Considering Harivansh Rai Bachchan as her ideal, a Post Graduate in English literature, Dr Poonam Nigam Sahay has come a long way and has set a benchmark for all her contemporaries in the field of academics especially linguistics. Dr Sahay serving as Associate professor of Hindi at Ranchi University presently is the only person from India to be selected as the strategic advisor to develop Hindi content for the renowned Oxford University Press (OUP).
OUP on October 20 announced the launch of the Hindi online dictionary. Notably, according to the OUP, Hindi is the ninth language to become part of the Oxford Global languages (OGl) programme which has led to the development of a Hindi-Hindi online dictionary.
Dr. Sahay who is in teaching profession since more than a decade now extends her gratitude towards her parents for providing her with the strong educational background that has helped her in achieving this success, beside her immense interest in linguistics. “My strong hold over the languages has given me the opportunity to be the part of this renowned brand and promote Hindi on the wider perspective. Here my parent’s contribution is distinct as they have inculcated the understanding of language inside me since my early childhood days,” said Sahay.
Sahay has applied for the prestigious post two years back and after going through several rounds of informal interviews over phone, through E-mails by expert panelists at Oxford, UK, she was all successful in impressing the selection team and finally grabbed the coveted post.
The Hindi site which has been developed will be supported by a ‘language Champion’, who will provide strategic advice and help in creating awareness about the initiative accordingly with the time covering all facets of language. OGl is one of the most momentous projects of OUP which aims to build dictionaries and lexicographical resources for approximately 100 global languages widely used and to make them available online.
An Avid reader and a passionate writer, Sahay is also penning down books and often seeks advice from her two IITian Kids on several topics to widen her orb of writing. Sahay considered the new media platforms as one of the most interactive, feasible and fastest medium of communication for this endeavor.
“All information is just a click away now and is the best medium to interact with the stakeholders including the users digitally. A digital platform for languages not just provides vast storage of language data in a composite way at one place that is accessible anytime but also helps in the enhancement of the content and exchange of certain ideas on vivid topics to widen the knowledge dome,” added, Sahay.