ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ବାବଦରେ "ଦି ପଲିଟିକାଲ ଆଣ୍ଡ ବିଜନେସ ଡେଲି"ରେ ପ୍ରକାଶିତ ଖବର । *The Political and Business Daily (20 May 2012): Techies take the lead to popularize Odia language in new media*
(By Rashmi Ranjan Parida) They may be living from their state thousands mile away but their love for their state never fades. New Media have played a crucial role in bridging boundaries and cross- ing the seas and enabling Odia community to communicate on a common platform. In recent years, so many Odia young techies are working relent- lessly to popularize Odia lan- guage in different ways. They have taken the initiative to make Odia the most preferred lan- guage in internet communication among Odia people, no matter where they are. Be it in social networking sites, blogs, websites, groups, email, chat or any medium of internet communication, these groups of Odia youths developing technical knowhow to communicate in Odia language and script. While Indian languages like Tamil, Hindi and Telugu are marching ahead with their rich features and sophistication of usage on computers and worldwide web, Odia language has been far behind. But Odia youths are taking initiatives to add rich features and sophisti- cation of usage to Odia language in the web. Among them is Delhi-based Gora Mohanty who is involved in the IndLinux and the Rebati projects. Rebati is an initiative for FOSS computing in Odia. Mohanty is a Gamma-ray astronomer by profession having PhD from Iowa State University, USA. Another Odia techie Prashant K Sahoo who is based in USA has also developed Aprant Dynamic Font. It is compatible and enable for web for both viewing and writing on various browsers. Its dynamic font is supported not only by old version but also many new versions of the browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Opera on Windows, Linux and Mac Computers. Many people don't know that Odia Wikipedia, a free online encyclopaedia in Odia language also exists! Odia Wikipedia was started way back in 2002, but it remained very less active for 8 long years. After February, 2011 volunteers started contributing to it and now it is 2500 + article rich. Many Odias in Odisha, India and abroad have taken interest in reviving presence of Odia lan- guage on internet for free. The volunteers who contribute to Odia wikipedia meet each others to discuss finding new ways to reach to more people and help them contribute to wikipedia. Similarly, Odia youths in social networks such as Facebook and Twitter are driving new forms of social interaction, dia- logue, exchange and collabora- tion. Social networking sites enable Odia users to swap ideas, post updates and comments or participate in activities and events, while sharing their wider interests. From general chit-chat to propagating breaking news, from scheduling a date to follow- ing MLA abduction by Maoists or coordinating flood relief, from gentle humour to serious research, social networks are now used for a host of different reasons by Odia community across globe. Subhashish Panigrahi, a con- tributor and consultant with the Wikipedia is very expectant about Odia Wikipedia. "I was out of Odisha for years and to keep me rooted to my language and culture I started contributing to Wikipedia, but the real success is all these people who are volun- tarily devoting their time for Wikipedia", he says. Dhanada Mishra, Chairman of Human Development Foundation says, "There are three major ways through which Odia- based resources can be promoted online. One is Odia operating system for mass use of computers and computing devices. Second is large scale availability of Odia language websites and web por- tals as well as useful content. Third one is Odia Wikipedia, which is an important tool for development of online resources in Odia. Interestingly, all the above are being mostly driven by what is known as open source technology and voluntary collab- orations of Odia techies world- wide." He further said, "All that IT department and OCAC need to do is invest some money in pro- motional campaign and some support to what already people are doing voluntarily. It is the best use of government resources ever possible." Sabita Mallik, a researcher and housewife based in UK expresses her grief saying, "Odias across the world are not getting to know each other and facebook is a saviour for us to reach out to them. When I came to know about wikipedia I was very sur- prised to find that Wikipedia also exists in Odia language and now I can contribute so many articles on traditional crafts of Odisha". Manoranjan Behera, a VFX artist based in Mumbai excitedly expressed, "Wikipedia is not a small thing. It's about how much we can imagine and moreover it's in our own language. Let's pro- mote it among as many people as we can." Krupasindhu Muduli, son of famous Odia singer Arbind Muduli, another VFX artist based in Bhubaneswar who has contributed many articles and pictures related to music and film industry says, "Wikipedia is such fun. I have spent some qual- ity time on Wikipedia and con- tributed resources which will be helpful for other people". Swetapadma Satapathy, a rural development manager in AP who has spent time in remote areas of Koraput district says, "Tribal culture has such interesting things that the world should know. Odia Wikipedia is a place where I can contribute about the traditional drink Handia with photos". Diptiman, an MTech student in BITS, Mesra proudly says, "I miss my home and fun days of Engineering. After finishing my studies, I am writing articles related to Computer Science in Odia". Mrutyunjay Kar, who has led organizing workshops in Angul and Cuttack, spends his leisure time expressing his love for language saying, "Most peo- ple in my organization, NALCO spend their leisure time playing cards and I spend time editing Odia Wikipedia." Suratha Parhi was looking for a way to share his knowledge and found Wikipedia. He says, "I was so excited to find Odia wikipedia and never stopped writing in it for even a day after that." Needless to say he has con- tributed over 60 articles on medicinal plants. Subhransu Mishra, who is a doctor from Baleswar silently contributes from his busy schedule and his articles on Medicinal plants are well written and cited with reli- able sources. "My sister Sunanda, who is in US now, is brushing her writing skills while nurturing her daughter so she can learn Odia when she grows up!" Chinmaya Dash, a pharmacist shares how he spends time on collecting resources for writing articles on medical topics. An engineering student Jnanaranjan Sahoo from Kendrapara says, "It is the love for mother language which drives me and I think students can write a lot on Wikipedia". Srikant Kedia, a student in DAV School, Cuttack is proud of him- self as a contributor to Odia Wikipedia, "Our education sys- tem doesn't give emphasis on Odia, but it never deprives my interests in helping people feel proud of our language. I am planning to take up Odia tuition this summer", he said. Kamalakanta Nayak from Cuttack adds, "The great heritage of Cuttack drives me to write articles on Wikipedia. It is also a place where I can share my pho- tos which others would be searching". Asutosh Kar, design lead in Infosys, one of the initial contributors of Odia wikipedia adds, "We believe in working as an elaborate team. We support each other and bring new people to write on Wikipedia". Sailesh, a tenth grade student from Bhubaneswar explains, "We are not encouraged much for learn- ing Odia in our schools. It's my personal interest for my lan- guage and I want other people start writing in Odia. After all, Wikipedia is free for everyone!" -- ଅଂଶୁମାନ ଗିରି http://or.wikipedia.org http://facebook.com/groups/odiawiki
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