With 2.4 million views on YouTube, animated series to be launched in 22 languages

Even as the country gets ready to celebrate the birth anniversary of former President A.P.J Abdul Kalam on October 15, a Puducherry-based social enterprise is set to take his stories across India through an animated series in all 22 official languages in the future.

Launched in 2011 with the encouragement of Dr.Abdul Kalam himself, the series by BookBox is available in English, Hindi, Tamil and Gujarati, and has recorded nearly 2.4 million views on YouTube.

The series have five inspiring anecdotes from Mr. Kalam’s journey from his childhood, to his experiences as a scientist and as a leader.

The animated books or ‘AniBooks’ use the concept of Same Language Subtitles (SLS). The Kalam series has been screened in several schools, television channels and by DTH operators, over the years.

Brij Kothari, who did his schooling in Puducherry, developed BookBox and PlanetRead.org while on a Reuters Digital Vision Fellowship at Stanford University, U.S., and is at present faculty at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Both organisations work in the field of literacy development and promotion of Same Language Subtitles. When asked about the impact of the series, Mr. Kothari said, “Dr. Kalam is a rare figure who helped transcended and bridge religious, linguistic, geographical and hierarchical divides.

What makes him an inspiration to so many children and adults alike? The answer lies in the ordinary stories from his life and the extraordinary lessons he drew from them.” Mr. Kalam’s stories are part of BookBox’s Legendary Lives series which also feature stories of other personalities like Kiran Bedi.

“The series impact many at various levels, but the most important being drawing an inspiration from legends like Kalam. The animated stories, however, goes further through design elements that strengthen reading and language skills. These stories can easily be adapted into any language and distributed on any screen.

“In essence, BookBox is a model for delivering a reading experience, to every child, in her or his language,” said Mr. Kothari.

BookBox wants to feature more inspirational figures like Sachin Tendulkar.

“Ideally, we’d like to feature inspirational personalities and have stories from their lives produced and packaged as animated stories, children’s books, and TV programming,” said Mr. Kothari.

The Same Language Subtitles advantage

“Children all over the world like to watch cartoons because they’re fun. Cartoons together with SLS make the series entertaining and educational at the same time. As a result, the viewer is unaware when reading skills get practised; vocabulary and language skills get acquired,” Mr. Kothari explains.

“In India where over half the rural children in Class 5 cannot read a Class 2 level text, as ASER has reported, the integration of SLS into the entertainment that they consume on TV, can transition millions of children to become better at reading,” said Mr. Kothari.

The ‘AniBooks’ can reach a larger number of children at lower costs, with it being available in different Indian languages, and taking it to remote areas, said Mr. Kothari.

“If the content is shown on TV, the viewership and readership would multiply manifold,” he said.