[Nepal] Meaning of encoding Nepal script

[Michael Everson]

On 14 Apr 2009, at 03:22, Suwarn Vajracharya wrote:

> But it is really pity that our friends are not convinced that the  
> encoding Ranjana script over Prachalit script will be impractical.

That isn't fair.

> Prof. Kamal Malla has given enough detail history of the use of  
> Ranjana scripts then and now and pointed out that it will be of less  
> use of Ranjana scripts even though huge amount of time (2 years) and  
> money (Only Michael knows how much he has got) spent on encoding  
> Ranjana.

Frankly, it isn't very much money. And I haven't got any of it yet.  
And the people who are paying the money are the ones who decided which  
script it should be used for. I don't have any control about that, and  
all I can do is beg you to forgive us for doing one thing rather than  
the other in the short term. We do not intend to make you or anyone  
else in Nepal unhappy.

> I have joined this forum NEPAL EVERTYPE with a great hope that it  
> will help to revive practical script of Nepal and other related  
> scripts later as and when necessary. But I dont understand why  
> Michael is so adamant in encoding some impractical script.

We have a saying: "He who pays the piper calls the tune." The decision  
was taken to do one script first. THat's all. And there *are* other  
people who want Ranjana encoded, for practical reasons of history and  
scholarship.

> I think we should use our time and money for a wider and practical  
> use not for someone's personal fun.

Ranjana is an important historical script! You are not being fair to  
me, or to the people who have a little bit of money and who had to  
decide what to spend it on.

Can you help this effort? Are there NGOs working in Nepal who could  
fund work on Prachalit and similar scripts?

> Ranjana script can be made a font part of Prachalit after its  
> encoding. In fact all Nepal scripts can be made fonts compatible to  
> Devanagara fonts even now. We have been enthusiastic about having a  
> separate encoding for Nepal scripts as they bear separate identity  
> only. Please find out for yourselves.

I don't believe these scripts should be unified with each other or  
with Devanagari. I've also been talking to people about encoding  
Prachalit and Ranjana as far back as 1998. It wasn't possible to do  
any work until now, because there were no resources available to  
enable me to work on it. Now there are some resources. Not enough for  
two scripts. If you think the wrong choice was made, I can only  
apologize to you. I didn't make the choice -- and right now it is too  
late to change the choice, because of scheduling associated with the  
funding that is out of everyone's hands.

> 1) Change the plan as Nepal script encoding and encode the Prachalit  
> script and make Ranjana another font for the same encoding. For  
> example there are hundreds of fonts for Devanagara script made by  
> font developers in India and Nepal.

Ranjana is structurally different from Prachalit, so it should have  
its own encoding. Ranjana is also a lot more complicated than  
Prachalit, as we are learning. So we simply cannot implement your  
suggestion (1).

> 2) If the first proposal is not acceptable, then kindly change your  
> forum and project name to "Ranjana Digest" not "Nepal Digest" as  
> your project does not qualify to be called a Nepal Digest. So that  
> you can go ahead as you like and we do not need to bother you again.  
> I don't think there is any meaning of your encoding Ranjana at the  
> expenses of Prachalit script, which is of more practical use than  
> Ranjana script.

Ranjana is used in Nepal and elsewhere. Other scripts are used in  
Nepal as well. I'm not going to change the name of list -- which means  
deleting this list and all of its archives and creating a new one. I  
don't want the archive to be lost. So I will not implement your  
suggestion (2). This is cosmetic anyway.

> Hope you will reconsider one of the above. I am sure you want to  
> spend your valuable time and money (?) to a worthy and practical  
> result oriented project, not just a money making project.

Be fair, Suwarn. I am not independently wealthy. I have to pay my rent  
like everyone else. My dharma is to encode scripts, and if I *were*  
rich that is all that I would do, encode scripts, and make fonts for  
them. As I said I have been talking about the scripts of Nepal for a  
decade. Now someone -- outside of Nepal -- has come forward with a  
little  money and asked me to do some work.

I *want* to encode Prachalit, and to study it and the other forms used  
in Nepal to see whether there needs to be further disunifications or  
not. That is part of my own dharma. It is also part of my career. I  
have to ask you -- can you or anyone else in Nepal help us find funds  
to do this work? From the government? From UNESCO? From UNDP? From  
somewhere else?

With sincere respect,
Michael