इकोनोमिक्स टाइम्स में महिला ब्‍लागर्स की चर्चा

सात फरवरी के इकोनोमिक्स टाइम्स, अहमदाबाद में महिला चिट्ठाकारों पर एक लेख छपा है। इसमें विशेष रूप से स्वर्ण कलम विजेता रंजना भाटिया एवं सुनिता चौटिया की चर्चा है। इसके साथ ही छवि मीडिया सर्विसेज, तरकश और हिन्द-युग्म का भी जिक्र है। किसी ब्‍लॉग पर चर्चा थी कि मितुल ठक्कर साथ साथ इसको लिखने वाली पूर्वा भाटिया, रंजनाजी की पुत्री हैं। ब्‍लॉग खबरिया की ओर से सभी को बधाई।
Vernacular blogs hook Indian women
Mitul Thakkar & Purva Bhatia AHMEDABAD
INDIAN homemakers’ obsession is not limited to only Hindi sops. They are wielding the mouse as efficiently as a TV remote. Thanks to the easy access to the services and toolbars in vernacular, Indian women have broken all barriers to the cyber world.
They are not earning yet, but are happy getting their views posted on the web. Looking at the constantly increasing numbers, it is also believed that the future of regional blogging is bright and will have its impact on publishing in the long run.
For instance, Sunita Chotiya Shanoo, after her 16-year long stint in tea exports, realised that internet is well beyond just tracking cargo. “I started by reading a lot of Hindi blogs. It took me some time but I learnt how to post and translate.” she says. And now she is working on authoring a book of poems for school children.
According to netizens, there were hardly any women bloggers but the number is increasing each day. And now there are forums to promote recognise and encouraging women bloggers. Delhi-based Chithakar (blogger in English) Ranjana Bhatia, recipient of an award for being the best blogger by Gujarat-based Chhavi Media Services (CMS) had inclination to write. But, it was only for own satisfaction. In the last couple of years, she has learnt the tricks of the clicks to reach the larger audience through her blog.
“Initially, I was unaware of the possibility of reaching out to so many people. But now the recent recognition has encouraged me to write more about the issues that touch me as well as can influence the society in positive manner,” Mr Bhatia says. She contributes to 5 blogs regularly and is now confident to pen a book.
CMS is engaged into promoting Indian languages launched an infotainment portal www.tarakash.com in 2006. “Initially, blogging in vernacular was not too easy so we started with a multi-lingual platform. However, the concept is now picking up well and today we have over 100 bloggers writing in different Indian languages,” CMS MD Pankaj Bengani says.
The bloggers weren’t differentiated through the lens of gender last year since there were negligible female bloggers in the year the poll was first held. “In the year 2006, there were just half a dozen women bloggers. This time there were over 50 women bloggers associated with us. A total of 20 popular blogs – 10 in each category – were selected out of over 130 blogs,” says Bengani.
www.hindyugm.com is another online Hindi platform on the lines of popular English portal www.poetry.com and receives regular contribution from 75 authors. It receives about 1000 hits a day and has contributors from India as well as Nepal, UAE, Singapore, USA, and Australia. In Jan 2007, Hindyugm started competition Hind Yugm Unikavi and Unipathak Pratiyogita to promote Hindi Blogging. “Hindyugm started with only six participants and now we have 50 poets as contestants. Similarly, the visitors too have increased from mere 85 to more than 1000 a day now,” Hindyugm promoter Shailesh Bharatwasi says.
mitul.thakkar@timesgroup.com