Deepika Arun, who has been narrating stories and novels in Tamil through her venture called Kadhai Osai, tells us, “What I have noticed in the past one year is that Tamil audiobooks have a good number of listeners. I am glad that this is helping people get a deeper understanding of the language. We have two sections of people who listen to Tamil audiobooks – the first are the ones who cannot read and write Tamil but are keen to listen. The second category is the senior people – most of them would have read classics when they were young but are wanting to listen to it again.”

Deepika is also the publishing manager for Tamil audiobooks for Storytel, an audiobook and ebook app streaming service. She adds that by converting books into audio format, authors are also getting recognition. “We do a small study and find out what literary genre is in demand and then get rights from the authors. Classics, crime, romance and non-fiction books on personal development, time management, affirmations have more listeners,” she adds.

Storytel had put up a stall at the recently concluded Chennai Book Fair and the team was stunned by the response. “There is no happiness like that of listening to a nice audiobook while going for the morning run. Some women listen to audiobooks while cooking. Also, audiobooks are one of the best ways to entertain kids at home. Listening to audiobooks helps in language development in children.”

Vidya Subramaniam has been writing novels and short stories for close to three decades. A few of her books have been translated into audiobooks. “ It even caters to a section of discerning audience who cannot read Tamil but can converse fluently. It is a blessing for those who spend hours travelling to and fro from work and don’t find time to read a book. Now they can listen to it during the commute. My historical fictions ‘Uppu Kanakku’ and ‘Akashathoodhu’ have transcended boundaries and speak to a larger audience now,” she says.

As an ode to author T Janakiraman’s centenary year, Storytel will be releasing his critically acclaimed book ‘Mogamul’ in audio format. The movie was adapted into a feature film in 1995. The book will be narrated by GG, D Ravishankar and Balaji V. Mogamul is a love story, written in the 1960s and ahead of time. Man’s weakness and strength have been fully depicted in this acclaimed novel.