800 postcard stories now available as free e-books

Approximately 800 stories that were written on postcards last year have now been converted into 14 e-books, which are available for the public for free.

However, it is highly unlikely that the 2,600 stories from 2013 will see a similar conversion, as India Post does not seem keen to do so.

In 2014, a competition, 'Stories on a Postcard,' was held by the Katha Kosa and Kitab Khana in order to promote story-telling. The same was organised in 2013 in association with India Post, the first edition of the competition.

"These 800-odd stories are in different languages and now available on our website in the form of 14 e-books. The languages include Marathi, English, Hindi, Gujarati and Urdu. The postcards have been scanned and digitised to enable a wider reach among masses," said Dhara Kothari from Katha Kosa.

India Post had received three times as many stories in 2013, but they are still lying at the General Post Office in Fort. The authorities are not interested in getting them converted into digital form. Some of these entries were also displayed at the Story Telling Festival in the United Kingdom.

Stories on a Postcard is a project conducted out of sheer passion and belief in stories as well as to inculcate an interest in the art of storytelling, which appears to be generally fading thanks to the Internet and online gaming.