Following close in the heels of MSN launching its multilingual messenger, Rediff has launched the Hindi avataar of its instant messenger Rediff Bol. An ad on the Rediff page looks like this:

Rediff already has email in 11 Indian languages, so they could be in the process of adding those languages to Rediff Bol. Earlier, MSN had launched Windows Live Messenger in multiple languages. Yahoo also has a multilingual messenger; Business Standard has an article here on “The Rise of the Desi Messengers”
Just wondering – how many people in India actually communcate on IM’s using a single language? Even if they’re using colloquial, they’re using English. How many people will type English words in Hindi or English? There will be the initial novelty rush, of course.
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