Uploading Hindi content on the web

Can I actually write in hindi ? That is what Google says - you can do it phonetically! Without actually using complicated mapping codes!
Now you can blog in hindi

Lets try it out ....

सलिल कण हूँ या पारावार हूँ मैं
स्वयम छाया स्वयम आधार हूँ मैं
बँधा हूँ स्वप्न हूँ, लघु वृत्त हूँ मैं
नहीं तो व्योम का विस्तार हूँ मैं

[from 'Parichay' by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar]

I will agree that it is quite a simplistic model, compared to using any one of the actual devnagri fonts. Although it gets the text correct with almost 70-80% accuracy, there are quite a few problems - it does not appear as actually written hindi should - and this makes it quite difficult to read. I found a few hindi blogs, which looked very interesting, as far as the content goes. But I found it so difficult to read, that I gave up.

Reading small snippets written in this font is a manageable task, but reading any non-trivial article is a non-trivial task. Spending a lot of effort in comprehending what the word actually was, breaks the flow. Few things that I found rather irksome while trying to read/write:

- You cannot write half-letters, and they are abundantly used - you could not probably write a single sentence without using one of those (e.g., vyom, swayam, vistaar). The font adds a 'halant' under the corresponding full-letter to make it sound the same, but the truth is that it is difficult to read. And this, perhaps, is my biggest grouse with the font.

- You cannot put the 'choti e ki maatraa' (as in vistaar) at the right place. I managed to fool the editor in case of 'salil' but I could not spell 'vistaar' correctly. (when the 'maatraa' has to applied to the first 'akshar'). Even then, to correct the 'maatraa' in 'salil' I had to use a multi-step editing process.

- Adding the correct 'Na' (as in kaN), or adding the correct 'bindu' ('bindu' or 'chandra-bindu') again require corrective editing and selecting.

I love to read and I would prefer to enjoy whatever I am reading rather than struggling to read the written text. That is why, I prefer those old-time fonts, which are difficult to write (because of the complex mapping schemes), but are pure joy to the reader. My favorite devanagri font in this respect is Shusha. Here is an example:
Aag Ki Bheekh (Ramdhari Singh Dinkar)
Isn't it beautiful? [I mean the font - there is no scope of doubt about the poem :-)] And it is not very difficult to learn (once upon a time I had attained a proficiency in it that I could write something in plain-text editor, and it would appear quite right when viewed with the correct fonts :-) ] The only problem that I find with it [apart from learning the character-set] is that this is a true-type font (TTF) ; and so you have to have a font server running on the site to allow readers to view it. So I cannot possibly use it on my blog. [If anyone knows otherwise - i.e. how to use TTFs on blogs etc, please please please let me know].