Times of India : "Wiki league" , Hyderabad Ed, Hyderabad Times - 25 May 2011
Who wrote my Wiki?
A group of Hyderabadi, techies, professors and students have turned Wikipedia editors to write about everything from haleem to highways and share it with the world
Wiki league
Whether you want to find out the latest dope on Arnold Schwarzenneger’s love child or how Osama was really killed, all you need to do is just “Wiki it” up. But the headquarters of this Web superhero that always comes to your rescue, could just be your neighbour’s crib!
We know Wikipedia is the world’s largest free, collaborative encyclopedia project where anyone can contribute. But how many of us actually do it? Head to one session of the city’s “Wikipedia meet-up” and you’ll be surprised.
These ‘Wikipedians’ catch up regularly to talk about everything from promoting India on this global platform to adding colour to our own city’s entries. Srikanth Lakshmanan, proudly sporting a Wikipedia tee, says, “I started by editing a page on my college and went on to write 50 articles on Indian roads. If you spare time to write accurate info about something you like, it becomes a point of reference for the world.”
For the Wiki page on Hyderabadi haleem, you have Randhir Reddy, a local contributor, to thank. “When I realized there is no page on haleem, I started one and it turned out to get a huge number of hits. My page on the local Bathukamma Festival too was much read.”
Giridhar Rao, a professor of humanities in IIIT, Hyderabad, who contributes to Wiki pages in Esperanto, an artificial international language with a vocabulary based on word roots common to many European languages, says,“If you don’t feel confident enough to start your own Wikipedia page, you can contribute to existing ones.”
Seconding the opinion is Hisham Mundol a consultant to the Wikimedia Foundation. “Since we think, dream and express best in our mother tongue, contributing to the pages in Indian regional languages is also a great way to share our knowledge.” Ashhar Farhan, the curator of Lamakaan, where the meet was held, shares an experience. “The page on actress Tabu, who is a dear friend, read, ‘Hindu film actress,’ instead of ‘Hindi film actress.’ She asked me to help her out, so I tried editing it. My edit was rejected as I was considered a vandal who was sabotaging the article. So it’s important to give reference to a newspaper article or a book while making any change.”
Hyderabadi Wikipedia enthusiasts at the meetup
Regards
Tinu Cherian
Tinu Cherian