Punjabi made easier

Gurvinder Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 14

To make typing and using Punjabi easier and for promoting the language, literary enthusiasts have come up with a CD of software related to Punjabi, including a number of fonts. The CD is being distributed for free for promoting the language usage.

Jameja Singh Johl, a freelance photographer and member of the Punjabi Sahitya Akademi, who has created a number of Punjabi fonts, said the idea was to ease the use of Punjabi through technology. He said the CD software comprises typing tools, font convertors for different formats, and a large number of fonts. He said there were 490 Punjabi fonts in the CD, and even the character maps of the fonts had been included.

“I used to get calls from within India and abroad regarding problems being faced while using the software. So, I thought that all tools should be brought together and given for free so that those using the language don’t face any impediments,” he said.

The CD is being sent to the Punjabi diaspora at several places in India and abroad. In addition, the CD is being sent to villages and other places where internet connectivity is a problem.

Along with the software, ghazals, poetry, audio stories and PDFs related to the Punjabi literature have been added to the CD. He said it would also be available for free download in a few days.

“Creation and promotion of such software should have been at the governmental level, so as to ease the use of language in the age of technology. However, we are doing it at our own level. It is imperative that the resources, including array of fonts and software, should be available for the proliferation of the language,” he said.