| In
the days gone by, the word 'surfing' would perhaps evoke images of small coastal towns,
sunny beaches, bright blue oceans, and of course, palm trees. Those were less complicated
times. Now, the word means sitting down with your PC, mouse in hand, typing in one URL
after another, and clicking on endless hyperlinks, in a never ending quest to find some
meaning in that infinite virtual world that the Internet had become.
We
are at a stage when putting up a homepage on the Web has almost become a national past
time. As e-commerce beckons, having a Web address has become an absolute must for the
business corporations with global aspirations. The space on the Web is cheap (many
companies even offer free Web space and WYSIWYG HTML editors have made it even more easy
for novices to design and put up their pages, chances are that the individual PC- user
will go out clamber on the Web.)
As our
countrymen enter the great Internet rat race, Indian sites are already a-dime-a-dozen. But
despite the fact that the Internet has become the hot new medium for delivering
information, one basic rule of communication has remained unchanged-bad content is bad
content, whatever the medium of delivery. With almost anybody and everybody having a Web
page to boast of, how does the casual Web surfer know which sites are worth a visit, and
which are not? How to separate the chaff from wheat? After all, Internet-time comes at a
cost, right? Fear not, for here we come to your rescue. Indian companies and
special-interest groups have put up some great sites that definitely warrant a visit.
Since this as good a time as any, for some good old-fashioned patriotism, we have compiled
some Indian Web sites that we think best embody the fine qualities of imagination,
information, and innovation.
Ladies,
Gentlemen, and Web-o-philes everywhere, the top 16 Indian Web sites are here and waiting.
Please start your Web browsers. |
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