How India's smartphone revolution is creating a new generation of readers and writers | Chiki Sarkar

Prevodilac: Dragana Savanovic Lektor: Ivana Krivokuća

Look all around you.

Pogledajte oko sebe.

Whether you're in a subway, a park, an airport, a restaurant,

Bilo da ste u podzemnoj, u parku, na aerodromu, u restoranu,

even at this conference,

ili čak na ovoj konferenciji,

all of you have a phone in your hands or maybe in your pockets.

svi imate telefon u rukama ili možda u džepovima.

How many of you have a book?

Koliko vas ima knjigu?

Very few, right?

Samo nekoliko, zar ne?

This is the sight that used to greet me

Ovaj prizor bi me dočekao

every time I walked out of my office block.

svaki put kad bih izašla iz kancelarije.

I was surrounded by a sea of 20-something professionals

Bila sam okružena morem profesionalaca u dvadesetim godinama

glued to their phones.

zalepljenih za svoje telefone.

And not a single one had a book in their hands.

Niko nije imao knjigu u rukama.

And this used to make me very, very frustrated.

I to bi me činilo jako, jako frustriranom.

I was a bookworm all my life.

Bila sam knjiški moljac čitavog života.

Books formed the milestones of my life.

Knjige su bile prekretnice mog života.

The first man I fell in love with was Mr. Darcy.

Prvi čovek u kog sam se zaljubila bio je gospodin Darsi.

I first read "Harry Potter" when I was 21, on a summer break from college.

Prvi put sam pročitala „Harija Potera“ u 21. godini na letnjem raspustu.

And I remember the first night I spent in a little flat I bought in my mid-20s,

I sećam se prve noći koju sam provela u malom stanu kupljenom u mojim 20-im,

very proudly,

veoma ponosno,

and I spent the whole night reading "The Da Vinci Code."

čitajući „Da Vinčijev kod“ cele noći.

And then I'm going to make a terrible confession:

A sada ću vam priznati nešto užasno:

even today, when I'm low, I get into bed with "War and Peace."

čak i danas, kad se osećam loše, legnem u krevet uz „Rat i mir“.

Don't laugh.

Nemojte se smejati.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

But I was also like all those people I saw around me:

Ali, bila sam kao i svi ljudi oko mene:

I, too, lived on my phone.

i ja sam živela na telefonu.

I ordered my groceries online,

Naručivala sam namirnice onlajn,

and soon my app knew that I needed a monthly dose of diapers.

pa je uskoro moja aplikacija znala da mi treba mesečna zaliha pelena.

I booked my cinemas on my phone.

Rezervisala sam bioskop preko telefona.

I booked planes on my phone.

Rezervisala sam avion preko telefona.

And when I did the long commute back home like most urban Indians,

I na dugim putovanjima kući, kao većina urbanih Indijaca,

and was stuck in traffic,

zaglavljena u saobraćaju, ubijala sam vreme na Vatsapu,

I passed the time on WhatsApp, video-chatting my twin.

na video pozivu sa sestrom blizakinjom.

I was part of an extraordinary revolution that was happening in India.

Bila sam deo izvanredne revolucije koja se događala u Indiji.

Indians are the second-largest users of smartphones in the world.

Indijci su drugi u svetu po korišćenju pametnih telefona.

And data prices have been slashed so radically

A cene podataka su smanjene tako radikalno

that half of urban India and even a part of rural India

da polovina urbane Indije i čak deo ruralne Indije

now have a smartphone with a data connection in their hands.

sada ima pametne telefone sa internetom u svojim rukama.

And if you know anything about India,

A ako znate išta o Indiji, znaćete da je „pola“

you'll know that "half" means, like, all of America or something.

kao cela Amerika ili tako nešto.

You know, it's large numbers.

Znate, to su velike brojke.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

And these numbers are just growing and growing and growing.

A brojevi stalno rastu.

Eksplodiraju.

They're exploding.

And what they're doing is empowering Indians

Osnažuju Indijce

in all kinds of extraordinary ways.

na razne izvanredne načine.

And yet, none of these changes that I was seeing around me

Ipak, nijedna od ovih promena koje sam viđala

were reflected in my world, my world of books.

se nije odrazila na moj svet, svet knjiga.

I live in a country the size of Europe,

Živim u zemlji veličine Evrope,

and it only has 50 decent bookshops.

koja ima samo 50 pristojnih knjižara.

And Indians just didn't seem to want to read for fun.

Činilo se da Indijci nisu želeli da čitaju iz zabave.

So if you look at all the best-seller lists in India,

Tako da, ako pogledate listu bestselera u Indiji,

what you'll always find in the best-seller list

ono što ćete na njoj uvek naći

su ispitna i stručna literatura.

is exam and professional guides.

Imagine if you found the SAT guides as the "New York Times" number one seller,

Zamislite kada bi priručnik za test SAT

mesecima bio najprodavaniji na listi Njujork tajmsa.

month after month.

And yet, the smartphone revolution was creating readers and writers

Ipak, revolucija pametnih telefona

stvarala je čitaoce i pisce drugačije vrste.

of a different kind.

Whether it was on Facebook or WhatsApp,

Bilo to na Fejsbuku ili Vatsapu,

Indians were writing and sharing and reading all kinds of things:

Indijci su pisali, delili i čitali najrazličitije stvari:

terrible jokes, spurious pop history,

užasne viceve, lažnu pop istoriju,

long, emotional confessions,

dugačke, emotivne ispovesti,

diatribes against the government.

kritike protiv vlade.

And as I read and shared these things, I wondered to myself,

Čitajući i deleći ove stvari, pitala sam se:

"Could I get these writers and these readers,

„Mogu li ove pisce i čitaoce

could I turn them into my readers?"

da preobratim u svoje čitaoce?“

And so I left my plush corner office

Tako da sam napustila svoju udobnu kancelariju

and my job as the publisher of India's top publishing company,

i svoj posao izdavača najbolje indijske izdavačke kuće,

and I set up on my own.

i osnovala svoj posao.

I moved into a single large room in a cheap bohemian district of Delhi,

Prešla sam u veliku prostoriju

u jeftinom boemskom delu Delhija sa malim timom.

with a small team.

And there, I set up a new kind of publishing house.

Tamo sam osnovala novu vrstu izdavačke kuće.

A new kind of publishing house needs a new kind of reader

A ona zahteva novu vrstu čitalaca

and a new kind of book.

i novu vrstu knjiga.

And so I asked myself, "What would this new reader want?

Pa sam se zapitala: „Šta bi novi čitalac želeo?

Would they prize urgency, relevance,

Da li bi cenio hitnost, relevantnost,

timeliness, directness --

pravovremenost, direktnost -

the very qualities they seem to want from their online services,

baš one kvalitete koje oni žele od svojih onlajn usluga,

indeed, the qualities they seem to want from life today?"

zapravo, kvalitete koje žele od života danas?“

I knew that my readers were always on the go.

Znala sam da su moji čitaoci uvek u pokretu.

I'd have to fit into their lifestyle and schedules.

Morala bih da se uklopim u njihov način života i raspored.

Would they actually want to read a 200-page book?

Da li bi oni uopšte želeli da čitaju knjigu od 200 strana?

Or would they want something a little bit more digestible?

Ili bi želeli neko malo lakše štivo?

Indians are incredibly value-conscious,

Indijci su neverovatno štedljivi,

especially when it comes to their online reading.

pogotovo kad se radi o čitanju onlajn.

I knew I had to give them books under a dollar.

Znala sam da im moram obezbediti knjige za manje od dolara.

And so my company was formed, and it was born.

I tako je rođena moja firma.

It was a platform where we created a list of stories designed for the smartphone,

Bila je to platforma sa listom priča dizajniranih za pametne telefone,

but it also allowed amateur writers to upload their own stories,

koja je, takođe, dozvoljavala amaterima da okače sopstvene priče,

so they could be showcased along with the very writers

kako bi bile prikazane zajedno uz baš one pisce

they read and admired.

koje čitaju i kojima se dive.

And we could also enter into other people's digital platforms.

Mogli smo i da uđemo na digitalne platforme drugih ljudi.

So, imagine this:

Pa, zamislite ovo:

imagine you're a receptionist, you've had a long day at work,

vi ste recepcioner i imali ste dug dan na poslu,

you book your cab in your ride-hailing app,

rezervišete taksi svojom aplikacijom,

it shows up,

on stiže,

and you get into your car, and you lie back on your seat,

uđete u auto, smestite se na sedište

and you put on your app.

i upalite aplikaciju.

And you find a set of stories waiting for you, timed to your journey.

I pronađete priče koje vas čekaju, specijalno za putovanje.

Imagine you're a gay young woman,

Zamislite da ste mlada lezbejka

in a relatively conservative city like Lucknow, which lies near Delhi.

iz relativno konzervativnog grada kao što je Laknau, blizu Delhija.

There's no way your parents know about your sexuality.

Vaši roditelji ne smeju da saznaju za to.

They'd completely freak out.

Skroz bi odlepili.

Would you like lesbian love stories written in Hindi, priced under a dollar,

Da li biste hteli lezbejske ljubavne priče na hindiju, za manje od dolara,

to be read in the privacy of your phone?

da možete da čitate na svom telefonu?

And could I match readers

Da li bih mogla da spojim čitaoce

to the events that were taking place around them in real time?

sa događajima u njihovoj okolini u realnom vremenu?

So we published biographies of very famous politicians

Tako smo objavljivali biografije vrlo poznatih političara

after they won big elections.

nakon pobeda na važnim izborima.

When the supreme court decriminalized homosexuality,

Kada je vrhovni sud dekriminalizovao homoseksualnost,

an LGBTQ collection was waiting on our home page.

LGBTQ kolekcija je čekala na našoj početnoj strani.

And when India's Toni Morrison, the great writer Mahasweta Devi died,

A kada je Toni Morison Indije, velika spisateljica Mahasveta Devi umrla,

our readers found a short story by her as soon as news hit.

naši čitaoci su našli njenu kratku priču čim je vest osvanula.

The idea was to be relevant to every moment of a reader's life.

Ideja je bila da budemo u toku sa svakim trenutkom života naših čitalaca.

Who are our readers?

Ko su naši čitaoci?

They're mostly young men under the age of 30.

Uglavnom su to muškarci ispod 30 godina.

There's someone like Salil,

Neko kao što je Salil,

who lives in a city where there isn't a modern bookshop.

koji živi u gradu u kom nema modernih knjižara.

And he comes to our app almost every day.

On koristi aplikaciju skoro svaki dan.

There's someone like Manoj,

Neko kao što je Manodž,

who mostly reads us during the long commute back home.

koji nas uglavnom čita tokom dugog puta do kuće.

And there's someone like Ahmed, who loves our nonfiction

Neko kao što je Ahmed, koji voli našu nefikciju

that he can read in a single sitting, and that's priced very low.

koju može odjednom da pročita i koja je jako jeftina.

Imagine if you're like a young, techie boy

Zamislite da ste mladi dečko zaluđen tehnikom

in India's Silicon Valley city of Bangalore.

u indijskoj Silicijumskoj dolini, gradu Bangalor.

And one day, you get an in-app notification

A onda jednog dana, aplikacija vas obaveštava

and it says that your favorite actress has written a sexy short story

da je vaša omiljena glumica napisala seksi kratku priču

and it's waiting for you.

koja vas čeka.

That's how we launched Juggernaut.

Tako smo pokrenuli Džagernaut.

We got a very famous ex-adult star, called Sunny Leone.

Došli smo do bivše poznate glumice za odrasle Sani Leon.

She's India's most Googled person, as it happens.

Ona je najguglanija osoba u Indiji.

And we got her to write us a collection of sexy short stories

I ona nam je napisala kolekciju kratkih seksi priča

that we published every night for a week.

koje smo objavljivali nedelju dana svako veče.

And it was a sensation.

To je bila senzacija.

I mean, no one could believe that we'd asked Sunny Leone to write.

Niko nije mogao da veruje da Sani Leon piše za nas.

But she did,

Ali je pisala,

and she proved everyone wrong,

pokazala svima da greše,

and she found this immense readership.

i pronašla je ogromnu čitalačku publiku.

And just as we've redefined what a book is and how a reader behaves,

Baš kad smo redefinisali pojam knjige i ponašanje čitaoca,

we're rethinking who an author is.

preispitujemo ko je autor.

In our amateur writing platform,

Na našoj platformi za pisce amatere,

we have writers that range from teenagers to housewives.

imamo pisce od tinejdžera do domaćica.

And they're writing all kinds of things.

I oni pišu najrazličitije stvari.

It starts as small as a poem, an essay, a single short story ...

Kratke kao što su stihovi, eseji, kratke priče...

Fifty percent of them are returning to the app to write again.

Pedeset posto njih se vraća na aplikaciju da opet piše.

Take someone like Neeraj.

Na primer, Niradž.

He's a middle-aged executive, wife, two kids, a good job.

On je sredovečni izvršni direktor, ima ženu, dvoje dece i dobar posao.

And Neeraj loves to read.

I voli da čita.

But every time Neeraj read a book that he loved,

Ali svaki put kad bi pročitao knjigu koju voli,

he was also filled with regret.

bio bi ispunjen žaljenjem.

He wondered to himself if he could write, too.

Pitao se da li bi i on mogao da piše.

He was convinced he had stories in his mind.

Bio je ubeđen da ima priče na umu.

But time and real life had happened, and he couldn't really manage it.

Ali vreme i stvarni život mu nisu dozvoljavali.

And then he heard about the Juggernaut writer's platform.

A onda je čuo za platformu Džagernaut za pisce.

And what he loved about it was that he felt this was a place

Ono što mu se svidelo kod nje je što je osećao da tamo

where he could stand head and shoulders, equally,

može da bude rame uz rame

with the very writers that he most admired.

baš sa onim piscima kojima se najviše divio.

And so he began to write.

I tako je počeo da piše.

And he snatched a minute here, an hour there,

Ugrabio bi minut ili sat, tu i tamo,

in between flights in airports,

između letova,

late at night, when he had a little bit of time on his hands.

kasno noću, kada bi se dočepao malo slobodnog vremena.

And he wrote this extraordinary story for us.

I napisao je izvanrednu priču za nas.

He wrote a story about a family of assassins

Napisao je priču o porodici plaćenih ubica

who lived in the winding lanes of Old Delhi.

koji žive u krivudavim ulicama starog Delhija.

We loved it, it was so fresh and original.

Svidela nam se, bila je tako sveža i originalna.

And before Neeraj knew it, he'd not only scored a film deal

I u tren oka, Niradž je dobio ne samo ponudu za film,

but also a second contract to write another story.

već i ugovor da napiše drugu priču.

Neeraj's story is one of the most read stories on our app.

Njegova priča je jedna od najčitanijih na našoj aplikaciji.

My journey is very, very young.

Moje putovanje je tek u samom začetku.

We're a two-year-old company, and we have a long way to go.

Mi smo kompanija stara dve godine, pred kojom je dug put.

But we already, and we will by the end of this year,

Ali već imamo, i imaćemo do kraja ove godine,

have about half a million stories, many priced at under a dollar.

oko pola miliona priča, od kojih su mnoge jeftinije od dolara.

Most of our readers love reading

Većina naših čitalaca voli da čita

and trying out authors they've never, ever heard of before.

i isprobava autore za koje nikada nisu ni čuli.

Thirty percent of our home page reads

Trideset posto stvari sa početne strane

comes out of the writing that comes from our writer's platform.

potiču sa platforme naših autora.

By being everywhere,

Budući da smo svuda,

by being accessible and relevant,

da smo pristupačni i relevantni,

I hope to make reading a daily habit,

nadam se da će čitanje postati svakodnevica,

as easy and effortless as checking your email,

lako i prirodno kao provera imejla,

as booking a ticket online

rezervacija karte onlajn

or ordering your groceries.

ili naručivanje namirnica.

And as for me,

Što se tiče mene,

I've discovered that as I entered the six-inch world of the smartphone,

otkrila sam da je, ulazeći u svet pametnih telefona od šest inča,

my own world just got very, very big.

moj svet postao jako veliki.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)