Swagat Thorat: Spreading knowledge by touch

Would you like a newspaper with your morning cup of tea/coffee???

The answer from many of us including myself would be “The morning tea becomes tasteless sans the newspaper”, “It’s difficult to start the day without reading the newspaper” and so on…

The truth is WE, so as to say; the sighted people feel incomplete and empty without reading newspaper in the morning. However such timely access to the daily newspaper has never been available or even a privilege for the BLIND!

Up until now, radio and audio from television were the only two mediums through which the visually challenged or the blind people could keep themselves updated about latest political/current or social affairs news.

However thanks to ‘Sparshdnyan’, India’s first registered Marathi newspaper in Braille, now the blind have their finger on the pulse too.

A brainchild of Journalist – turned – Theatre personality cum Wild Life Photographer and Documentary Filmmaker, Mr Swagat Thorat, Sparshdnyan is the first attempt at enabling the visually disabled readers’ access to news on their own.

– Ronal Shah Batham, Youth Leader India

Where a new invention promises to be useful, it ought to be tried..

For Thorat, it all started in 1997 when he directed a play “Swatantryachi Yashogatha” (Glorious story of independence) which created a world record, with 88 blind artists from two blind schools in Pune, on the background of golden anniversary of Independence Day. This play was entered in ‘Guinness Book of World Records’ and ‘Limca Book of Records’.

Thorat reminisces, “While doing the show, I travelled with these kids and observed that their discussions revolved around things that they had read. Back in 1998, there were very few Braille books available. Now, the number has gone up. But I realized that these kids wanted to read more. There was a need…”

During that Diwali, Swagat came out with festive issue of Sparshagandh in Braille. Diwali special issues, which are an integral part of Marathi literary culture, had never seen an issue in Braille.

People enjoyed the Diwali issue so much that they started writing in saying that an annual issue wasn’t enough. “I decided to focus on building the infrastructure to start a periodical for the visually impaired. This included raising funds, and saving up to acquire Braille printing machines. In 2007, I got together a setup and the first issue of Sparshdnyan was published on February 15, 2008” mentions Thorat. He further adds “I have invested more than Rs. 4,00,000/- on procuring own Braille printing machine and renting an office space in Mumbai. We started with 100 copies and in three & half years we have brought it up to 400 copies”.

To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping…

Today Sparshdnyan, is a 40-page bimonthly that reaches nearly 400 subscribers and features contributions from prominent Marathi journalists like Rajeev Khandekar and Raju Parulekar, who don’t charge a fee for their inputs. 400 issues are gifted to Schools for the Blind and NGOs working for the blind from 31 districts of Maharashtra. Each issue is read by on an average 60 people, which makes the readership of the issue more than 24000.

“Our subscribers re-circulate the issues to others” mentions Swagat. “When people know you’re doing something good, they help, hence I approached all my acquaintances and well-wishers with a special scheme. He further adds “If they paid an annual fee of Rs 1200 (revised from Rs 960 due to increase in paper cost), a copy of the fortnightly magazine would be presented to a blind person.”

“While the scheme helps me cover the cost of the paper, which is considerably high, the administrative cost comes from my own pocket. It feels wrong if I raise funds for a cause and I don’t end up spending anything from my own pocket.” says Thorat.

Nobody delivers better than Sparshdnyan!

Swagat serves as the paper’s editorial decision-maker. His co-workers include a paraplegic sub-editor, who subs articles and works out of her home in Kolhapur, two production assistants, one of who is partially blind, a visually-challenged reporter, and another employee, recently hired to manage advertising and distribution. They also have a network of writers and journalists who contribute their articles free of cost to Sparshdnyan. All together, bring out the fortnightly Sparshdnyan in Braille!

“Sparshdnyan leaves no stone unturned in inspiring our readers to scale new heights. Most of the content in the paper revolves around social issues, international affairs, inspiring biographies and education and career options” mentions Thorat. “Our ideology is clear. We want to acquaint our readers to current issues around them. We don’t want to discuss or debate only issues that affect the visually handicapped. Sparshdnyan carries content that you and I like to read in our morning paper” adds Thorat. He further says “We cover subjects such as health, politics, music, films, theatre, literature and food, including recipes, the 40-46 odd pages”

Sparshdnyan chooses to give a miss to a few key news areas that are an integral part of mainstream newspapers. Crime and cricket are left out! “The paper we use is so expensive that I want to be judicious of what gets printed on it and quality has been our prime concern. Cricket is all over the broadcast media. As for crime stories, they affect even the sighted. So imagine the impact it will have on the blind, many of whom do battle depression,” says Swagat.

If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere!

Sparshdnyan has managed to achieve a substantial readership within a small span of time and has even received huge coverage and media support. Inspite of this, it has yet to find an advertiser!

For three years, the advertising company that has worked with Thorat has failed to sell a single ad in his paper. “It is tough to convince advertisers that blind individuals are consumers too, their families are consumers too. We hope to slowly drive home this point” says Thorat.

Despite his difficulties attracting advertisers, Thorat says he believes that there’s a demand for more Braille newspaper coverage. An estimated 10 million Indians are visually impaired and within a year, Thorat plans to launch a daily title.

Currently the circulation of the Sparshdnyan is limited only to the State of Maharashtra as it’s in Marathi language. However, Thorat plans it to make it a National level newspaper in the due course of time but that again means bigger machines and that means more funds!

“We have over 3000 requests for copies, but I don’t have the means or resources to print more!” said Thorat. “I need bigger machines and that means more funds. Sparshdnyan has come all this way without any grants from the government or donations. We don’t have any advertisers on board. It is tough to expand.” But even with all these impediments, Sparshdnyan has managed to stay afloat so far…..

Thorat who is striving to make a difference feels that Government is not doing enough to cater to the needs of blind! “Social organizations are doing much more for the physically challenged than the government” says Thorat.

Sparshdnyan has come all this way without any grants from the government or donations. Swagat confides “I dream of a day when blind individuals will get their own daily. I hope some media house starts it, but if they don’t I will start the daily on my own in a few years”. He further adds “I am trying to get public libraries at the district level to start Braille sections”

“What typically happens is that due to lack of access to Braille books beyond their textbooks, blind students lose touch with reading once they graduate,” says Thorat. “True, they can have a few books read to them, but that’s not reading, it’s listening! Reading and listening are two different functions. When you read, it has a deeper impact on your personality. It enhances your language which listening can’t” specifies Thorat!

This is why till date there has been no alternative to Braille the world over!

Sparshdnyan is published on the 1st and the 15th of every month and is presented to Blind Schools and institutions across Maharashtra. For more details, write to sparshdnyan@gmail.com

To donate the subscription amount for a blind reader, contact Sparsh-dnyan on 9223217568 / 9422317979

————————————————————————————————————————–

About the author

Ronak Shah Batham: I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic, and I pay my bills on time. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in wrestling matches with my 2 year toddler, where I usually WIN fair and square! When I’m bored, I clean and scrub till I can see my face in the tiles of the floor! I am a dynamic figure, often seen reading books or playing PS3. Having 7 years of work experience in BPO industry, I enjoy thinking, enjoy learning, enjoy working and I am able to bear work pressure. Having won several awards and trophies for work excellence, what else can I say; I am a woman with lots of SUBSTANCE! Mail -> ronak.youthleader@gmail.com