Suhas Shirvalkar’s famous novel Rupmati, which was written 35 years ago, has now been published in the audiobook format by Storytel. The same was released at a function under Storytel’s Happy Listening initiative in the city recently. Yogesh Dashrath, country head for Storytel India, Samrat Shirvalkar, Milind Mane, publisher of Aksharyatra Prakashan and Sugandha Shirvalkar were present on the occasion.

The programme included a book reading session by noted actor Tushar Dalvi who has given his voice to the audio book as also the unveiling of Marathi book Ayushya Eka Antarache by Sugandha. 

Tushar said that although he could never meet Suhas, he could connect with the author through the audiobook and feel the magic of his writing.

The Storytel app is a boon to all of us as it gives us the choice to select the content we want to listen, Tushar said. “The platform is meant to grow because it is the need of this generation,” he added.

Dashrath informed that Storytel India operations were started one and a half years ago and last year they added more than 200 Marathi language audiobooks. “The success of Storytel demonstrates the acceptability of audiobooks in India. Audience use audiobooks while they are travelling or at anytime and anywhere. Audiobooks help one enjoy the voice over like listening to a story being told by a storyteller, it also helps to understand minute details about writing which we might miss while reading,” he said.