Seeking a global role for Hindi through cyberspace
May 9, 2007 - 7:39:53 AM
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'It is the need of the hour to make Hindi stand with pride along with other well established languages of the world on the Internet.'
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By Brij Khandelwal, IANS,
[RxPG] Agra, May 9 - A pioneer of the Hindi blogosphere, Manisha Kulshreshtra is busy scripting a global role for India's national language via the Internet from a single PC in her Agra home.
Kulshreshtra, storywriter and editor of the www.hindinest.com website, said: 'When I get calls or email from Hindi fans in South Korea or Japan, my heart leaps in joy. So many people across the globe are getting hooked on to Hindi literature.
'Hindi literature is very rich in expression and communication. It can compete with any contemporary literature of the world. Hindi is the only language that can express Indian culture in its truest and fullest sense. But till yesterday it was a victim of sheer neglect in its heartland itself.
'Now when it has started spreading its wings at an international level, let us be prepared to give it its due and what better way to do it than the Internet platform,' Kulshreshtra, the wife of an air force officer here, told IANS.
How did it all start?
'One day my husband brought me a computer. He said it could open up a whole new world for me and it did! With technical assistance and a lot of motivation from him, I learnt all the tricks and skills required to be a good netizen.'
She added: 'One of my stories was used by US-based portal www.boloji.com, who then asked me to be the editor of their website www.hindinest.com. Since then there's been no looking back.'
A language purist, she is opposed to the hybridisation of Hindi - mixing Hindi with English words saying 'it's an injustice to both the languages'.
The problem with Hindi writers is that they are not tech-savvy, she said. 'The Internet is a very powerful platform to reach out to the world. In fact, the Net today is an ideal alternative to libraries.
'The Hindi fonts used to be one limiting factor. But I now use Unicode. Also, I spend a lot of time on font converters. Several government bodies offer a whole lot of facilities to make the transition from one language to the other smooth and hassle free. But we need spirited writers to use all these facilities,' she added.
Kulshreshtra sees unmistakable signs of a Hindi resurgence, for which she gives credit to the media, Hindi films and TV serials.
'The contribution of Hindi promotion agencies in the government sector has been negligible compared to the results the media has been able to bring.'
Winner of the Chandra Dev Sharma Yuva Sahityakar and several other national awards, Kulshreshtra's chief passion for the moment is to take Hindi literature to new heights at the international level.
'It is the need of the hour to make Hindi stand with pride along with other well established languages of the world on the Internet.'
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