Interview With Jagdeep Dangi, Creator Of Prakhar

Posted on 28. Feb, 2010 by Swapnil Bhartiya

An engineer from small-town India has created a unique Hindi language browser which will serve as a huge boon for Indian villagers. Jagdeep Dangi, an IT engineer from the hinterland of Madhya Pradesh, has created a Hindi language browser, which will benefit millions of people living in agrarian India. Since the Internet is mostly the privilege of the urban masses who have been exposed to English education, his invention will beam the world into the living rooms of rural families, where the true India lives, as Gandhi once said. Here is an interview with Jagdeep Dangi.

Swapnil: What is Prakar for an end-user, could you explain?
Dangi: There are two software packages which are known by the common name of 'Prakhar', one is Prakhar Devanagari Font Parivartak and other is Prakhar Devanagari Lipik.

It is now possible to convert any type of ASCII/ISCII (ISCII 8 bit code) Fonts to Unicode (16 bit code) in computer immediately and easily. The users of simple Hindi Remington typing can also use their favorite layout for typing like Remington keyboard layout, In-script keyboard layout and phonetic keyboard layout in Unicode based text with ease.

This software will help Hindi computer users to type, without changing fonts or keyboard, in Unicode based Devanagari script (Hindi, Marathi, Sanskrit) and Roman script (English) jointly without any hurdle in a same page.

a.) Prakhar Devanagari Font Parivartak: An ASCII/ISCII TO UNICODE CONVERTER: First and only software for the purpose of conversion of Devanagari (Hindi/Marathi/Sanskrit) Text in various ASCII/ISCII (8 bit) Fonts into Unicode (16 bit) Text immediately and easily with 100% accuracy. The biggest problem in computers was of typing in different fonts and conflicting fonts when the user types in Hindi majorly because of lack of any standard fonts. It was very difficult to convert the entire text in one font to another with precision and without compromising with the whole structure of the text. But by the use of this software this problem will be completely solved. This software will do its conversion from all such non-standard fonts with perfect precision.

b.) Prakhar Devanagari Lipik (An effective tool for e-learning): A Remington Based Unicode Typing Tool: Prakhar Devanagari Lipik is a simple word processor. This software will help Hindi computer users to type, without changing fonts or keyboard, in Unicode based Devanagari script (Hindi, Marathi, Sanskrit) and Roman script (English) jointly without any hurdle in a single page with 100% accuracy. This software is very useful for Hindi typists and other people familiar with Hindi Typewriter layout.

Any person or organisation using any Devanagari editing software can use 'Prakhar Devanagari Font Parivartak,'. These include NGOs, Newspapers, Book Publishers, DTP Houses, Journalists, Digital Libraries, Individuals and of course Governmental Organisations etc.

In most of the Government offices Hindi is the official and commonly comprehensibly language. In these Government offices, where a number of software and fonts are used in the same department, an acute problem that of interchangeability of documents from one desk to other has posed many problems. Government offices can now benefit from 'Prakhar Devanagari Font Parivartak,', as documents composed on any software can now be opened using 'Prakhar Devanagari Font Parivartak,', can be edited and be sent to the originator. This will boost the concept of paperless e-governance in real terms and that too in the language of the masses.

Swapnil: What encouraged you to develop Prakhar?
Dangi: The main encouragement behind this development was the problem of non-standardization of fonts and typing methods and numerous keyboard layouts. I faced similar problems and wanted to solve them. I have successfully solved these problems by developing Prakhar software.

People using Indian Language Software have always faced a few problems such as non-standardization of keyboards and font encoding. The non-compatibility of text amongst different Indian Language fonts has posed an acute problem for those using Indian Languages for Computing.

Fonts for English text can be very easily changed in packages like MS Word [and OpenOffice.org] etc, just by selecting a particular text block. However such facility is not available for Indian Languages. Taking the example of Devanagari alone, at this moment there are more than 25 popular Devanagari font formats and 7 different keyboard layouts.

A document composed with any of these fonts cannot be read in MS Word or even in any other application [like Open Office.org], if the specific font is not available, leave alone editing that document. This is true with all such available fonts and formats. There always was a strong need to overcome this practical problem.

The biggest problem Hindi typing was non-compatible fonts. It was very difficult to convert the entire text in one font to another with precision and without compromising with the whole structure of the text. By the use of this software this problem will be completely solved.

Presently almost all the Government websites and many Non-Governmental websites are using ASCII fonts. It is difficult to search for such ASCII/ISCII font based website on the Internet However, if the content of these websites can be converted to Unicode based fonts then they would be easily search-able. This software can help users to get access to Governmental and other websites which were earlier not reflected in the Internet search due to use of archaic fonts. Therefore, considering such distinct advantage, this software can be a great contribution for the Government and public at large.

Now I’m pleased and proud to present users with 'Prakhar Devanagari Font Parivartak', a single point solution that addresses this acute need of conversion of ASCII/ISCII Devanagari Text into Unicode with 100% accuracy. It is now possible to select a particular text and change the font in seconds.

Swapnil: What kind of support did you get from IIT? Is there any support from any private or government agency like CDAC?
Dangi: No help at all.

Swapnil: How different is Prakhar from CDAC's Darpan?
Dangi: This question is not correct. You can ask how different your software i-Browser++(Hindi Explorer) from CDAC's Darpan? Because Darpan is a browser while Prakhar is a converter.

My i-Browser++(Hindi Explorer) is better than CDAC's Darpan because it have many facilities for Hindi users.

This is the first Hindi Internet Browser cum Explorer recorded in Limca Book of Records-2007 under the title “i-Browser++ (Hindi Explorer)”.This software, replete with all the functions of Internet Explorer but in Hindi (Devanagari Script). In addition, it also has some extra functions such as opening multiple files (Same or Separate Windows ), saving files, searching files and has slides, auto history viewers, pop-up blocking, built-in digital dictionary, Edit mode on off, My Search engine, Connect to net, Open folder, Find on control, English to Hindi translators, Text highlight facilities with various features and Unicode based Hindi writing facilities, By using this feature the user can search Hindi matters from web and can even write e-mails in Hindi and send it via any popular mail client like Yahoo, Hotmail etc through this software.

One of the key functionalities of this software “i-Browser++ (Hindi Explorer)” is the word translator. All that the user has to do is to click on any English word online or offline and it would instantly translate the same in Hindi along with the correct pronunciation. This browser has a highlight function by which the user can highlight the text he wants in explorer while surfing on the net. This function not only highlights the background of the text, but also the foreground.

This browser contains a permanent translation feature through which a user can choose words he wishes to translate and the software will permanently translate it and even make it appear highlighted. The user can translate as many words as he wishes, simultaneously. The user can then take a print out of the web page along with the translation.

This software also offers two types of translators- one is Local and the other is a Global Word Translator that is compatible with all Windows applications online or offline. The built-in digital dictionary of this “i-Browser++ (Hindi Explorer)” contains more than 38,500 words, with the capability to let the end user to add as many words as he works along. This software is primarily for Hindi speaking people; however, this software can be developed into any other regional Languages in time to come.

Swapnil: Unfortunately Hindi is being suppressed by the so-called middle class of India which feel pride in speaking English; what kind of market or user-base do you see here in India? Also, Firefox and Chrome are quite popular (I use Gnu-Linux so I don't know about IE) how do you see Prakhar gain market?
Dangi: For Hindi lingual rural and urban people my all software is too much good at the point of simple Hindi language used in menus and commands with pictorial form. With compare to Firefox and Chrome my browser have many features as I was mentioned in above answer. At the point of accuracy Prakhar gives 100% accurate outputs which are not from any other software.

Swapnil: Where is Prakhar being deployed?
Dangi: This is used by some well known organizations like US Embassy, DPR in MP etc. I think in future it will be used by many other such places.

Swapnil: What is the development model of Prakhar – Muktware (free software) or proprietary?. Which license have you used for the release of Prakhar?
Dangi: Proprietary. non-exclusive paid-up license.

Swapnil: What is your opinion about Muktware and Linux?
Dangi: At the point of security it is good but not user friendly like MS technology.

Swapnil: Could you tell us more about tools developed by you?
Dangi: Some other tools developed by me are:-

a.) A duplex dictionary: Shabdakosh (Eng.-Hindi-Eng.): my dictionary-cum-thesaurus not only gives Hindi meanings and pronunciations for English words, but also gives English meanings and pronunciations for Hindi words. The dictionary is also equipped with the synonyms of the words, which makes it a powerful thesaurus. A word in the dictionary can be searched through many filters, like the suffix, prefix, or alphabets appearing in the middle of the word. The dictionary also contains idioms and phrases to make it a full-fledged commercial application.

b.) The global word translator: Anuvaadak (Eng.-Hindi): The global word translator is a powerful translating tool. First, it does not explicitly require an Internet connection and can translate any word online or offline with just a click of a mouse the software will instantly give its meaning, pronunciation and synonyms. The most important feature of this software is that it can be used in conjunction with any other application running on the Windows platform, and hence the name ‘global’. It resides in the memory as a ghost application, and while using another application, if you find a word for which you need the dictionary, you click on it and at once get its meaning on the top of the screen.

The downloadable demo-versions of the software developed by me are available on the Technology Development for Indian Languages (TDIL) website of MIT, Government of India. The Digit magazines have also released demo-versions of the software in their recent editions at various occasions. Ministry of Information Technology, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh & even Union Ministry of Information Technology, Govt. of India, The users, academicians, software experts, scientists, engineers, developers etc., have considered his work as a breakthrough in regional language computing.

The downloadable demo-versions of the software developed by me are available on the Technology Development for Indian Languages (TDIL) website of MIT, Government of India. The Digit magazines have also released demo-versions of the software in their recent editions at various occasions. Ministry of Information Technology, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh & even Union Ministry of Information Technology, Govt. of India, The users, academicians, software experts, scientists, engineers, developers etc., have considered his work as a breakthrough in regional language computing.