Dear Indic Language Wikimedia Community members,
As part of the Indic Languages initiative of India
Programs<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_-_India_Programs/Indic_…>,
I have been having detailed discussions with a wide range of Indic language
wikipedians for the past few weeks. Yesterday I shared the summary of
discussions with few Assamese Wikipedians which helped us to understand the
current situation of Assamese wikipedia. Thank you for the discussions
and ideas that emerged on the mailing list and the talk page.
Today I'm particularly excited to share a summary of the discussions I've
been been having with *Hindi wikipedians*. It is available here:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_-_India_Programs/Indic_…
I will be honest and confess that I was not sure about the level of
engagement I would have with Hindi wikipedians because the community is
relatively quiet in public forums. I'm really pleased to report that I was
very pleasantly surprised by the broad-based, insightful, and constructive
communications. Hindi community might be silent but they are active and
full of powerful ideas. We have seen wonderful Hindi wikipedians like
Anirudh in WCI. Even though the current community strength of Hindi
wikipedia might not be good cosidering the huge speaker base of Hindi, I am
sure the situation will change soon.
Even if you are not involved in Hindi projects, I invite you to read this
report because the points raised are applicable to all Indic languages.
Personally, as someone who has been passionate about Indic languages for
many years now, I found the discussions very educative and informative and
thought-provoking. I have learnt a lot from these discussions and I hope
you find them as useful as I have. I want to thank Hindi community for
their time and their fantastic inputs.
Remember most of the issues the Hindi editors raised are applicable not
only to Hindi but for all the Indic languages. So it is important that
other Indic language communities take lessons from it while building the
community.
As mentioned before, I've edited the discussions to protect confidentiality
as well as to remove any specific personal comments.
Inviting your active participation in these discussions (either on talk
page or in the mailing lists).
Warm Regards,
Shiju Alex
I just made my annual donation today, and I must say this is one of the
warmest, smartest and most endearing thank-you letters I've ever
received. (I wanted to give by clicking on the Brandon banner - to
encourage him to grow his hair - but I missed it!) I'm also glad that
the WMF is going the rupee route - it makes the fundraiser more
understandable to us here. And the localisation is pretty detailed, so
if for instance you happen to be viewing Portuguese Wikipedia in India,
the fundraising banner displays the same local donation message (in
rupees) but in the Portuguese language.
Quite impressive :)
Cheers,
Achal
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Thank you from the Wikimedia Foundation
Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2011 05:56:37 +0000
From: Sue Gardner <donate(a)wikimedia.org>
Reply-To: Sue Gardner <donate(a)wikimedia.org>
To: Achal Prabhala <aprabhala(a)gmail.com>
Dear Achal,
You are amazing, thank you so much for donating to the Wikimedia Foundation!
This is how we pay our bills -- it's people like you, giving five
dollars, twenty dollars, a hundred dollars. My favourite donation last
year was five pounds from a little girl in England, who had persuaded
her parents to let her donate her allowance. It's people like you,
joining with that girl, who make it possible for Wikipedia to continue
providing free, easy access to unbiased information, for everyone around
the world. For everyone who helps pay for it, and for those who can't
afford to help. Thank you so much.
I know it's easy to ignore our appeals, and I'm glad that you didn't.
From me, and from the tens of thousands of volunteers who write
Wikipedia: thank you for helping us make the world a better place. We
will use your money carefully, and I thank you for your trust in us.
Thanks,
*Sue Gardner*
Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director
For your records: Your donation on 2011-11-27 was INR XXXXX.
This letter may serve as a record of your donation. No goods or services
were provided, in whole or in part, for this contribution. The Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit charitable corporation with 501(c)(3)
tax exempt status in the United States. Our address is 149 New
Montgomery, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA, 94105. U.S. tax-exempt number:
20-0049703
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Dear All,
Pl. find below link of Special focus discussion on Marathi Wikipedia in today's Tech Guru on IBN Lokmat {Telecast Saturday(26/11/2011) at 7.30 pm and sunday 10.30 am (27/11/2011)} with Sudhanwa Jogalekar, Rahul Deshmukh and Mandar Kulkarni during India Wikiconference.....
http://youtu.be/Ql8lIZeHEHI
Special thanks to Sagar for putting on web.
With Regards,
Mandar V. Kulkarni
http://mr.wikipedia.org
Dear All,
As mentioned in the last two mails, as part of the Indic Languages
initiatives of India
Programs<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_-_India_Programs/Indic_…>,
I have been having detailed discussions with a wide range of Indic language
wikipedians for the past few weeks. I already shared the summary of the
discussions I had with with the
Assamese<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_-_India_Programs/Indic_…>and
Hindi<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_-_India_Programs/Indic_…>wikimedians.
Today I'm sharing a summary of the discussions I had with the Sanskrit
wikipedians. It is available here:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_-_India_Programs/Indic_…
I must say the progress made by Sanskrit wiki projects in the past 2 years
is marvelous, especially considering the fact that its speaker base is too
low (compared to the rest of the 20 indic languages having wikipedia). The
amount of activism is Sanskrit wikisource is also very high. I am sure
Sanskrit wiki community is the one wiki community that is going
to utilize all the sister projects at its fullest.
Sanskrit wiki workshops are happening all over the country. Today I
attended a Sanskrit wiki workshop in a Sanskrit institution at New Dellhi.
In Delhi itself Sanskrit wikipedians are planning many other Sanskrit wiki
activities. With so many volunteers involved in the projects I am sure
Sanskrit is going to make good progress.
Inviting your comments on the talk page.
Regards,
Shiju Alex