Media entrepreneur Zaheer Abbas (27), better known as Zazo, a native of Rajasthan, joined Orkut just to increase his network of friends and keep in touch with old buddies. But as he began to visit other communities, it opened his eyes to people’s contributions towards making of groups and communities.

Zazo felt the media has many times projected Orkut as a culprit behind many nefarious activities. “After going through certain communities I found that not everyone is wasting their time on Orkut.

There are some who are friendly, trustworthy and successful and who have given a lot of their time building something inspirational and informative in the form of Orkut communities on different subjects,” adds Zazo.

“But how will others come to know about them?” The question plagued Zazo and made him open two communities on Orkut – ‘Orkut’s Hall of Fame’ and ‘Rated Wow!’

But membership to these communities is on invitation-only basis. Are the community names tempting you to join them? But Zazo says “it’s not possible.” “Generally people gaze through communities and join them out of their own interest, but these two communities are dedicated to some outstanding personalities for their activities, profession and achievements, which can be a lesson in motivation, inspiration and knowledge to anyone. And we invite them,” says Zazo. In case you are in search of such people, a visit to these communities with help you.

Zazo is not alone in this whole process. His sister Tarannum (23), quit her job at IBM Daksh to join her brother’s initiatives. “I was very inspired by my brother’s initiative and decided to extend my full support to take it forward,” says Tara proudly.

And there started their idea of expanding it outside Orkut. Zazo thought the hard work of Orkut members should be appreciated more.

He started his blog in the year 2008 – orkutheroes.com – and that’s how the concept of Orkut Heroes came into being.

This blog contains profiles of people who have achieved in different fields. “We select people from their active, useful and helpful contribution to any subject of interest like academics, social work, etc.” Due to complaints about fake IDs, he clarifies with the friends in his/her friend list. “We see the types of communities he/she has joined and his/her participation by sending scraps, messages and community activities. After a thorough scanning we try to approach that person either by scrap or by email if possible.”

After conducting more than 50 interviews and the going through responses he got from his readers he is now into upgrading his website.

“Though I have won many notable awards for music I was more recognised among my online friends as a hero after I won the Orkut Heroes award,” says Sameep Kulkarni, a sitarist, one of the heroes of Zazo’s blog. Orkutheroes.com has become a platform for many online communities to take it further from mere online work to real meetings and groundwork.

If you as an individual or as a community have done something motivating, you can contact Zazo at zazo@orkutheroes.com

“My family members completely devoted themselves to music though their profession was entirely different. My father is a mathematician and a violinist. My mother is a PhD- science teacher and vocalist. My sister is an international artist and often performs with me at juggal bandis.”

First Concert

At the age of six, Sameep surrounded himself with instruments like tabla, harmonium, sitar, tampura and violin. He was motivated to learn tabla by his parents to accompany his elder sister for her concerts. But it was only at the age of seven, he realised that he was made for sitar. He attended a concert of well-known sitarist Ustad Vilayat Khan and fell in love with instrument. From then on, he started learning sitar alongside tabla.

He is now learning sitar under Ustad Shahid Parvez – a noted sitar player of Hindusthani music – after he was immensely attracted by his style. “I did my first concert at the age of 8. At that age, I didn’t even know what stage fear was but as I grew older and started performing more shows I was more conscious. My guru played tabla for me in my first concert and that was the real motivation for me. But now after doing so many concerts it’s just another show for me.”

Passion Vs Profession

Sameep who has done more than 500 concerts till now manages his profession and passion giving equal importance for both. Managing the balance between these two streams sounds extremely difficult. But for Sameep it’s a simple thing. “I work in my office for the whole day and then practice sitar from 9 in the night till 2 daily. I do concerts only on holidays.”

He has done more than 30 international shows and has also won many awards like ‘The Best Artist In The IT’ award by Computer Society of India (2007), Maestro honour by Aperture India Art gallery (2008) and Orkut Heroes (2009) to name a few.

Unforgettable Moments

Recalling some of his most memorable moments in life, Sameep says that his performance at Ahmednagar and at a Cancer hospital were unforgettable. “Last year I had a concert at a sports ground in Ahmednagar, a city in Maharashtra. I knew previously that concert is going to be huge but when I went on the stage, I could see that the stadium was filled and there were more than 50,000 people in the stadium.

This was the biggest concert I ever did another message which I got through the concert was that the interest on musical instruments like sitar are still alive in people. The next was at a Cancer hospital. The patients were critically ill, but they were listening enjoying the concert. I was touched to know that not a single person in the audience will be alive for my next concert there.”

Attracted by Sameep’s magic on strings he has build a huge friend-web around him in personal and through online communities like Orkut where he has more than 2500 friends.