In the summer of 2003, I was asked to teach a course in online journalism for Jadavpur University's postgraduate diploma programme in mass communication. Since this was the first time it was being offered, I was given a free hand in designing the curriculum.

When I began to prepare teaching material after chalking out the syllabus, I failed to locate a single book my students might find useful. One or two titles were available in libraries, but it was clear that these had been written with a Western audience in mind. Moreover, these passed over topics like the history of the internet, with which I wanted my students to be familiar. The only option then was to develop my own material, an experience I thoroughly enjoyed in spite of the extremely limited access to relevant books and journals in Kolkata.

When classes got underway, I found that most students were quite enthusiastic. This was natural – by then, the internet had penetrated sizeable sections of Indian society as a recreational tool if not as a medium of communication, serving a variety of functions related to study and work. This was particularly true of the urban middle- and upper-class students who came to my class.

Prof. Samar Bhattacharya, a member of the University's engineering faculty, had been asked to help launch the course. At some point along the way, he had suggested that I should write a textbook for my students.