About

Webyantra is a tech blog that profiles Indian web products & services. It is ‘ground zero’ for Indian web startups, ecommerce websites and internet based businesses….

The name Webyantra is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘yantra’ , which means a ‘device, or a product ’. So, Webyantra is about those products (or services), that use the web as a delivery medium, for solving users’ problems. And it focuses on the Indian consumer internet space.

Webyantra is inspired by the vision of the Indian internet space as a hotbed of originality and innovation. For, there is clearly a dearth of well crafted internet content for Indian users. Much of the contemporary Indian web content, i.e. products, services or applications , are indistinct or uninspiring. Either, because they are poorly designed, or because they are unimaginative clones of successful western products. This blog is a small step in the direction of reversing that trend.

Here’s a bunch of questions, you might want to ask about this blog –

Is Webyantra about Indian Web2.0 ?

Not entirely, and here’s why :

- The Indian internet space is at an early stage on the Web2.0 evolution curve. Most of contemporary Indian web content is Web1.0 (not sure if that term exists??) . So, while Webyantra will showcase all of Indian Web2.0, it will not be restricted only to that.

- Even the most die-hard optimists would agree, that Web2.0 is just a transitory phase in the internet’s evolution as a medium. Webyantra will try to reach out further than what the limits of Web2.0 would allow it to.

So what is Webyantra about ?

Anything concerned with the web, whether on the desktop or on the mobile or any other current/future device. It could be web based products, web services, websites, specific internet based applications et al.

Webyantra will encompass all the Web2.0 jazz that you lust for- socialweb, mashups, aggregators, filters, RSS, web communities, user generated content et al. It is also about current technology trends like the mobile web, mobile communities, VOIP, SAAS, agile web development, AJAX, rich interfaces et al. Not to leave out pre Web2.0 (web1.0 ??) stuff like internet search technologies, online payment systems, contextual internet advertising, web services, web browsers etc, etc & etc.

And all of this, with an Indian flavour.

Is there anything called an ‘Indian web product’ at all ? We thought that the internet doesn’t respect national boundaries.

That’s true; the term ‘Indian web product’ is probably a contradiction in itself. Having said that, Webyantra will focus on those web products/services that have a strong Indian connection.

e.g. products that have been built primarily for an Indian audience; or products that have been built (primarily) by an Indian team for a world audience.

So is Webyantra a directory of all & sundry Indian web products?

NO. Webyantra will showcase and profile only those products & services that are innovative, well designed and are worthy of being considered seriously.

The ‘weekend hack project’ or ‘summer internship’ kind of products are also fine, provided they satisfy the first criterion.