These are some of the responses to the inaugural issue received and our reactions. Several other responses are posted in the ‘Feedback’ column on this site. 

Wish poems had audio rendering
Congrats! This is truly postcolonial. I enjoyed immensely the section on Kannada literature and also the article on Annamayya. The fiction too was enthralling and do wish the poems had an audio rendering so that one could hear the voices. The puppets on the cover page definitely danced and pranced along with our muses. A great job! Hope you keep up the good work.

Kalpana, Pondicherry Feb 18, 2005

(We will certainly keep in mind Audio facility as a future enhancement to the site. Thanks for the suggestion.) 

Standard is high
I have visited Muse India website and find that it is wonderfully structured. Browsing is very easy, and since you were able to get (some of) the best minds in the field, the standard of the journal is very high. It is not an exaggeration to say that such journals are not available even in the print medium. 

Desetti Kesava Rao, Hindupur Feb 28, 2005 

(Coming as it does from a senior writer, we take the compliment in all humility. We realize we have to work hard to improve further and live up to expectations generated.)

More illustrations and artwork will add class
I have re-visited the site today ... and am really moved by the content and the artistry... I feel use of more graphics/illustrations/artwork/photos can add class to the poems, fiction or any other write-ups. You can look into that in your future issues. 

Gopal Lahiri, Ankleswar, Gujarat Mar 5, 2005

(We have introduced more pictures in the second issue, particularly in the poetry section. Hope you like it. We will try to make the journal aesthetically appealing.)

Advance announcement of special sections
It would be nice if you could announce the ‘special focus’ of the next issue for contributors to submit material you might be interested in. There is so much to concentrate on for promoting contemporary literature and culture in various parts of the country. Maybe, you could also focus on new writings in English and regional languages in India. There are so many new authors who deserve attention but who have been simply ignored by the media and academia. Many of them are publishing in various lezines. There is a strong need for promoting the marginalised voices. I enjoyed reading some good poems again. 

Prof. RK Singh, Dhanbad Mar 9, 2005

(We agree with you; there is so much to cover! It is our professed aim to encourage marginalised and emerging voices. We'll be happy if senior writers can introduce new voices deserving to be heard. We have made announcement of special sections of future issues. Please look up Editorial of this issue.) 


Access to profiles from Authors Index
A lot of good effort has gone into (the journal). In the months to come all aspects of the journal will improve and it will be a pleasure spending time at it. In the Authors Index in the Home Page, provision to see Author's profile will be useful. This is already there in their works featured. Their contact details will help in establishing contact with them. I compliment all those who have worked on creation of the journal. Best wishes. 

Mukunda Ramarao, Bangalore Mar 17, 2005 

(Thanks for the suggestions. Now Authors' profiles can be accessed from Authors Index by clicking on the names. Contact details of Authors have been updated in their profiles.) 

An overview page
When a new member visits the site, if it opens to an ''overview'' page, with ''new member sign up'' and ''Registered member login'' slots and also if the page contains the details of authors and their work of the current issue, it will add a professional approach and will help in keeping track of the articles appeared in back issues too, at a later stage. 

Prashanth Goteti, Chennai Mar 25, 2005

(The welcome screen of inaugural issue will henceforth not be there. The Home page provides for new Member registration as well as Member login. Given the site’s simple design, an overview page was not felt necessary. While Home page provides basic details, further options have been shifted to an inner page to avoid cramping. On selecting ‘Current Issue’ the reader gets an overview of its contents.)

Reminiscent of personal experience
I enjoyed reading the Jan-Mar 2005 issue. [GSP Rao's story ''The lock at the gate''] was particularly touching...heart-wrenching in fact...because of personal experience with a 93-year-old grandaunt who passed away recently...free and out in the open... at last. On the whole, an impressive issue. Congratulations.

Bijoya Sawian, New Delhi Apr 8, 2005

Not conversant with computers
You have written about Muse India, which you have launched recently. My very best wishes to you for launching this journal. Now, I’ll come straight to my ignorance. I don’t have a computer. I do everything in longhand. At times, I take recourse to this electronic typewriter. So, I don’t know what to say.

Perhaps I am too much afraid of technology, I don’t know. And yet I am a physicist. Does it all sound complex? Perhaps. But that’s the fact. So I don’t know about “visiting” www.museindia.com on the Internet. Nor do I know how to operate and publish online, as you so easily put it.

This letter is to clarify the position I am in. If you wish, I could submit my poetry to you, but I would not be able to see whatever goes online. So, perhaps I am lagging behind the times.

With warm good wishes. 

Jayanta Mahapatra, Cuttack Apr 10. 2005

(Some other senior writers too have expressed similar unfamiliarity with computers. Getting acquainted with computer and Internet technology is not very difficult; one needs to find some time. Once mastered, computers greatly facilitate professional work, even of writers and editors. As Mr. Mahapatra is unlikely to see this, a response has been sent to him by normal post.)

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