KOLKATA: It's rare to find a Bengali household that does not have an
omnibus of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay and Rabindranath Tagore's works.
Ditto with the popular detective fictions featuring Byomkesh and Feluda.
Yet, there are lakhs of visually impaired people who have no access to
these titles that make Bengali literature so rich.
Recognising this long-standing need, Third Eye charitable trust unveiled
several titles in Braille on Saturday. These included Tagore's
'Sanchaita',
Bibhuti Bhushan Bandyopadhyay's 'Pather Panchali', Bolai Chand
Mukhopadhyay's 'Bonoful', Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's 'Srikanto',
Jibananda Das' 'Banalata Sen', Subir Sen's 'Jana Theke Ajana', 'Gangtoke
Gondogol' and 'Badshahi Angti' by Satyajit
Ray<http://timesofindia.**indiatimes.com/topic/Satyajit-**Ray<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Satyajit-Ray>
>,
Byomkesh's 'Adim Ripu' by Saradindu Bandyopadhyay, 'Arun Barun
Kironmala'
by Sailen Ghosh and Ashapurna Devi's 'Kishore Bachai Golpo'.
Several English titles including RK Lakshman's 'Malgudi Days', APJ Abdul
Kalam's 'Mission India', Gandhi's 'The Story of My Experiments with
Truth',
'The Jewel
<http://timesofindia.**indiatimes.com/topic/Jewel<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Jewel>>
of India'
by Jawaharlal
Nehru
<http://timesofindia.**indiatimes.com/topic/**Jawaharlal-Nehru<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Jawaharlal-Nehru>>
and 'Our
Constitution' by Leila Seth were also released in Braille as were some
books in Hindi. Braille books have reverse indentation or raised
embossing
that allows the visually impaired to read the alphabets by touch.
"Each day, each moment there are so many shades of colors that reflect
off
our eyes and we don't even notice. How often we love curling up with a
magazine or a thriller or a poem? How often do we stop to think of the
millions for whom this is a luxury? They who wait patiently, for others
to
get a little free from their busy schedule to just read them a few
pages.
It is a small effort on our part, telling these beautiful minds that
their
wait is over," said Third Eye trustee board member Mahua Seth.
Pointing to the need to bridge the gap between the large body of
literature
that is available to the masses and a fraction that the visually
impaired
have access to, social activist Shampa Sengupta said the amendment to
the
Copyright Act last year would help publish more books in Braille.
PricewaterhouseCoopers<http://**timesofindia.indiatimes.com/**
topic/PricewaterhouseCoopers<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/PricewaterhouseCoopers>
>
manager
(HR) Asif Iqbal who lost his vision to a
genetic<http://timesofindia.**indiatimes.com/topic/Genetic-(**designer)<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Genetic-(designer)>
>
disorder
when he was in his teens hailed the move. "It is a pity that the
visually
impaired have so little access to books despite it being the only form
of
recreation that is available to them apart from music. When I was
growing
up, the challenge was acute and I had to depend on
friends<http://timesofindia.**speakingtree.in/topics/life/**friends<http://timesofindia.speakingtree.in/topics/life/friends>>
to
read out text books during my B Com and MBA. But there is a whole world
beyond texts that I could not explore. I am glad that some books are now
being converted to Braille. But we still have a long way to go," he
said.
Five children's encyclopedia from Parragon like Our
Universe<http://timesofindia.**speakingtree.in/topics/**universe/universe<http://timesofindia.speakingtree.in/topics/universe/universe>
>
, Incredible Earth and Human Body have been converted into DAISY format
which can now be accessed and enjoyed by both visually impaired and
dyslexic children. The books will be given away free to 17 schools in
Bengal.
"It is a pity that the visually impaired have so little access to books
despite it being the only form of recreation that is available to them
apart from music. When I was growing up, the challenge was acute and I
had
to depend on friends to read out text books during my B Com and MBA. But
there is a whole world beyond texts that I could not explore. I am glad
that some books are now being converted to Braille. But we still have a
long way to go," said PricewaterhouseCoopers manager (HR) Asif Iqbal who
lost his vision to a genetic disorder when he was in his teens.
Recognising the long-standing need for Braille On Saturday, The Third
Eye
charitable trust unveiled several titles in Braille on Saturday,
including
Tagore's Sanchaita, Bibhuti Bhushan Bandyopadhyay's Pather Panchali,
Bolai
Chand Mukhopadhyay's Bonoful, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Srikanto,
Jibananda Das' Banalata Sen, Subir Sen's Jana Theke Ajana, Gangtoke
Gondogol and Badshahi Angti by Satyajit Ray, Byomkesh's Adim Ripu by
Saradindu Bandyopadhyay, Arun Barun Kironmala by Sailen Ghosh and
Ashapurna
Devi's Kishore Bachai Golpo.
Several English titles including RK Lakshman's Malgudi Days, APJ Abdul
Kalam's Mission India, Gandhi's The Story of My Experiments with Truth,
the
Jewel of India by Jawaharlal Nehru and Our Constitution by Leila Seth
were
also released in Braille as were some books in Hindi. Braille books have
reverse indentation or raised embossing that allows the visually
impaired
to read the alphabets by touch.
"Each day, each moment there are so many shades of colors that reflect
off
our eye and we don't even notice. How often we love curling up with a
magazine or a thriller or a poem? How often do we stop to think of the
millions for whom this is a luxury? They who wait patiently, for others
to
get a little free from their busy schedule to just read them a few
pages.
It is a small effort on our part telling these beautiful minds that
their
wait is over," said The Third Eye trustee board member Mahua Seth.
Pointing to the need to bridge the gap between the large body of
literature
that is available to the masses and a fraction that the visually
impaired
have access to, social activist Shampa Sengupta said the amendment to
the
Copyright Act last year would help publish more books in Braille.
Also, for the first time, five children's encyclopedia from Parragon
like
Our Universe, IncredibleEarth and Human Body have been converted into
DAISY
format which can now be accessed and enjoyed by both blind and dyslexic
children.
The books will be given away free to 29 schools-17 in West
Bengal<http://timesofindia.**indiatimes.com/topic/West-**Bengal<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/West-Bengal>
>,
two each in Tripura, Maharashtra, Tamil
Nadu<http://timesofindia.**indiatimes.com/topic/Tamil-**Nadu<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Tamil-Nadu>>
and
Delhi and one each in Orissa, Kerala, Andhra
Pradesh<http://timesofindia.**indiatimes.com/topic/Andhra-**Pradesh<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Andhra-Pradesh>>
and
Karnataka.
Happy birthday for all times; Hellen Keller! June 27.
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