Wikipedia and Kishori Mohan Ganguly

Asoke K. Laha
President & MD, Interra IT

Many will ask a question as to what is the connection between the world’s largest digital encyclopaedia – Wikipedia – and Kishori Mohan Ganguly (KM Ganguly). It is a legitimate query since many will not know Ganguly who translated the first authentic version of The Mahabharata from Sanskrit to English, way back in 1883 and finished only in 1896. I hope one will realize the emotional link between the two, as you go on reading this piece. 

Wikipedia, undoubtedly, opened a new chapter in information sharing. Not only that, it provided a platform for everyone to contribute their knowledge for the common good by enabling them to edit pieces displayed in the Wikipedia. Is Wikipedia the first of its kind which allowed free expressions by the people? It is true that it is the largest-ever platform attempted by man in the digital media. But I cannot agree that it is the first-ever produced by mankind to capture everyone’s views and perceptions. Here, I want to add a caveat before coming out with my views.

Civilizations always gave people the freedom to interpret events as they occurred to them, of course in the light of newer evidences. There were no restrictions on them to follow a particular line of thought. That is quintessence of pluralistic thinking. In a way, the concept of Wikipedia is evolved on that basis. Free thinking, fearless interpretations, bold ideations, etc are part of human history.

A peep into the growth of social networking is revealing. Incremental innovations have come at regular intervals. Web-based Wikipedia was posted on the net in 1995. The precursor to the Wikipedia was Apple’s Hyper card, which had only limited social networking avenues. Towards the end of 1990s, blogs had become operational. The major innovation was in 2004, with the advent of Facebook, which brought people together to share their views. The next major developments were Twitter, LinkedIn, Skill Pages, etc which take care of certain segments of people.

These are all marvellous achievements.  But social networking platforms are not new in their essence. There were such forms that continuously improvised and edited the literature and the great works from time immemorial. Let us take The Mahabharata and The Ramayana. There are many versions of The Mahabharata and The Ramayana, each different from the other, not in essence but in narration. Some characters assume different proportions set to the imagination of the author.

They had noticed that no one version of the epics was similar and found great difficulty in understanding the inner meaning and connotations. They wanted the original version of the epics translated from Sanskrit to English. One Kishori Mohan Ganguli was approached to translate The Mahabharata into English. Initially, he was reluctant to take up the responsibility fearing that it would upset the sentiments of the people. On persuasion, he undertook the job in 1883 and came out with the translation titled “The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa translated into English Prose” in 1896. There are 18 books of translation, each known as Parva.  In the initial translations, Ganguly did not give his name, fearing that he would not be able to complete the work in his lifetime. Perhaps, he must have thought that someone else would take up his work after his death. All 18 Parvas (chapters) are on the net for those who are interested to know about it. It is also adjudged as the most authentic translation of The Mahabharata ever made.

Are the Wikipedia, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc the ultimate stages of the social media? Sooner or later, more accomplished versions will come up. Sometimes, interactive social media goes overboard when some events happen or when people get agitated, or being used by vested interests for indoctrination and the like. I am of the opinion that this effective networking system has a wider role to play. The Digital India, launched by India recently, can be a case in point. With the rollout of 4G (fourth-generation Internet-based telephony), India is poised to grow phenomenally in the digital world. It is planning to connect the remotest parts of the country to the mainstream. This may take some time, but the last-mile connectivity with every nook and corner of the country will script a new chapter in the Indian economic history.

Equally significant is the need to bring about electronics revolution in the country. The benefits of Digital Revolution can be fructified only by equipping people with devices that ensure them easy access to internet. For instance, the financial inclusion programme of the Prime Minister of India is trying to connect the people through mobile texting to keep them informed about the credits in their accounts, when and how the subsidies are credited to their account, when they can avail the overdraft facilities, etc.

Interestingly, the other day Google announced its India-focussed plan. It is taking steps for increasing Internet penetration in the country. By 2017, the largest search engine in the world is aiming to bring 500 million Indians under its ambit. That is slightly short of the halfway mark of our population at 1.2 billion. More importantly, Google is giving importance to promoting Indian language contents in the net. The idea is to make usage of the net as a habit of the people rather than limiting it to certain classes. It is partnering with smartphone manufacturers to ensure that the new phones install its Hindi keyboards. One can legitimately expect that the coverage will go beyond Hindi belt to include other important Indian languages. Google has already announced formation of an Indian Language Internet Alliance (ILIA), which will be the body that will facilitate the internet content usage in the Indian languages. 

This is a great opportunity that will be unveiling before us in the coming years. We have to encourage people to have access to net. That is possible only when the access is easy and economical. Such initiatives also should be linked up with Digital India programs, wherein we have to empower the people to go for net connections and use them regularly. Who knows some of them may turn out to be the people like Kishori Mohan Ganguly, attempting impossible things and making them happen. That is the time when “India becomes Unbound”.