BRF 15 years. let us look back.

[Rishirishi]

I have been following this site for some 15 years

Myfirst post was about China and my experaince there in year 2000. Let us look back.

What were we thinking about LCA, BRAMOS, India-US relations, Namo. let us look back......

[Sachin]

A bit tough to believe that 15+ years have gone by. My career is also pretty much of the same duration. I remember drafting the first pages for NCC (Rakesh Koshy was the Web Master, along with Seetal Patel, Harshavardhan Vedak etc.). The main BR site was all in static HTML pages and internet too was just making its presence known in India.

The first version of the forum had a very different software, and I guess any one could make a post. Each thread title was bolded, and all the responses (for that thread) came below it, indented.

[disha]

Who can forget Rakesh Koshy and Seetal Patel.

I still remember the first discussions when the BRF web site and the forums were to be merged and there was a callout for volunteers to do BRAdmin-giri. For me BRF became a goto place during and after the Kargil war.

[member_20292]

Its a good site and the discussions are generally good and high quality.

How does one make the discussions even more high quality?

[Vikas]

Ah the days!! I think I first became member in 2002.
I still think that discussion these days are more interesting and realistic than earlier.

[Yagnasri]

I came across BR while in British library in Bangalore. I got in as a Trainee but not knowing that I am in for at least two years. I posted a request there and was informed that I am already there as a trainee. Since then I am posting regularly. I had interest is Security and related matters since childhood. Most interesting thread is the Historical Battles thread from which I learned a lot.

[Shreeman]

Its not a bad idea to chime in. Pretty much day one reader of everything including warbirds (sort of disappointing jagan gave up on updating).

I would like to have the likes of Arun_S, B_Harry, AshishN back. Maz,Rakesh, Nitin,Jagan all seem to have decided to lurk (ok, JTull exists and posts).

There are only dozens of readers at a time now, compared to 100s or 1000s peak times in better days.

Would be nice if the main site actually updated and fixed itself. There was a time the monthly updates are asked for and waited upon.

[Yagnasri]

I missed Shankar sir in military scenarios thread.

[rahul_r]

Was in high school when I first stumbled upon the site. I used to live for the monthly Air Force page updates, especially the pictures. Still remember eagerly waiting for the MKI pics after induction, watching grainy videos of the LCA's maiden flight. Those were the days!

Never really participated in the forum debates, but gained a wealth of knowledge on military and strategic matters, and more recently, politics.

Almost 15 years after I first stumbled on this site, I've rarely gone a single day without browsing it!

[Vayutuvan]

Considering the ego the man had, I don't miss Arun_S all that much.

[RoyG]

Considering the ego the man had, I don't miss Arun_S all that much.

Haha, he contributed a lot though.

[Raja Bose]

Considering the ego the man had, I don't miss Arun_S all that much.

His contributions in tracking Indian missile development and making missile technology understandable to laypersons far outweigh his ego (if he has one).

[RoyG]

Where is he these days? It'd be great to get hear his thoughts on the recently concluded nuclear deal and missile developments. Old is gold.

[Vayutuvan]

RB: Hat tip to you for your loyalty to a friend, I suppose.

[Gus]

shreeman, if i am not horribly wrong, harry passed away.

I stumbled across more than 10 years ago..mostly lurked for the first few years.

BR Monitor was my main attraction..and posts from folks like S Sridhar, Shiv, Kgoan etc. I would not say brf opened my eyes, decolonised me etc, but it certainly gave words to my thoughts and added clarity and gave me ability to in turn articulate brf thoughts to others.

[Austin]

Considering the ego the man had, I don't miss Arun_S all that much.

Having met Arun_S quite a few times I felt he is pretty down to earth person.

my experience has been on board like BRF or others you might end up having a different impression about a person but in real life they are different.

Some times I have met BRF'ites who tend to be far more egoistic in real life then they are on forums.

Coming back I am on BRF for almost the same time about 14-15 years may be longer miss those good old days quality debate we used to have.

[Prem]

Considering the ego the man had, I don't miss Arun_S all that much.

Having met Arun_S quite a few times I felt he is pretty down to earth person..

He is the last person to have ego. He is pure Vaishnavguniatma.

[VickersB]

Just chiming in for old times sake! cheers!

[fanne]

I started on br in 1997 ( is that right? Or was it 1998. It is more than 15 years, or maybe getting old). I had just come to massa to do my masters and missed family and India like anything. I would go to my univ libriary and read all the older janes ( remembered the librarian giving weird look).
BR was then a friend/ emotional support group and was glad to find like minded people.
The only trouble I had was I got hooked to it in my productive years, paying some price. But in the end it was there for you in a distant land. I wish it was not so addictive, but hey you live once.

[chetak]

Lurked for a few years before I finally joined.

First post was about a Hispano Suiza Nene engine misidentified as a Rolls Royce Nene. Caused a bit of a flutter among the aviation greats before they okayed it.

Except some gaps when I shifted jobs and cities, have hardly missed a day.

A really great place to hang out. Addictive.

[RamaY]

I stumbled upon BRF searching for military gaming scenarios between Pakistan and India post Kargil.

Apparently this is my first surviving post: viewtopic.php?p=327153#p327153

Looking forward, seven years later the gurus are discussing the same topic (under different name with different words) in WU dhaga.

Some questions must be answered and understood before Bharat can be what it is. No amount of denial will bring peace to Indians.

[Supratik]

I think I joined in 1997-1998. Or was it earlier? Used to use a different user name. BR is my primary source of info regarding things I need to know about India.

[fanne]

There use to be a competitor of BR from Texas. One Effendi wrote so much that it exceeded the limit and that forum got booted out. That was still the time when two contries wee in competition, then ABV happenned, The graph changed, one country is known of Mangalyan and IT and the other well, let me guess, wait a minute, is also known for IT.

[conan]

Kgoan, Bade miss their posts. Where are these guys?

[Mort Walker]

Been here since the beginning. I remember discussing Mulayam Yadav as Raksha Mantri and the fact that he stole sweets that were meant for his own consumption at events by the services. The 2nd time ABVP got elected and Pokhran II. Followed by Kargil.

Rakesh Koshy still owes us sweets = displacement of Akula II, but he skipped town on that.

[Rishirishi]

This is the only chat site I have been loyal to in the 15 or more years. I have learned so much, and made my wife equally angry . The site is still very basic. At the end of the day it is the contants that count, not the looks.

[KJo]

I joined the forum in 1999 around Kargil time. Remember having some run ins with shiv and others.
There was one admin called Matt Thyndil. Not very likeable, seemed to be on a perpetual power trip, I do not see him in the member list anymore. He would ban people for flimsy reasons and respond with arrogant replies.

Admins these days are probably the best I have seen. As an oldie here, they probably also give me a lot of rope.

[Mort Walker]

^^^Matt aka Calvin is a big wig oil and gas consultant in the Houston area. He doesn't have time for BRF, and IIRC was doing BRF admin work while getting his PeeChaadi at UT Austin.

[Mort Walker]

I miss Salman, Sunil, and Alok_N.

[RoyG]

What happened to N^3?

God, when the nuke deal was happening and Santhanam broke his silence...lets just say, my grades suffered a bit. The debates were incredible.

[Vayutuvan]

Royg you we not paying attention re N^3

[Shreeman]

shreeman, if i am not horribly wrong, harry passed away.

I stumbled across more than 10 years ago..mostly lurked for the first few years.

BR Monitor was my main attraction..and posts from folks like S Sridhar, Shiv, Kgoan etc. I would not say brf opened my eyes, decolonised me etc, but it certainly gave words to my thoughts and added clarity and gave me ability to in turn articulate brf thoughts to others.

Yes, Gus. I noticed it a bit before it was reported on the forum. Too young for a cardiac issue if you ask me. It was a loss either way. Had a serious impact on ACIG as well, they were rag tag bunch back then.

BRM was a good experiment, but even back thrn the scarcity of articles at best of times meant critical review never took off. Today, anyone and his uncle cooks up an open publication journal. This was back when the publishers thought they could still sell paper copies.

I too should really stick to just positive reporting and language education, but distractions happen.

[gakakkad]

What happened to N^3?

God, when the nuke deal was happening and Santhanam broke his silence...lets just say, my grades suffered a bit. The debates were incredible.

n^3 these days runs an successful yak wool fashion business , with customers include Armani and Versace..

[Yayavar]

rediff for immediate news, Varsha bhosle and a few others; armyinkashmir.com and then was pointed to or discovered BRF during Kargil. And suddenly realized I had found home amongst similar minded and was no longer the sore-one amongst a 'aman-bhaichara' crowd surrounding me. Didnt post for a long time though - there was a lot to imbibe, and account disappeared in-between for non-use.

[Mukesh.Kumar]

Chipping in for nostalgia's sake. Been around for 13 years (7 in lurk mode). Become my go-to place, to stay ahead of the curve. Miss some of the stalwarts from earlier times- Arun_S, RayC and Shankar and his air war scenario's. And of course my favourite the 2 ₵ers from LizardLand. For the first time it seemed that there were other people out there who thought differently from the namby-pamby, unsure about everything- self loathing crowd India was becoming.

If I had a wish, I hope that we could discuss things more civilly. Recently, despite the Bradmin's efforts quite a few discussions seem to get very personal. While conflict is good, focus should be idea's and not opinions or individuals.

Just my 2 ₵'s.

[Rahul M]

Bade saar is still around and regularly posting.

I stumbled on BR in 2000 looking for news on mil stuff. it still had the earlier look. discovered BRF almost by accident about 6 months later and I was hooked. the star attraction was of course nitin the tank guy.
used to spend hours at a cyber cafe reading the mil threads.
don't think I ventured outside the mil forum before I became a member.


btw, here's a list of similar threads from the past
viewforum.php?f=7

[Raja Bose]

RB: Hat tip to you for your loyalty to a friend, I suppose.

I am basing my observations based on what I have seen in person. Nothing to do with loyalty or friendship.

[Atri]

I lurked for almost 8-9 years before daring to post on this forum. Quite a steep learning curve, here. Started regular lurking here around post Kaluchak attack.

[rsingh]

Joined just before parmanu dhamaks. Was extremely busy those day with my new business. Net was very slow even in Brusselabad. Started few threads in hurry (as many newcomer bachha log do) and got zhapads. BR is almost part of life. Aah there used to be a thread called Asli khabre and Rahnuma-e rehbar or something like that.

[gakakkad]

lurked as a school kid...here I am a full fledged doc ..those were early days of internet..remember the kargil days..was not able to follow the 26/11 attacks , as I had residency interviews...but I dug through the threads months later... this has been a part of life for a long time. It helped me shape my convictions, ideologies and values that I would carry with me my whole life. I would have been an India basher had it not been for brf.. miss the good old days.. n^3 in original avatar,shankar (i suppose he is back in a different id) ,rayc,arun_s, nsn days etc..

hell even bashing the baakis is not the same these days..no longer fun

...IMHO the success of this site lies in the fact ,that many current members and alumni have contributed in a small way to the resurgence of nationalist movement and Modi election. (collectively we may have contributed massively) .This was the first place in the internet that called the bluff of DDM .

I wish we had greater membership... I am not sure we have too many active posters in the early 20s .. We have very few female members on the forum..though I find quite a few on the facebook fan pages.