

Voice action is a step ahead to iPhone's voice control system by allowing users to dictate text messages, send emails, write notes, make calls, initiate music and search the web for information. While Chrome to phone, is the mobile application that allows users to send informations such as links, driving directions, bookmarks and other information directly from the browser to the phone. Are they planning to replace laptops with mobile phones ?? With such advancements in the cellphone technologies there will be a time when we will be using cellphone for day to day work !

Both of these technologies have their own pros and cons. Android has a backup from Google, so it has more tighter and well done integration from Google but Android apps totally SuCk ! while apple apps are so many in the market. However, in coming days i would assume Android apps will be more better and they might be free or cheaper than Apple apps which will be a plus for the customers.

But nevertheless, Android has not yet dethroned the top 3 cellphone companies - Apple, Research In Motion and Nokia who don't have any plans in the nearby future to use Google's operating system.

Women's portrayal in the TV and media - Is it getting over hyped ??

Women play very important role in any society. They serve variety of roles throughout their life span. First they play the role of a daughter, then a friend, then a wife, then daughter in law, mother and then grand mother. Apart from fulfilling their domestic duties they are active and have contributed in many other fields such as Art, Science, medicine etc. From many centuries women have been constantly struggling to find their place in the world and in their society.

But most of the women are known to have weak and dependent personality. That's one of the major drawback because of which the world is predominated by men. Coming to our topic of discussion, we are clearly seeing that advertising and media have been constantly pressing men and women for a certain look for every decade. This is not one of the underlying inner beauty but it is an appeal to the lascivious desires of the world. Women have found to be most affected because of this rapid change.

The most powerful propaganda system these days is advertisements. Advertising is such a fact of our life that is percolating in almost every aspect of our life and we are hardly aware of it. It imposes an enormous influence on our thoughts, attitudes and actions. That is the reason most of the companies are spending millions of dollars on advertisements. Advertisings create an entire cultural view, that shapes our attitudes and beliefs.

Advertisements are distorting Women's self image !

The anxiety of girls and women when they feel unattractive is one of the major extensive and damaging consequence of advertising. Consumer advertisements project an unrealistic feminine form which is not only non-achievable but also it is powerful enough to make an impact. The majority of advertisements on feminine products feature some of the key aspects that are non achievable among majority of the women. This creates false expectations on women and their partners.

One common example is the advertisements of face creams that challenge the consumers that their complexion will become fair by using that product. They try to show a women who is darker in complexion in the beginning and later she attained the desired complexion by using the face cream. But the actual fact is the girl in the advertisement is already fair. She has been made darker by painting her face. These kind of advertisements make women insecure and provoke them to use the cream for getting the fair complexion. Also, it creates a feeling in men that they start looking for girls whose complexion is fairer. In order to attain the ideal beauty, women start using the product and there will be an endless demand for the product in the market.

This is the reason why the weightloss, fashion, and cosmetic industries are blossoming. Also they are one of the largest and most profitable industries.

Because of this millions of women and girls who cannot achieve this standard of beauty feel humiliated, shy, and feel a sense of guilt.

Consumer advertisings negatively objectify women. Most of the advertisements feature women as the sex objects, in order to increase the appeal of their products. In many cases the involvement of women model is semi pornographic. Much of the advertisings is filtered through the male lens and even though it is targeting women, it might reinforce the male chauvinistic view of women as sex objects ! It pits one women against another in a competition of sexual power. These kind of things affect particularly young women, since at this stage of their life they need to develop their self identity. So, this sends a concealed message to the young girls is that the only important thing about themselves is the way they dress up and look, causing many women to believe that their self worth is dependent on getting attention from men.

Standards of how women are depicted varies according to the culture and society. The industries vary the kind of images it uses to suit different markets, showing that it follows social norms rather than setting them. But the fact is they are changing the social norms and standards. The constant abuse of women's sexuality to sell various products industries like alcohol, sports, film or music have completely distorted our understanding of sexuality and gender roles in the society !

Fashion has been an ever changing occurrence in the TV. Thanks to the TV and other fashion magazines that are publishing articles and supporting the companies that are manufacturing products on the name of fashion which is not really upto the standard for the particular society. Women and mainly fashion models they do the propaganda through fashion shows or by giving pictures on the fashion magazine. These kind of things are inadvertently adding spice to already hurt souls.

Happy Indian independence... 15th August

Sare jahan se accha, hindustan hamara !! These were the lines quoted by Muhammad Iqbal in the year 1904 when India was still ruled by the British. I feel very patriotic when it comes to India or Indians. Even though i am away from India since 5yrs i feel i am very much connected to India and i belong to her. But i don't want to go into the emotional aspect of this post. I want to talk about the achievements of my country since ancient times.

India is a country of vast culture and traditions. Also, it is one of the fastest developing nations in Asia and the world. IT industry is blossoming since past few years in India, increasing the revenue and providing world class IT services across the globe. India's diverse economy encompasses wide range of sectors like Agriculture, handicrafts, IT industries etc.

Colors in the Indian flag are saffron, white and green. Saffron represents courage, sacrifice and spirit of renunciation. White represents purity and truth. While Green represents faith. The blue wheel in the middle represents the wheel of life in movement.

Lets focus on the achievements that India has which is remarkable.

• India invented the number system. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.
• Sanskrit is the most oldest language and most of the European languages are somehow connected with it.
• World's first university was established in Takshila in 700 B.C. More than 10,000 students from all over the world studied in that university. The University of Nalanda est in 4th century is also one of the greatest achievements of ancient india towards education.
• Ayurveda, one of the ancient form of medicine was invented in India.
• India was one of the richest countries in this world until it was attacked by Mohd Ghazni and also till 17th century until it was invaded by the British. Even Columbus wanted to discover India instead of America.
• Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. The value of pi was also invented by India. The place value system and the decimal system was invented by india in 100 B.C.
• Chess was invented in India.
• India is the largest democratic country in the world. Also, it is the country with the most ancient civilization.
• Yoga and the spiritual science were found in India by the Indian saints who used to take penance in a forest for hundreds of years !

There is so much more to say about this country.

Reference:-

http://www.seanpaulkelley.com/?p=964

The mystery of UFOs

UFO's are world's one of the unsolvable mysteries... There have been many discussions on this but i want to put my words in this blog.

UFO is an abbreviation of Unidentified Flying Objects. It can be visualized as an alien spaceship or a flying saucer is another common citation. When you google "ufo images" then you will find there are many people who claim to have seen the UFOs and they have their story about the incident. But is that really true ? Or its just our imagination ? UFO mystery has puzzled people across the world.

Have we really been visited by aliens from other planets ? If so, why don't we have enough evidences of that ? Are they scared to come in front of the earth's inhabitants ??

Human nature is also responsible for believing in aliens. We humans are sometimes so gullible and we just believe in the stories told by other humans. Its just like believing in supernatural beings, the inability to distinguish science fiction from science has given more importance to UFOs. There is an indian movie based on UFOs and Aliens. By seeing all these things its just like adding oil to the already lit fire.

But if we analyse scientifically, then also i would say if we found that life is possible on Earth. Then why can't life be found somewhere else in the universe. We have millions of constellations and solar systems spread across the universe. Isn't it possible that atleast 2% of those solar systems might have one planet that is capable of sustaining plants or other form of lives.

We visualize aliens as someone who is not a human, either they have a gender or they are just like Robots. They might have some supernatural powers, such as destroying the man kind, flying in the air just with their hands or we can think that they have a hidden wings which they use at the time of flying. Human imagination can go to any extent. I can imagine an alien to be like an animal who has extra powers to think, analyze and work but who doesn't have human emotions and feelings. Hence, it is actually an expression which defines our hunger for mystery...

It only seems reasonable to me to believe that by conventional means we can't justify that UFOs actually exist. We need some more solid proof of evidence, like a spaceship, Alien's clothes, or Aliens themselves.

Video on Aliens

Does 2012 marks the end of the world ??

There are a number of predictions for Dec 21, 2012 about the end of the earth. According to Myan calendar 21st Dec, 2012 marks the end of their calendar. It came to a point that people have started to freak out. For any natural calamity happening these days, people are linking it to the doom's day. We have lot of nuclear resource these days to destroy the world ! If we put these known facts aside and ignore them for a moment, is it really possible that world will end on 21st dec, 2012 ??



Do you believe in 2012 Doom's day predictions ??

Should we be freaked ? I don't think so. For starters, previous predictions about the end of the world should have happened by now ! Do you remember the Y2K ... how it scared the public and the banking sector ?? People whined about it so much, but it came and it went away.

Just like Y2k, 2012 predictions are also being carefully studied by agencies like NASA.

There is a news that even Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world. According to a website the calendar ends on Dec 21st, 2012 and this is the last of the five cycles. The end of each of the first four cycles were devastating to the earth. It caused even the extinction of many species on the earth. So, hope the last one shouldn't be the worst one. There is either a possibility of natural calamity or else man made disaster.

The Mayan calendar with the fifth cycle is supposed to have started in 3114 B.C and will end on 21st Dec 2012 A.D. According to the Indian calendar, Kali yuga has started on 3102 B.C. and according to this calendar should last until 21st Dec 2012. So, is it merely a coincidence that both the calendars predict ending of this age on the same date ??? According to Indian God Lord Krishna, after 5000 yrs Kaliyug has to end and Golden age should begin from 2012 !

There are many asteroid predictions saying that it will hit the earth and there will be a disaster. There is one famous prediction on many sites saying that planet x would complete its 3600 yrs orbit around the sun, disturbing our solar systems and the planets within. There are some articles that claim that solar flare is going to happen in 2012 that will destroy our milky way to some extent. Only way to prepare is pray to god !

Video on 2012 predictions !

orkut vs facebook

Orkut and facebook are the most popular social networking sites these days on the internet. Facebook has become very popular in North America while Orkut has surpassed facebook and took over the market share in India. This is because Indians don't access the internet everyday and are not very eager to use social networking.

Before starting a detailed analysis lets see some recent facts. According to recent market studies, Facebook owns 11.5% of market share, while Orkut holds just 1%. Facebook was launched later than Orkut. Facebook is becoming the best social networking site in this world.

Why Orkut is lagging behind in this race, even though it is accompanied by Google ??

Let discuss the Pros and cons of both networking sites:-

Interface - User interface is one of the main concern for the growth of these networking sites. They should be simple enough to attract common public who don't browse web pages more. This is more applicable to countries other than United States. Orkut succeeded in doing this. Orkut page is so simple to browse. It doesn't need any help tutorial to start with. While Facebook, on the other hand is little complex to understand. Orkut however has started prompting users to change their profile page to a new layout but people still want to use the old interface because it is very simple !

Facebook Connect - This is the crispiest feature in Facebook that allows you to re-connect with your old buddies. You have to just type your school name or workplace name and facebook pulls out information available from millions of users. Additionally, facebook suggests its users at time to time basis to add a new friend if he is in that networking circle.

Social gaming - Social gaming has become a huge success for facebook's popularity. There are thousands of games integrated in facebook and there are about 83 million facebook users for Farmville game. Similarly, there are many other games in facebook which is liked by many users like Mafia wars, Cafe World etc. Orkut on the other hand doesn't really have these many social apps.

Security - Recently, Facebook is facing lot of problems related to user's security. People can find other people's information and pictures by just visiting their websites. Facebook has started taking this very seriously, since it can lead to its downfall. Even user profile information is being extracted by all those social gaming agencies. Orkut on the other hand has implemented privacy settings long back and the user can change the settings as and when required. So, it was never under any controversy.

Restricted networking - If you want to be a part of your companies profile in facebook, you need to provide company's email address in order to be a part of the network. While on orkut, you can hit join button and that will do the job. If the communities are moderated then moderator has to accept your request. But still it doesn't really hold a solid proof for joining that network. Also, if you add a new friend on facebook since he is in your office, then he can request for other informations like office id etc inorder to add you.

Feeds of Activity - Anything that is done on facebook is maintained as a record. If you add a picture, or you are tagged in a picture, when someone added a new friend, or someone got married etc everyone gets to know this. Know this is questionable... For some people it is okay to spread the information while for some people it is not a good feature.

Tagging relationship status - If someone is in a relationship, or someone got married they can change their status and they can tag their partner in their profile if they are also in the Facebook. I found this interesting when i opened a Facebook account for my husband !

Orkut communities - Orkut maintains a huge database of user communities. There are many discussions going on in these communities. This feature is widely used in asian countries and they find it pretty helpful specially when you want to propage some message.

Orkut has some good features such as - Integration of google chat in your profile, No. of times someone views your profile, saving profile links of people whom you randomly find on the network etc.

Well, inspite of all these positive points still Facebook is leading in America. I personally have both orkut and facebook accounts. I use Orkut to connect to my friends and see their developments since most of my friends and relatives live in India. While i use Facebook daily for updating my status, playing social apps and connecting with my friends and colleagues.