Linking A Diverse Country: Mailing Lists In
India
They¿re less glamourous than
web-sites, at first glance don¿t seem as obviously useful as e-mail, and
definitely not as luring as chat. Yet, the simple but priceless tool of
mailing-lists, which comes from an earlier Internet era, has an important role
to play in a vast and diverse country like India.
This is clearly shown from experiences from the field.
From pointers to locate texts in Sanskrit, to
developmental information use to India, expats chatting and fighting via the
Net, news from a range of sources, and even GNU/Linux techies sharing vital
information ... all this and more is making itself available on India-related
mailing lists.
Mailing-lists are indeed a treasure trove of information, and vitally useful
for a country like India. Inexpensive to operate, a well-run list can bring in
immense results. Setting up a list is easy, but keeping it going is difficult.
Says Jeanu J Mathews, based in the US:
"Internet-based mailing lists have all the standard conveniences that
anything based on the Internet has. But above and beyond that (some like the)
SAJA (South Asian Journalists Association, run by Prof Sreenath Sreenivasan of
Columbia University) is an excellent networking vehicle and the members, though
often close-minded in their outlooks, are very helpful to aspiring journalists
such as myself. I am very greatful for the same."
Mailing-lists are seldom advertised. You probably won¿t find a directory for
them. But the good ones get noticed fast. These grow in popularity through
word-of-mouth. Today, there are ¿families¿ of mailing-lists like the Indnet.org
network which offers lists guiding you about emigration law, economic news,
plain discussion, headline-news about India, library science, an employment
bulletin, and even a matrimonial digest. Some have upto 5000+ members.
First the basics. A mailing list -- or discussion
list -- comprises a group of people that read each others emails. Subscribers
to a mailing list send messages to one central email address. A special
software program then distributes this message among dozens or hundreds of the
list¿s subscribers.
This means certain advantages. It¿s like having a meeting which goes on forever
without tiring you (hopefully). Besides, your meeting allows everyone to talk
whenever convenient to you, without cutting into someone else¿s time. You
intervene when you please, and at your own convenience. Most interestingly,
once set up, all this cost very little money. (Free list-hosting sites offer
certain services, though these are showing signs of being curtailed.)If lists
can be so useful, why has India overlooked the potential of the humble mailing
list?
One reason could be that when the Net first opened up
in India in mid-1997, the allpowerful and fashionable web-site was already
making waves. Mailing-lists were in the news internationally perhaps in the
early and mid-nineties. We in India too went along with the ¿fad¿ of the times,
rather than exploring the potential of this appropriate tool. Perhaps it also
took time to understand what mailing lists were all about.
Then too, you need time, perserverence and patience to build up a mailing list. As one would guess, there¿s little money in this tool -- though its potential to build community, share information, link up people and even mobilise action sometimes is immense.