VIJAYAWADA: Sagar Anisingaraju from San Jose, California, USA, originally from Visakhapatnam, cherishes his motherland and mother tongue.
He founded Lipi.Game (www.lipi.game) to promote Telugu and other Indian languages, cultures, and epics through gaming. An alumnus of St. Anthony’s High School, AVN College, Andhra University in Visakhapatnam, and IIT Kanpur, Sagar now lives in San Jose, California.
His AI-based language game trial version is attracting select people globally. His team is gathering feedback to update and launch the game worldwide in June 2024.
“My parents always asked me to learn Telugu. Born and brought up in the UK, I started playing Lipi.Game’s trial version in April. It’s interesting, and now I can write a few words in Telugu,” Charan, a Middle School Non-Resident Telugu student, from Birmingham told TNIE. Professionally, Sagar was Chief Strategy Officer at Saama Technologies until 2022, leading its growth and earning several accolades and patents. He partnered with Pfizer to implement Saama’s AI system, Smart Data Quality (SDQ), aiding in the acceleration of the development of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Recognised as ‘one of the 100 Most Influential People in the Healthcare Industry’ by PharmaVoice in 2020, he also received the ‘PM360 ELITE award’ in 2019 and was named ‘Chief Strategy Officer of the Year’ by Innovation Enterprise in 2013. Sagar founded InfoSTEP Inc. in 1999, leading it until its acquisition by Saama in 2010.
His early work at CMC Ltd. involved developing transliteration systems for Indian languages. Passionate about word games, Sagar created Lipi.Game and authored Kuchela.AI, a novel inspired by his pandemic experiences.
Speaking to TNIE about his latest Telugu games, Lipi.Game founder-CEO Sagar Anisingaraju said, “While digital tools enhance English language accessibility, resources for Telugu and other Indian languages are lacking. Young people struggle with native languages in digital gaming due to limited tools and accessibility. This issue reduces Telugu’s digital presence. Our games are freely accessible on our app and website, showcasing the richness of Indian languages and epics.”
Sagar highlighted that games like Wordle and Spelling Bee, though popular, are often unaffordable and culturally irrelevant for many Indians. There is a crucial need to develop accessible and culturally relevant word games in Telugu and other native languages to boost mental agility and provide stress relief.
“We are creating a digital infrastructure for India’s ancient wisdom from the epics, including the Mahabharat, integrating it with modern tools for youth education and progress. Gaming in Lipi is one such example. We anticipate many innovative applications leveraging this platform,” explained Chaganti Prasad, the director of Lipi.Game. Aparna Nalluri, vice-president of Lipi.Game, stated that Indian philosophical and cultural teachings are largely confined to a few scholars. Traditional education hasn’t structured this knowledge, so digital tools are essential for future generations to access and learn from our ancestral wisdom.
“Our initiative bridges cultural and linguistic gaps with a gamified framework,” explained community ambassador Kalyani Nalluri. “It offers an engaging platform for mental health word games, Samethalu (proverbs), and exploring the Mahabharata’s intricacies,” she explained. The platform includes a semantic knowledge graph to help users understand epic complexities, curated content and an AI-powered guide (Guru) for progressive learning from foundational to advanced levels, said Bhavani P, a testing associate.
“Lipi.Game is like a bedtime Telugu story for my kids. They enjoy the games while we enjoy their cute brainstorming,” said P Karuna, a teacher from Vizag.
UNDERSTANDING LIPI.GAME
Features five interactive games available in Telugu
Daily Word: Challenges players to uncover a hidden word in 7 tries
Daily Jumble: A cerebral workout that invigorates the mind & enhances language skills
Daily Proverb: Introduces players to a new proverb each day, enriching their cultural understanding
Word Cruise: Offers daily relaxation through word formation using a set of given letters.
Daily Mahabharata: Engages players with daily questions from the Mahabharata, promoting systematic exploration of the epic