Experience / Learnings From Dr. Ambedkar Audiobook Project!

MANISHA ARORA:

My journey with Let’s record started within a month of its foundation. I had started my storytelling channel – Katha Kahaani Kavya and my association with Let’s record was a smooth sail. Initially, we were recording various genres of books, course materials, Prep materials, and books for Civil services aspirants. Then one day Raam approached with the request of recording Dr. Ambedkar’s books. Initially, we were told there are 21 volumes of his complete work. We took it up immediately. Vol 1-10 was taken up by another group (Hidden Voices), hence we started with volume 11. By the time we were on volume 15, we had learned so much about how much we needed to work on the overall quality of recording as this was a huge project and chances were high that no one else would take it upon themselves to record these books professionally. By that time Deepalakshmi had also become part of the team who were recording these books regularly. Both Deepa and I started working on the plans of making the quality better with each book. Meanwhile, we discovered that these were not just 21 books, there were 40 volumes in total. From the point where we thought “we are halfway there”, we were pushed down with the realization that it was a meager 17% of the total work we had taken up. However, our enthusiasm and pace increased after that. We worked hard on the planning, execution, coordination, editing, and following up with the volunteers since each book was divided among 4-6 volunteers. Deepa and I discussed, and, planned each volume, breakdown, google drive, editing target date, etc before putting it out for volunteers. Simultaneously we were also recording these books in parts. Each book was learning not just in terms of the content that we were recording but also how all this had to be managed at the macro level for smooth execution. It was anything but smooth.

Providing guidance and setting up the system for each volunteer to maintain consistency and quality across all the work took a lot of time. On top of that, we also got involved in editing the recordings before making them available for listeners. Neither of us was trained for any of this, it was more of passion that was driving us to learn, improve, train, guide others and bring them to the same level of vision and understanding. Within a couple of months, we realized we were burning out with so much to do all the time. That’s when we put out the request that we were seeking volunteers who could take over the editing work. We found an excellent team within the group. They have been doing superb work in improving the quality, calling out the problems, (which helps in avoiding the same problems in the future recordings). [Editor Group]

I have to mention that we also found excellent people who recorded these books and gave the most valuable thing from their life – TIME. Their voices will be there forever. A huge thanks to the entire team of volunteers who have been recording, editing, planning, and executing the recordings. None of us was professional in any of these areas, but everyone learned in the process and kept on improving and delivering. Slowly we developed a system and had zoom meetings with all our volunteers. We gave a presentation covering all the areas of recording, editing, and uploading. It helped all the volunteers in connecting better and clarifying their doubts, resolving issues. For this presentation, you can click here.

We can proudly say that 40 volumes, which we had taken are recorded. And Last but not least, A big Thanks to Vishal for creating the platform for this Noble cause. I will also take the opportunity to share that as soon as we finish the project, each person involved will be felicitated with a certificate recognizing and honouring their efforts and time. There will be more about it in the coming weeks.