Sushrut Kulkarni, has 20 years experience  in the field of computer networks and websites. He is a technical writer and translates and writes in Marathi, Hindi, English and German. He writes for various reputed publishers, newspapers, documentaries and radio.

One of the major technical hurdles for regional languages was fonts. That sphere was dominated by proprietary and non-standard fonts.

मराठी आणि अन्य भारतीय भाषांना कॉंप्युटरवर रुळायला बराच काळ जावा लागला. याचं मुख्य कारण म्हणजे फॉंट वापरण्यातले तांत्रिक (आणि आर्थिकही!) अडथळे होते. सुरुवातीला केवळ वृत्तपत्रं आणि प्रकाशनसंस्थांकडेच कॉंप्युटरवर मुद्रण या मुख्य उद्देशानं मराठी वापरलं जात असे. वेगवेगळ्या कंपन्यांनी तयार केलेले फॉंट वेगवेगळ्या प्रमाणांवर आधारित असल्यानं एका कॉम्प्युटरवर टाईप केलेलं दुसऱ्याला त्याच्या कॉम्प्युटरवर वाचणं अनेकदा शक्यच होत नसे. दरवेळी फॉंट बसवणं किंवा ते विकत घेणं शक्य नव्हतं. यामुळं प्रादेशिक भाषांमधलं लेखन इंटरनेटवर उपलब्ध व्हायलाही खूप वेळ लागू लागला.

यावर उपाय सापडला तो युनिकोडच्या (Unicodeच्या) रुपानं! युनिकोड ही जगातल्या कुठल्याही कॉम्प्युटरवर (किंवा मोबाईल फोनवर) वाचता येईल अशी एक लिहिण्याची पद्धत आहे. कॉम्प्युटर क्षेत्रातील काही कंपन्यांनी आणि तज्ज्ञांनी एकत्र येऊन ३ जानेवारी १९९१ रोजी युनिकोड कॉन्सर्टियमची स्थापना अमेरिकेत केली. या सर्वांनी मिळून फॉन्टसाठी एक विशिष्ट मानक (स्टॅंडर्ड) बनवलं. यापुढं फॉन्टस्‍चा जो विकास आहे तो या युनिकोड आधारावर होईल असं ठरवण्यात आलं. त्यामुळं कुठल्याही फॉन्टमध्ये जगातल्या अनेक भाषा सामावता येऊ लागल्या. आता बहुसंख्य युनिकोड फॉंट नि:शुल्क उपलब्ध असल्याने इंटरनेटवर इंग्रजीखेरीज अन्य भाषांमध्ये देवाणघेवाण मोठ्या प्रमाणावर शक्य झालेली आहे.

 

Be the first to comment.

---

Book trailers are a phenomenon taking the internet by storm! They're a great way to share a sneak peek into new books and create excitement amongst readers. 

With over 1500 books and 3000 gorgeous illustrations to choose from, StoryWeaver thought that book trailers would be a wonderful thing to create and share with our vibrant community... so drum roll please...here's our very first book trailer!

We decided to launch our YouTube Channel on World Earth Day, 2016 with a book trailer of 'Jadav and the Tree-place'. Written and illustrated by the immensely talented Vinayak Varma (who has recently been shortlisted for the 2016 Commonwealth Short Story Prize)  the book tells the story of real-life hero Jadav 'Molai' Payeng who transformed a barren stretch of land on the Brahmaputra sand bank in to a lush forest 'filled with feathers and beaks and wings, with claws and tails and fangs.'

Watch the book-trailer for 'Jadav and the Tree-place' in English here:

You can see the Marathi book trailer, here: 

To get regular updates from StoryWeaver's YouTube channel, direct to your inbox, subscribe now! 

 

comments (4)

---

During Pratham Books’ Storyweaver’s #WonderWhyWeek in celebration of National Science Week, at Edukul we conducted three story telling sessions with Rukma Sadekar. The story was from the Pratham Book ‘How do aeroplanes fly?’ written by Aditi Sarawagi. 

Flying is a topic that excites both, the young and the old. The children loved the character of Sarla.  The story session was followed by an open discussion on the different parts of an aircraft, the importance of seat belts, role of air hostesses, emergency exits, the duties of the pilot, co-pilot, and radio engineer were discussed. 

Post this, the children were guided to make paper aeroplanes and fly them to see whose flew the farthest. The children tried different ways of launching the aeroplanes and observed and discussed the how and why of flying. They watched a short video showing the early attempts at inventing aeroplanes, the Wright Brothers and their aircraft. This was followed by a short video that showed how aeroplanes fly providing an audio-visual experience of what they had heard in the story. The children were fascinated with the PowerPoint presentation on the different types of aircrafts – the largest passenger aircraft, the fastest, the different types of aeroplanes as per usage such as fighter planes, cargo planes and so on. Children found the session informative and fascinating and were most excited while flying their aeroplanes! 

 

Thank you Pratham Books’ Storyweaver for the inspiration and inputs.​

Be the first to comment.

---