'Maher' now available in Braille

At a press conference at Patrakar Bhavan, Pune on Monday 22nd March 2010, Nirmalya Trust launched the 1st edition of the Braille version of 'Maher'. Maher is a Marathi monthly magazine known for its quality reading material. The monthly issues and especially the Diwali edition is the first choice of the Marathi reading population all over the world.

Mrs. Meena Bedarkar, founder and managing trustee of Nirmalya Trust, handed over the first Braille copy of the Maher March 2010 “womens day special” issue to Mrs. Swati Chitnis, owner of Menaka Prakashan.

With the total cooperation of Mrs. Swati Chitnis, the visually impaired will now have access to this rich heritage every month. The cost of printing the magazine in Braille is approximately Rs.360/- per issue. However, Nirmalya Trust will print the Braille version every month and make it available to all interested persons/institutions, absolutely free of cost. To make this distribution possible, Nirmalya Trust is looking towards society for financial support.

At the press conference, Mrs. Swati Chitnis announced that soft-copies of books published by Menaka Prakashan over the years will also be made available to Nirmalya Trust for transcription into Braille.

Dr. H. V. Sardesai's Books available in Braille

The visually impaired will now have access to expert advice on health and fitness given by renowned physician Dr. H. V. Sardesai.

Nirmalya Trust, an NGO working for the welfare of the physically challenged has made this possible by transcribing Dr. Sardesai’s books into Braille.

In a small and informal function, 3 books – “Aarogyachi Watchal”, “Aarogya – Samasya aani Upchaar”, and “Aarogya aani Jeevanshaili” were released by Dr. Sardesai at his residence on Thursday 18th March 2010 evening.

Mrs. Meena Bedarkar, Managing Trustee Nirmalya Trust and Mr. Joshi of Utkarsh Publications were present at the time of the release.

Dr. Sardesai received a demo of the Electronic Braille Reader from a visually impaired candidate of Nirmalya Trust.

Nirmalya is an organization working towards making the life of disabled persons useful and enjoyable. We are a non-profit organization concerned with the welfare of the physically disabled. Our primary purpose is to generate employment for the physically challenged.

No matter what line of work we choose, integration of the physically challenged into the mainstream is absolutely essential – because we live in the same world! We need to change paths, create awareness and give every disabled person a chance to become a productive member of society.

Through this blog, we wish to keep you informed about our work. We are working on several projects for which we conduct various activities throughout the year.

We hope to have your continued participation and help.

The Nirmalya Trust Team