LANGUAGE IN INDIA

RAMANAYANA AND THIRUKKURAL ON MOBILE PHONE!
Great Books from All South Asian Languages!!
P. R. Harikumar, M.A., M.Phil.

MOBILE PHONES TODAY!

Mobile phones have become a day-to-day affair for all of us who move from one place to another. Technology slowly becomes an inevitable part of our life even though we may not be aware of the intricacies of the situation. In our tranquility, technology could become a friend, guide and philosopher to us. It gives us education, entertainment and enlightenment. At this juncture, we should think about the possibility of turning it into a cultural tool by adding our own tradition and cultural expressions.

LANGUAGE IN MOBILE PHONES

To transform the mobile phone as a cultural tool from its place now as a telephone instrument, we need to put our language into it. Unfortunately, the languages like ours are not in the main stream of the operating system prevailing in mobile phones. English is not adequate enough for an Indian to make the mobile phone to satisfy his own cultural needs. Recently there is a tendency among the phone manufacturers to add some regional languages in limited ways into the mobile phone. But this is not enough for the change, which we wish to bring about. So, I started my search to find out a solution, which would give me a way for getting my language in the mobile screen for reading my own cultural expressions.

RAMAYANA ON MOBILE

Since the last three years I was in search of a way by which we can read books and files written in Indian languages in mobile phones. At last I got a software called Readmaniac from the net by which I could read English files in my mobile phone. Then I thought about the possibility of Malayalam on the mobile screen. I imagined the scene where I can read poems and stories in Malayalam in my mobile phone. So I added some Malayalam fonts into that software with the help of Readmaniac builder wizard and converted some Malayalam files into Jar files, an application file for Java-enabled mobile phones.

This was the first time Malayalam files went into mobile phones. Through this way last month I downloaded all the kandas of Adhyatma Ramayana, a classic in Malayalam literature written by Thunchath Ezhuthachan in the 16th century, into my mobile. Ramayana, a 600 pages book, took only 500 KB space in mobile. By giving adownloadable link in my website or distributing through any mobile provider, it is easily accessible to common man.

THIRUKKURAL ON MOBILE

As the entry of Malayalam language in cell phone has become easier, I tried other Indian languages also. After searching a lot I could find out the possibility for entering Tamil language in the mobile phone. So, I tried to convert Tamil classical work Thirukkural into a mobile edition. Since I have only a little knowledge of Tamil language, with the help of another person I converted Thirukkural into a text file. After adding Tamil font in Readmaniac, I converted the text file into Jar file-an application for Java-enabled mobile phones. An MP3 song needs at least 4 MB space for its storage in mobile. But, for this edition of Thirukkural, only 110 KB of memory is enough.

Thirukkural was written by Thiruvalluvar in the last phase of Sangam age, possibly around 2nd-5th century A.D. Kural is the shortest meter in Tamil, i.e. a couplet. Thirukkural is divided into three parts - Arathupal (Notes on Dharma), Porutpal (Notes on country), and Kaamaththupal (Notes on Love and Married Life). It consists of 133 chapters and each chapter has its own title like Kadavul Vaazhththu, Kallamai and Arivutamai. Every chapter has 10 Kurals each. In total, 2660 lines are in the Thirukkural. This classical work has some other names like Dravidavedam, Uththaravedam, Poyyamozhi, Muppanool and Daivanool.

GREAT MATERIALS TO READ IN OUR FINGER TIPS!

Now from my small mobile screen you can browse and read the full version of this Tamil classic on morals and ethics. We can do the same in our journey wherever we go. In a short span of time, I will make available this edition in your mobile phone through any mobile service provider or via Internet. Now it is possible to convert any text or book in Tamil in any size into a mobile edition. In future, it is possible to see a man sitting in a railway compartment reading easily a new novel or a poetical work in Tamil in his mobile phone.

I think this is the first time a literary text or a text file in Tamil is converted for a mobile edition. Even in the Internet we cannot see a Jar file in Tamil and Malayalam. I think my attempt will give more chances to Tamilians in any part of the world to read his beloved Tamil books even when they are on the move.

MY GOAL – MAKE AVAILABLE GREAT BOOKS FROM ALL
SOUTH ASIAN LANGUAGES IN MOBILE PHONES!

Basically my aim is to convert the mobile phone into a cultural tool with our own traditional content from its ordinary position of a mere calling machine. In near future, I will also try to make some mobile editions of literary works written in Kannada and Telugu. I expect the wholehearted co-operation from all the well-wishers of all Indian languages including all those languages spoken in South Asia.

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