Raghunath and Manoharan announced Google Labs for India in the wake of Independence Day. The technology playground has begun by unveiling a couple of nifty tools : an iGoogle Gadget that provides an on-screen keyboard to compose search queries in various Indian languages, and an Indic script Transliteration tool that converts Hindi words written in the English script into Devanagari.

The blog post illustrates the transliteration through the opening lines of a popular Indian song Ek Sur. An inspired choice, the line

Mile sur mera tumhara to sur bane hamaara

in Hindi approximately translates into

When my harmony/music combines with yours, it becomes our (a new) harmony/music.

It loses something in my translation, but you get the idea. The song was composed for Independence Day 1988 and is the perfect anthem for the Participation Age.

Tags : India Google