Lurker Posted February 12, 2012 Posted February 12, 2012 Looks like this may be something some posters may be interested in, specially those who have not been around much. So here goes. This is no definitive list and I am sure tomorrow morning I shall get up and remember a few more that would be added promptly here, but for those interested in figuring out who have been the culprits behind one of the most popular Indian cricket website, and one where many of you spend some time daily, this could be a good starting point. Prelude: The prelude to ICF is similar to many other websites. Young guns lining up and doing tete-a-tete till they grow bigger than the website and decide to open something of their own. Since this has been almost 6 years or so ago doubt if it means much but thats that. Characters: Ravi : If you has ever wondered who owns ICF, well now you know. Its Ravi. He has been perhaps the best owner/Administrator one would ever want. In the sense that only a few know who owns this website. Too often one can see a guy who has been around for a couple of hours having a go at Ravi with a "Who the eff do you think you are?". And he has always been calm, never brought his owner's card. As a cricket fan he has a great love for the game and sometimes does swing across in Chit Chat and News section too. Rajeev: Rajeev amazes people. He has been around for the better part of a decade in online world and I doubt anyone has ever had anything bad to say about him. He is always cool and comes up with great quips. He is quite open about his present and past, and loves women, movies and his wine...maybe in that order as well! Dhondy: Dhondy is one of those rare genuises I have seen online. He is an artist and can create essays/articles/comments out of nothing. I am biased towards him a bit because it was his work that made me sign up as a poster here. He is one of those posters whose past articles you should search for. Not sure if he got caught up with life, or got ticked off seeing sms type responses but he is one of those guys who is widely missed. Shwetabh: Shwetabh is very human. His articles/responses can get you the same feeling as Momin did to Ghalib. He makes you wish you had written that. And then within the hour he will also write something that will make you go - Dude WTF?? Did you really write that?. He has tons of stories and is always willing to get engaged in discussion. What I perhaps like most about him is that he has been here from day 1 and never went away. For those of you who joined in 2011 lets have the same conversation in 2017 and see if you measured to the same yardstick. Bumper and Gambit. I clubbed them together because they were similar, and yet different. Gambo is kinda like Circuit from Munnabhai. No he is nobody's sidekick but he has this propensity/creativity to come up with some of the most hilarious moments/lines. Plus he was younger to the rest of folks so he gave that impression. Bumper is the senior version of Gambit. He often writes long winded articles with enough humor to make you laugh for hours. He had special love for Pakistan who motivate him immensly. Again another posters whose thread you may want to search for. Both these gents decided to go the route of MBA and corporate world's gain has been ICF loss. Gai ka Dood & Gator: Two of the co-founders of the haraami club along with yours truly. GKD knew nothing about cricket but everything about women..or so he thought. But his comments and posts were hilarious and looking back one has to wonder how some of our threads never shut down. Gator was less prolific but equal participant. He was also one of the early fitness buddies, alongwith Predator. What I remember about these two gents, aside from their tharkiness, is that they were apprehensive about their spouses finding out this side of them lol. It was not a fear of being caught but a fear of hurting them, and it was such a guy thing. Girls you wont get it, dont even try. Aditi: I cant recall much about her except that she loved her wine and tandoori chicken. And how many Jain girls you know are like that? Plus she loved her 40 year old virgins & Balls of Fury and was just a cool chic. Varun: Varun, along with Ludhianvi, has been the technical brain behind ICF. if everything runs as it does here you have to thank these two. Varun also has a great soft side to him, specially when he talks about back home, and stories of his Grandfather but too often prefers to stay in the background. Dada Rocks and Sandtest: These were the original leaders of the right wing brigade. if you hear terms like chaddidhari and bhagwa loony, these were the reason. But there was different sides to them too. Philosphically I probably fought my fiercest battles with them, but we were also close on a very different level. DR grwe up on other side of Ganges, me on this side (Muzzafarpur and Patna) and so every so often we would beat each other to death and then 2 days later one of us would say something that only the other would understand and that broke the ice. Same with ST. He is one of those rare non-IT guys who would struggle through the daily grind and make half as much as rest of us but was never bitter. These two were also fiercly proud of India and Indian history and although they gave moderators living hell, it was also great to have them around. Salil, Graphic, Sriram: These are the torchbearers of the next generation and frankly one of those reasons why folks of my generation has not completely given up hope. Salil was here right from the start and was churning our articles as prolific as anyone else. Sriram took time to find his feet but when he did he quickly became one of the great posters. Same with Graphic. Always balanced and reasonable and pleasure to read. BB: Like every post he write, BB split decision on whether he should be part of ATG. He deserves to be here because he has earned his spurs clearly, he doesnt because too often he is not a team player and would much rather bring down everybody. That is not something I like. But if one is willing to look beyond that his statistical talent is splendid, he researches his articles fully well and stands his ground. If only he would learn to take a step back and be open minded I think we would all gain tremendously. There are also many others I forget. Cricketics with his forever support for team India. Veer with his interesting points. Kumble Rocks, a complete gentleman and as middle of the line as you would find politically.Coffee Rules with his well love for Coffee and all things ICF. etc etc. So now you know. Hopefully that adds to the picture a little bit now :winky:
Malcolm Merlyn Posted February 12, 2012 Posted February 12, 2012 Lurker you missed writing about yourself.
Nova Posted February 12, 2012 Posted February 12, 2012 Lurker, thank you for this post on the stalwarts of ICF...good to get an insider's perspective on them. :hatsoff:
Sooda Posted February 12, 2012 Posted February 12, 2012 Pretty comprehensive list indeed. Dhondy 'got ticked off by sms type posts' and general Tendulkar Bhaktness.
goose Posted February 12, 2012 Posted February 12, 2012 there's someone else, damn i forget his name now, joined the original ICF website back in 1999!
Ram Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 Lurker has done a huge dis-service by omitting his name from the list. Special mention of the likes of Beetle, Predator & CC1981 has to be made as well.
DomainK Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 Thanks a ton Lurker. I have had the opportunity of interacting with most of the names listed there, except a few like GKD and Gator, though I am familiar with their names. Thanks a ton to all of them for making ICF what it is today.
mishra Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 Lurks is that complete list or can some other original ICF ATG give his view, specially the ones mentioned in your list can add some new names of their generation.
gaurav92 Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 Thanks a lot Lurks Paaji, we love ICF :icflove:
Holysmoke Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 What do I need to do to get on that list. :mad: Retire? :hmmmm2:
Vijay.Sharma Posted February 13, 2012 Posted February 13, 2012 But BB is open mindedIt would be rather too much expect Lurks to paint BB in the same way that he did the others :winky: Anyway, nice one Lurks!
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