I got hooked on to Sulekha right from day one. I agree with most of the reviewers here, that Sulekha has a difficult interface, much to cluttered, all in one. And for the starters it could be daunting. But once one gets used to it, there is a lot there to make the effort seem worthwhile.
Sulekha is different from normal portals with News and Articles, in the sense that it is very interactive by nature. (Recently Rediff has also started to open up its articles for general discussions by providing forums right there. With Sulekha this is an old feature).
Sulekha has lots of futures: The most famous being, Coffeehouse (open, unmoderated newsgroup), News-hopper (where people contribute news links from all over the world, generally concerning Indians in some way or other), Articles/Columns (more later), Reviews etc.
Sulekha has an interesting mix of writers and columnists. Even if you don’t agree with a lot of stuff there, still one has to concede that this level of variety in views is impossible in the conventional/mainstream media. The debates sparked off by these essays/columns run into hundreds of comments. If you start contributing to these discussions, be prepared for being branded this or that, with flames directed at you. But it’s fun, and a learning experience.
If you’re a budding writer, artist, or a photographer, Sulekha is the right forum to get peer feedback and suggestions. And what more, it’s a well read forum, so you get an instant visibility .
On the flip side though, the discussions may seem repetitive after some time, people too rigid, or just too plain boring. Good discussions will be hijacked by some people and derailed thoroughly. At times the amateur writings will suck. At times you’ll crave for quality. But, Sulekha is a community. with all the pitfalls of a community. You make friends there, and enemies too. And you get attached. If you haven’t been there already, just have a look.