27-year-old Gagan Sran has a passion for the Punjabi language and literature.
While living in Australia for the past six years, Ms Sran said she often struggled to find Punjabi books Down Under, which inspired her to create 'Virasat.'
"It prompted me to think if, like other languages, Punjabi book lovers should also get the opportunity to listen to audiobooks in their language.
"Listening to audiobooks is a trend that has picked up across the globe through platforms like Audible and Scribd," she said in an interview with SBS Punjabi.
Ms Sran said the idea behind creating a platform like 'Virasat' was "to set reasonable standards of recording quality and focus on high benchmarks for consumer experience."
Audio recording - photo used for represenatation purpose only. Source: Pexels
The book lover said she aims to create awareness about the benefits of reading and inspire those interested in listening to the goldmine of literature available in Punjabi.
"Books offers a sea of knowledge that has the potential to shape our personalities. So we must embrace books and should start loving their company, in all forms.
"With this platform, we hope to connect people to their language, roots, culture, rituals, folklore, lifestyle, history and geography," she said.
Ms Sran said she believes Punjabi audiobooks have a bright future.
"Punjabi literature has the potential to tap on this existing and growing international audiobook market. It is about time that we adapt to this fast-changing digital environment," she said.
She now aims to facilitate the recording of at least a thousand more books by the end of next year.
Click this link to listen to the full conversation with Gagan Sran.
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