When the ‘Ramayana’ month comes to a close in another fortnight, a copy of the Balaramayana transcribed into Braille will be ready at Government School for the Blind, Vazhuthacaud, if teacher Baby Girija has her way. The visually-challenged teacher of Braille at the school has been engaged in this monumental task for nearly a year.
When she is done, there will be 15 volumes in Braille of N V P Unnithiri’s 460-page retelling of the Ramayana which had won the Balasahitya Award instituted by the Kerala State Institute of Children’s Literature in 2010.
“I’m nearly done, there are only around 25 more pages of the book to be transcribed,” says Girija.
“For one page in Malayalam, it will take five or six pages in Braille. There are only some 460 pages in the Malayalam version, but in Braille, it will run into around 1,500 pages. So far, 14 volumes in Braille are ready.“
Girija, who has 19 periods to teach in a week, uses every available minute of leisure for her transcription work. She sits at the Brailler (typewriter) in the corner of the school’s computer lab, typing away as somebody would read out to her from the book.
“The reason it has taken so long is because getting people to read has not been easy,” she says.
“Some of the staff members would read for me, or sometimes parents of students here. Since this June, it has been going fairly fast as one of our male guides, Sajikumar sir, has been making time every day.”
When readers are not available, she would use the spare time to proof-read the pages.
“My weekends are also mainly spent for this,” says Girija, who stays at a hostel near the school. “There’s not a single page I’ve transcribed that I don’t proof-read.”
The Balaramayana will be the 29th book she will be transcribing into Braille. Other works include books on science, history and fiction like ‘Arabikathakal’, ‘Dandiyathrayude katha’, ‘Sasthrakauthukam’ and ‘Parayipetta Panthirukulam.’
“I’ve always wanted to do to this work, but I really began only around four years ago,” says Girija, who has been teaching at the Vazhuthacaud school since 1995.
“It is our principal, Tulasidharan sir, who really encouraged me to start. He makes arrangements for getting paper and so forth, and even proof-reads the copies.”
One one copy of each work, with every book running into several volumes, is available as Girija has to type them out. The books are not commercially published and are kept in spiral-bound volumes in the school library.
“They are only meant for the pleasure of the students,” says Girija. “We don’t lend them out, but people are welcome to come and read here.”
The next major work she wants to take on is ‘Aithihyamala’, Kottarathil Shankunni’s collection of the legends of Kerala.
“For this too, I will need voluntary readers who will help me finish it in record time,” says Girija, a graduate in Malayalam language and literature.
