Wikipedia is everything. But when it comes to Indian languages there is a whole lot of distance to cover. Pooja Jadhav, who has a background in Computer Science, learnt 2D design, 3D design, communication and management and a whole lot more, is going that distance. The 25-year-old became a Computer Lab Assistant at Vigyan Ashram and began to mentor other students. Not just this, they also bagged a project with Wikipedia to convert articles to Marathi and now, she is the Senior Regional Contributor at Marathi Wikipedia. "As a part of T20, we had also learnt about presentation skills and personality development. Putting these skills to good use, I have travelled to other cities for the Wikipedia training and this has instilled a lot of confidence in me," says the youngster.
Pooja also took up a Fab Academy course last year and as a part of her final year project, she chose to work on a display that shows the reserve water levels of the dam in Pabal and also tells you how much longer it can be used. But this is just one feather in her cap, her immense contribution towards Marathi Wikipedia is laudable. "I have contributed over 400 articles and edited over 4,000 articles; scanned over 40,000 pages and uploaded it on Wikimedia and uploaded over 400 pictures on Wikimedia Commons as well," she lists. Astounding! She is even training other girls to contribute to Marathi Wikipedia and one such youngster is Komal.
"Pooja tai taught us all kinds of skills — from photoshop to the basic knowledge of computers and from PowerPoint to video editing," shares the 21-year-old who is currently focussed on contributing to Marathi Wikipedia as much as she can. "When you Google anything, the first search that shows up is Wikipedia and I work for it. I feel so proud," she shares. Komal gave her BCom exams this year and is planning to pursue MCom soon.
A pilot project sowed half a decade ago, the Tata Motors Vigyan Ashram programme, T20, is the reason for all this. It has been helmed by Tata Motors and implemented by NGO Vigyan Ashram, who back in 2016-2017 decided that an exclusive batch of 20 girls would be enrolled in Diploma in Basic Rural Technology at the Vigyan Ashram centre in Pabal, a village in the Pune district of Maharashtra. There is nothing more heart-warming than looking at young girls who are owning their futures and contributing towards a larger cause as well.
