Braille Tales of the Missile Man

CHENNAI: In a rare instance that gives a glimpse into the thoughts of former President of India, the late APJ Abdul Kalam, a book was launched in Braille format. Titled Kalam – Naam Ariya Pakkangal is a set of essays about Kalam written by people who knew him well, and by those who had interacted with him.

The 20-page Braille booklet is transcribed in Tamil and will give an in-depth perspective of Kalam’s vision and objectives to help the Visually Impaired population in India.

The programme, ‘Vizhiyavom Vazhiyavom’ was organised by Lit the Light volunteers and was held at Dr MGR Home & Higher Secondary School for the Speech and Hearing Impaired at Ramapuram. Dr V Sivaraman, associate professor of English, Presidency College, Chennai and P Arunadevi, revenue assistant and trustee of SFRAWD, were chief guests for the event.

His motto was to empower persons with disabilities with education so that they can sustain a livelihood and live independent like the rest of the abled-community. “The world should not pity them but help them stand on their feet and assist in changing their future,” said Dr V Sivaraman.

“Volunteer scribes should reach on time during examinations, and help in securing the future of visually impaired students; else, it will directly and indirectly affect their future in a bad way,” said Arunadevi.

Copies of the book were handed to senior volunteers who have served as scribes to visually challenged students. Nearly 70 volunteers from Lit The Light attended the programme and were felicitated with the certificates for their contribution as a Scribe or Reader for visually impaired students. A lot of people from various NGO’s in the city also took part in the programme.