vol. 59 no. 3, december 2018 the rustomji merwanji ... · vol. 59 no. 3, december 2018 shri sachin...

Vol. 59 No. 3, December 2018

Shri Sachin Bhau Ahir, Activist & Former Minister, Govt. of Maharashtra was the Chief Guest, Shri Ashok Mahajan, Past Rotary International Director was the Guest of

Honour and Shri John Abraham, Ambassador of NAB, India was present for the function. Mr. Hemant Takle, President, NAB, India – Mr. Satyakumar Singh, Hon. Secretary

General, NAB, India –Prof Bhaskar Mehta, Chair Person, NAB Awards Committee and Ms.Ferzin Alpaiwala were present during the function.

Smt. Swaran Suresh Ahuja Shri. Shailendra Kumar Sonkar

The Rustomji Merwanji Alpaiwalla Memorial AwardsProfessional Category

Voluntary Category

Smt. Sushma Pramod Gupta, Faridabad, Haryana

Ms. Tiffany Maria Brar, Trivandrum, Kerala Dr. Vijeta Kapur, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

Neelum Khurshed Kanga Memorial Awards

World White Cane Day

2 December 2018

Elphinston Junction Regal Cinema

Regal Cinema

Worli Seaface

Worli Seaface

Prabhadevi

Vol.59 No. 3 December 2018

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The opinions expressed in this magazineare the views of the authors and notnecessarily those of the Editor.

Editorial Consultant

A. S. AthalekarHonorary Secretary, NAB, India

Editor

Archana JoshiDeputy DirectorNAB Louis Braille Memorial Research Centre

Published by

National Association for the Blind, India11, Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan RoadWorli Seaface, Mumbai 400 030

Phone: 24935365 / 24932539E-mail: [email protected] /[email protected]: www.nabindia.org

C O N T E N T S

Editorial …………………………………………………………………………. 04

Goldenly Old …………………………………………………………………… 05

NAB, India Foundation day 19th January, 2019 ……………………………... 07Arvind Narvekar

Rustom Merwanji Alpaiwala Award Winners' Citations ………………...... 08

Response of Awardee………………………………………………………..... 11Swaran Ahuja

About Neelum Khurshid Kanga Award & the Winners' Citations ……...... 11Swati Thakurdesai

Aesthetics of the Non-visual ……………………………………………......... 14Urvi Jangam

Car Rally for the Blind 2018…………………………………………….......... 18Pallavi Kadam

World White Cane Day Event ………………………………………….......... 20Pradnya Upadhye

Report – 210th Birth Anniversary of Louis Braille …………………........... 20Dr.Vimal Kumar Dengla

Yeejle kesÀ nce ye®®es nw …………………………………………………................... 21

MegYeebieer kegÀ[eUkeÀj

Identification of New Currency by Blind and Visually Challenged:Challenges and Solutions ……………………………………....................... 22Swati Thakurdesai

Marufah Bano- Our Shining Star …………………………………................ 24Shalini Khanna

Alay Patel-Contributing Member of Family ………………………............. 25Krupa Velani

Journey of Sanika …………………………………………………….............. 26Ujwala Kharat

keÀevne, peyeueHetj, YeesHeeue SkeÀ ³eeoieej meHeÀj ……………………………................. 27

veerlee kesÀUkeÀj

News from the Media .……………………………………………….. 29

Blind Welfare 3

ISSN: 0006-4823Published thrice a year, in

April, August and December

Donations to NAB, India are eligible for Tax Exemption under Section 80G of Income Tax Act, 1961.

This is the last issue for the year 2018. During these months lots of events took place at NAB, India. In

January 2019 NAB, India celebrated its 68th foundation day and Award Ceremony on same day.

You can get to know about the details of awardees & response from the awardee also. Car rally was

organized on 18th Nov, 2018 which gives the visually challenged person chance to interact with the

civil society and vice a versa.

4th Jan is declared as Braille Day by UNO, it was celebrated all over the world. We at NAB, India also

celebrated the same the report is incorporated in this issue. Ms. Urvi Jangam was an ex student of

Integrated Education Programme run by our Education department. She has achieved a great

success in her carrier. We feel proud that during her journey of education NAB, India was there in

her schooling time.

Three success stories from three different locations are incorporated in this issue. You will be able to

understand about the currency and the problem faced by our visually challenged friends. It is a

Compiled article by giving comparison of different countries.

Like every year students from Mumbai I. E. Programme had thrilling experience of the outing to

Kanha tiger reserve and other places, the teacher has word bounded to journey.

You will find fom yester year that 50 years before also in the conference held in Manila, the capital of

Philippines the importance of Integrated Education of V. I. children was highlighted.

Archana Joshi

4 December 2018

Editorial

This column contains excerpts from the articles asthey appeared in the BlindWelfare December,1968issue. This will enable the present readers tounderstand how progress was made in the welfareactivities 50 years back.(Ed.)

EditorialYet Another Landmark

Manila, the capital of the Philippines,played host tothe delegates of the Third Asian Conference onWork for the Blind from Monday the 26th August toSaturday the 31st August 1968. About 15 nationsattended the Conference which turned out to be areal business-like convention.

The Conference devoted its attention to the entiresphere of work for the blind. Integrated education,it was pointed out,was the only answer to providingeducational opportunity to thousands of blindchildren in the Asian continent.The curriculum forthe training of the teachers of the blind and itsrelationship to general and other areas of specialeducation and locating, identifying and assessingblind children for educational programme wasdiscussed threadbare and concretized in the formof two resolutions.

The Conference also under-scored the need ofestablishing realistic vocational goals and toachieve this, it was indicated that proper guidancebe made available to blind students at secondaryeducational level. The conference recorded itsappreciation of the fact that several Asian countrieshad begun to recognize the need for assessmentand evaluation as a part of the rehabilitation processand programme. In order to accelerate thisdevelopment, the Conference recommended thatassessment and evaluation techniques be evolvedand tests devised. For this purpose, it wasrecommended that the knowledge and experienceof international agencies in this field be made use of.

For the first time the importance of orientation andmobility in the total rehabilitation of the blind wasdiscussed. Emphasising the vital role which

Memories of Yesteryear

Blind Welfare 5

Goldenly Oldindependence in mobility can play in the socio-economic rehabilitation of the blind.

The delegates and observers to the Third AsianConference come away with a lasting impressionthat yet another landmark was laid in the direction offinding a better life for the blind of Asia.There was agrowing recognition of tackling the problem of thevisually handicapped on systematic and scientificlines. The Conference also indicated that thenumber of professional personnel of Asian originwas slowly but steadily increasing and that there wasa sense of awareness on the part of voluntary andGovernmental organizations about the need andutility of increasing trained personnel for promotingthe welfare of the blind.

Rehabilitation through treatment and education

Introduction

Rehabilitation – a word so inextricably usedwhenever the welfare of the handicapped isconsidered; yet, how few of us really understandwhat this word implies. To some, rehabilitationmeans finding the disabled person a job. Othersthink that it refers to medical treatment. Yet otherssay it means training him in a workshop to do a job.They are all right for rehabilitation means all of thesethings, and more. Taking it in its widest application,Rehabilitation is the process of restoring thehandicapped individual to the fullest physical,mental, social vocational and economic usefulnessof which he is capable.

Foreign News

Some Figures about the Blind Population inEngland andWales

Great Britain has the best registration of the blind inthe world,and, therefore,an example to be followedby every country.

At the end of 1967, the total registered blindpopulation was 102,597. Most of the age groupsshowed an increase, the highest being in the 85-89

6 December 2018

Memories ofYesteryear

age groups.The greatest decreases were in the 11-15 and 50-59 age groups.

The number of blind persons employed was 9,728.Of these there were 6,509 in open employment; 2,421 in sheltered workshops; and 756 employed ashome workers.

Braille Text by Computer First Book inPreparation

The first book to be converted to braille with a newsystem developed by the Royal National Institutefor the Blind is in preparation. It marks thecompletion of one research project for fasterreproduction of newspapers, magazines, andbooks for blind people.

Translation of the text is done on a computer whichautomatically produces punched cards containingthe information in braille code.

To produce printed mater ial a computerprogramme has been written so that a pack ofpunched cards containing a text can be fed into acomputer. Once translated into coded format, anew set of cards are made which will operate atranscribing machine,which cuts a metal plate.Thisis the plate that goes into the special brailleprinting machines.

NAB News Notes

Placement Service expanded: The NationalAssociation for the Blind has been running aPlacement Service for the blind since 1954. In thepast 14 years approximately 350 blind personshave been placed in a variety of jobs in openindustry.

With a view to stepping up the pace of placementsit was decided to expand the service in Bombayand to make a beginning in Ahmedabad,the capitalof Gujarat. The American Foundation for OverseasBlind and the Royal Commonwealth Society for theBlind who were approached for financial assistance

very kindly agreed to help with part of the expenses.On September 1, 1968, 3 additional Placementofficers were appointed in Bombay and 2 Placementofficers were appointed in Ahmedabad by theGujarat State Branch of the National Association forthe Blind.

In order that the Placement Officers are adequatelyequipped for their work, a training course of 2months duration was conducted at Bombay.

The training course included a series of lectures onwork for the blind and the special problems ofplacement, practical work at the Workshop for theBlind,Worli,Bombay,and field work.

Bus concession for the Blind:The Bombay ElectricSupply and Transport Undertaking have agreed togive concession to blind persons in City buses onproduction of a certificate from an institution for theblind. The blind person will be able to travel onpayment of half the adult fare.Escort will have to payfull fare.

The National Association for the Blind had taken upthis matter with the BEST authorities some ten yearsago and finally the efforts have been well rewardedby the granting of this concession.

Special awards for the Employers of theHandicapped

The Government of India, Department of SocialWelfare, has decided to give awards, one eachannually to outstanding employers of the blind, thedeaf , and the orthopedically handicapped.Similarly, one award each will be made annually tomost efficient blind, deaf, and orthopedicallyhandicapped worker. Thus six awards will be madeevery year;each award for the handicapped workerwill consist of i) a cash prize of Rs. 500/- and ii) acitation. Similarly, each award for the best employerof the handicapped will consist of iii) a shield orbronze medal and iv) a citation.These awards are tobe instituted on a national basis.

*****

Blind Welfare 7

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND, INDIAReport on Foundation Day 2019

Arvind V. NarvekarConvenor

NAB Awards Committee

The National Association for the Blind, Indiacelebrated its 68th Foundation Day on January 19,2019 at 11.00 a.m.at the Blue Sea Banquet Hall in thepremises of the National Association for the Blind,India, 11-12 Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan Road, WorliSeaface, Mumbai 400 030. The prestigious RustomMerwanji Alpaiwalla and Neelum Khurshed KangaMemorial Awards were presented to those whohave rendered yeoman service to the VisuallyChallenged under Voluntary/Professionalcategories and to those Visually Challengedwomen who have achieved excellence by way ofoutstanding performance and contribution.

Shri Sachin Bhau Ahir, Activist & Former Minister,Govt. of Maharashtra was the Chief Guest, ShriAshok Mahajan, Past Rotary International Directorwas the Guest of Honour and Shri John Abraham,Ambassador of NAB, India was present for the

function. The above Awards were presented by theauspicious hands of the abovesaid dignitaries.

The recipients of the NAB Rustom MerwanjiAlpaiwalla Memorial Awards under the ProfessionalCategory were – Smt.Swaran Suresh Ahuja,Mumbai,Shri Shailendra Kumar Sonkar, Dy. Commissioner(PwD), Uttar Pradesh and in Voluntary Categorywere – Smt. Sushma Pramod Gupta, Faridabad,Haryana.

The recipients of the Neelum Khurshed KangaMemorial Awards were Ms. Tiffany Maria Brar,Trivandrum, Kerala and Dr. Vijeta Kapur, Lucknow,Uttar Pradesh.

The Visually Challenged Candidates from NayanFoundation performed a Cultural Programme whichwas enjoyed and appreciated by the audience.

*****

Awards

8 December 2018

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND, INDIATo

Smt. Sushma Pramod Gupta

A perennial source of inspiration with an illustriousrecord of dedicated service to the Society,you havebeen associated with theVisually Impaired and theNational Association for the Blind, Haryana StateBranch, Faridabad. Born on 21st of January, 1967 atHoshiyarpur, Punjab you are married to ShriPramod Gupta and reside at Faridabad. You, byyour commitment and dedication to social workhave fully justified your Post Graduation in SocialWork/Service. Your social services are allencompassing and include not just the VisuallyImpaired but others too.Welfare of the blind is veryclose to your heart and you successfully strive tobetter their prospects, whether be it throughfinancial assistance, educational help, marriage ofVisually Impaired couples,to mention a few.

You are the HonoraryVice President at the HaryanaState Branch of NAB, India that has greatlybenefitted from your 22 years of association. As anOffice Bearer you are involved in and shouldernumerous responsibilities, looked after the HomeScience Course, taught the Visually Impaired girls,their dining facilities, the store and other regularand routine activities. On the 4th of January 2016,Louis Braille Day the newly renovated kitchen forHome Science Course was inaugurated. Expenseswere sponsored by you for which NAB Haryana

Branch is indeed very grateful. You are activelyinvolved in Campaigning and Fund Raising for theBranch. You have also sponsored higher educationfor15 of our Visually Impaired girls be it B. Ed or M.Ed. Ever creative, you conceive novel ideas for theprogress, welfare and benefit of the Association.Your generosity also reaches out to embrace otherunderprivileged people by providing services thatbring relief, for instance extending help for medicaltreatment, arranging accommodation for patientsand escorts.

Your social services also include working fornumerous Organizations, to name a few, MuskanSocial Welfare Society where you hold thePresident's post and motivate the underprivilegedgirls to take up education. As Executive OfficeBearer with the Indian Red Cross Society – whereyou have taken over charge of Nasha Mukti Kendraand as a Member Campaign for Beti BachaoAndolan.

All your determined efforts, accomplishments andachievements have been appreciated andrecognized. In 2015 you were honored with the StateAward forWomen's Empowerment.4 times recipientof Awards by the hands of the Governor of Haryanaand 3 times was honored with District Awards.

In Recognition of your Outstanding Contribution as a “Voluntary Worker” to the

Welfare of the Visually Challenged

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND, INDIA

has pleasure in awarding you the

RUSTOM MERWANJI ALPAIWALLA MEMORIAL AWARD – 2019 given inMumbai on this Nineteenth day of January 2019 on the occasion of the

68 FOUNDATION DAY OF NAB, IndiaTH

Shri Hemant P.Takle Shri Satya Kumar Singh Prof. Bhaskar Y. MehtaPresident Honorary Secretary General ChairpersonNAB, India NAB, India NAB Awards Committee


Shailendra Kumar SonkarDeputy Commissioner, (PwD), Uttar Pradesh

Born on 10th of September 1968 you hail fromJaunpur, Uttar Pradesh. Though Small Pox robbedyou of your vision at a very young age still yourdetermination was focused on a goal where nobar r iers exis ted. Your parents saw yourunquenchable thirst for learning and admitted youto the National Inst i tute f or the Visual lyHandicapped, Dehradun in 1979 where youexcelled in academics as well as in extra-curricularactivities.

Your participation in an Exhibition for the Blind in1982 brought you great honour at the hands of thethen Prime Minister of India, Smt. Indira Gandhi. In1984 at the National Sports Meet organized byONGC you won 2 Gold and 4 Silver Medals creatinghistory in the field of Sports for the differentlyabled. This honor came to you at the hands of thethen Prime Minister of India,Late Shri Rajiv Gandhi.The same year at NASEOH's Sports Meet you werehonored by Smt. Jaya Bachchan for your laudableparticipation.You excelled at debate and were animpressive Speaker. In 1987 you passed your HighSchool Examinations with 1st Class followed byyour intermediate from AISSCE (CBSE) in 1989. In1994 you received your first Masters, in PoliticalScience from DAV PG College, Dehradun and in2011 second Masters in Sociology from PurvanchalUniversity,Jaunpur,Uttar Pradesh.

An Outstanding and Extraordinary Performer as astudent you excelled at your work in yourprofessional career that won you accolades andapplause and brought you Awards in appreciation.In 2011 you received State Award from theGovernment of Uttar Pradesh for being anOutstanding Employee with Disability.2013 broughtyou NIVH EXCELLENCE AWARD. You receivedpublic recognition for Outstanding performance asthe most Efficient Employee in the category ofBlindness receiving the NATIONAL AWARD FORT H E E M P OW E R M E N T O F P E R S O N S W I T HDISABILITIES – 2015.

Since 2011 you are the Deputy Commissioner,Persons with Disabilities at the Commissioner'sOffice/Court Under the State Government of UttarPradesh. Your other past designations andaffiliations have been: Chief Project Officer atDehradun Unit of 'Jan Kalyan Sewa Samiti, Jaunpur.Manager (Handicapped Wel f are) a t 'MaaShyamadevi Yuva Smekit Viklang Punarvas Kendra,Ja u n p u r. M a n a g i n g D i re c t o r a t ' K r i s h n aDrishtibadhitarth Evam Shikshan Sansthan' Jaunpurand as Placement Officer at the National Federationof the Blind, New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Yourardent wish in life is to utilize your knowledge,experience and personal attributes for the welfareof the Society in general, with focus on the lessprivileged class including Persons with Disabilities.

In Recognition of your Outstanding Contribution as a “Professional Worker” to the







Blind Welfare 9


Smt. Swaran Suresh Ahuja

Born on 2nd of January 1932 you are one of thelongest serving Well-Wisher of Nat ionalAssociation for the Blind, India.You associated withNAB, India as a dedicated generous giver ofservices and as the better half of our much lovedand respected Executive Director, Late Mr. SureshChandra Ahuja.Your educational qualifications areequally impressive, a BA Honours (Hindi),University of Delhi, Certificate of Proficiency inTeaching of the Blind from College of Teachers forthe Blind,London,UK and Diploma inTeacher of theBlind from none other than the world renowned,Perkins School for the Blind, Water town,Massachusetts,USA.

Your professional career spans more than 50 yearsfrom 1959 – 2017. Starting as a Teacher in 1959 atDadar School for the Blind, Mumbai, on to aLecturer at Government of India's RegionalTraining Centre for Teachers of the VisuallyHandicapped, Mumbai, then as Vice Principal ofDadar School for the Blind, Mumbai and a GuestLecturer for B.Ed Teacher Training Programme atNIVH,Dehradun and SNDT University,Mumbai.

Due credit for helping NAB, India establish its firstNational Academy of Teachers of the Blind atPalyamkottai.You were and still is a Member of thefollowing prestigious Associations, Committeesand more, just to name a few;World Braille Council,National Committee on Braille Development,Braille Council of India and National Committee onReview of Bharati Braille, NIVH, Dehradun with

Chairperson of its Sub Group on Review of MarathiBraille. Also served as Assistant Secretary,International Council of Educators of the VisuallyHandicapped, as Examiner and Paper Setter forNational Academy for Teachers of the Blind (NATB)& Training Centre for the Teachers of the VisuallyHandicapped (TCTVH) and is on severalGovernment and NGO Committees for the VisuallyImpaired and have participated in numerousNational, International Conferences, Conventions,Seminars,Workshops with few paper presentations.

To your credit are several valuable publications,some of them by NAB – Bharti Braille Shikshak,Drishtiheeno ka Shikshan tatha Punarvasan –Prarambh ka Vikas (a history of education andrehabilitation of the blind in the past 200 years),Yadiaapki kaksha me drishtiheen / drishtibadhit balakho: shikshako ke liye sujhav (a translation andadaptation of a book by American Foundation) andothers include, Drishtiheen aur Samaj AadharitPunarvas on CBR, Taylor Frame Ganit Paati yaBonham Bhoomiti Sadhan – Prayog Vidhi (NAIB),Hamare Bacchhe – Drishtiheen,a pamphlet (AICB),2chapters of Shikshak Prashikshan Lekhmala (AICB),as Chief Editor, Braille Gyan Kosh (NIVH).Developed distance teaching lessons f orparents/volunteers (NIOS & NIVH) and have evenscripted aVideo film on teaching Braille (BCI).

Words, with limited boundaries, cannot encompassyour dedication and contributions in this field, ofyour expertise and moral commitment.

In Recognition of your Outstanding Contribution as a “Professional Worker” to the







10 December 2018

About Neelum Khurshid Kanga Award & the Winners' CitationsSwati Thakurdesai

Honarary Secretary, NAB, India

ABOUT NEELUM KHURSHED KANGA:

NAB Department of Women's empowerment carryover different activities to support visuallychallenged women in their over all development.Many hands were joined with NAB in this endeavor.One of the names is Ms. Neelam Khurshed Kanga.Ms. Kanga was an ordinary lady with an extraordinary achievement and enlightened with thegoal to work voluntarily towards the welfare of theblind. Working full time in a travel agency. Ms.Kanga got involved in voluntary work with the blindin 1948. She was with NAB, India since its inceptionrather before that. She actively engaged with fundraising committee.

ABOUT NEELUM KHURSHED KANGA AWARD:

Ms. Palkhiwala, a best friend of Ms. Kanga,dedicated a fund to NAB in the name of her dearand selfless friend. This fund benefits visuallychallenged women in need of medical treatment,education, vocational training, employment and

economic resettlement. NAB initiated a 'NeelamKanga Prize', (then upgraded to the Award) routedthrough Department ofWomen's Empowerment anddecided to give it to three deserving blind womenevery year who have outstanding achievementespecially in unconventional areas and contributingto the society meaningfully despite of theirdisability. The objective was to encourage othervisually challenged women to accept the challengeto take up new fields. Since its inception (1983) tilldate (2019) 94 visually challenged women fromvarious challenging fields like Education, Law,Medical practitioner, Physio-Therapy, MBA, BankManager, women Activist and many more arehonored with this prestigious Award. The awardconsists of shied,citation and cash.

The very first recipient of the Prize in 1983 was Ms.Kaushalya Balid from Education field, and this yeari.e.in 2019 recipients are Dr. Vijeta Kapur, aphysiotherapist and Ms. Tiffni Brar, a promoter ofeducation ofVisually Challenged.

Blind Welfare 11

Response of Awardee

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Challenged. I have really enjoyed my work espciallyenjoyed woring with children who were my real teachers- real in many ways. I have very happy andie g©unforgettable memories of working with visuallyimpaired children,myV.T.friends,colleagues,teachers &teacher-students many of whom are holding veryresponsible posts today.I am very proud of them.

For me it has been a joy and privilege working in this field.

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12 December 2018


Tiffany Maria Brar

“The courageous daughter of India” is what ourHonorable President of India,Shri Ram NathKovindaptly called you when he conferred on you theNational Award of Being the Best Role Model.Yourcareer and personal objective “To be a goodSpecial Educator and empower the blind”requiresunflinching faith in yourself, determination and anindomitable spirit indeed without 'borders'.You area perennial source of inspiration, ever smiling andradiating positive vibes that are contagious,affecting people of all ages globally.

Born on 14th of September 1988 the doctor'snegligence cost you your vision soon after birth.After early years of education in Great Britain youreturned to continue it in India. The segregation,discrimination and callous attitude in class and onsports field towards theVisually Impaired appalledand outraged you leading you to your mission inlife, to bring about the necessary changes. Despiteall hurdles your disability created you topped theCBSE Board Examinations in your school. Youalways detained aIst Class position throughoutyour education till Post Graduation in SpecialEducation (Visual Impairment). You attainedexpertise in AccessTechnology too.

Your professional l i fe star ted in 2009 as'Receptionist cum Braille Assistant' at 'Braillewithout Borders Kanthari International Institute forSocial Entrepreneurs'. Thereafter in 2012 youworked as 'Project Coordinator' for JyothirgamayaMobile Blind School initiated by you at the same

institute. In 2015 you founded JyothirgamayaFoundation a realization of your dream that has sincethen grown and flourished.

You are the recipient of innumerable Awardsglobally and invited for several Programs andWorkshops too. To name a few: In 1997 Child of theYear National Award at Kolhapur for Bharatnatyam,Job Day Foundation Award, Phoenix Award,WomenVision Award, Kerala State Disability Award 2012,Woman of the Year Award from Hope Trust 2015,SarthakNari Award 2016, Rotary InternationalAward 2016,Vocational Excellence Award by RotaryInternational 2018 and National Award for The BestRole Model 2017.

You have been felicitated a host of times byNat ional/ Inter nat ional Organizat ions andcelebrities,our revered Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam beingone of them. This limited space cannot do justice toyour achievements. Suffice it to say there have beenCamps and Workshops, Sensitization Programs andSpecialTraining Sessions,varied activities and skillsthat gave the batches at Jyothirgamaya Foundation acomprehensive,all rounded education cum trainingmaking them confident and self-reliant.To live a lifeof self-respect and dignity with the head held highand to realize the most impossible sounding dreamis what Jyothirgamaya Foundation achieves.You areblessed with volunteers from India and abroadwhose selfless services are gratefully accepted andappreciated.

In recognition of your Outstanding Achievement in your

Professional Career



NEELUM KHURSHED KANGA MEMORIAL AWARD – 2019Given in Mumbai on this Nineteenth day of January 2019 on the occasion of the



Blind Welfare 13


Dr.Vijeta Kapur

Born on 29th December 1979, your name, Vijetaaptly describes your spirit, a Winner all the way.Life was cool for you in your prime of youth till inyour 22nd year Retinal Detachment took yourvision away leaving you in dark anguish. But thephysical darkness did not diminish the bright lightof your spirit within.

Life moves on and so did you.Loss of vision was nota deterrent but an impetus that led you on toBachelors in Physiotherapy (B.P.T.) in 2005 followedby a PGD (PPHC) from Apollo Hospital. At present,you are working as a 'Senior Physiotherapist' atPhysio-Rehab Point, Lucknow and is the ChiefExecutive Officer (CEO) at Indic Institute,Lucknow.

Not content with a fulfilling professional life youhave reached out to those Visually Impaired whowish for assistance in finding their footing in Life bypreparing accessible books for them. You alsoprovide support to those aspirants who are seekingcareer in Banking and Civil Services. You arefortunate to have a husband, who is supportive andencouraging, himself working in the field of thedifferently abled.

It's an incredible and laudable attitude to havevision,and then to loose it,yet remain positive aboutyourself and others in this field.To seek and achievea rewarding career and extend your optimistic spiritto others. A Self-Empowered Woman, empoweringothers!

In recognition of your Outstanding Achievement in your

Professional Career



NEELUM KHURSHED KANGA MEMORIAL AWARD – 2019 Given inMumbai on this Nineteenth day of January 2019 on the occasion of the



About the author:

Urvi Jangam is currently Ph. D.R e s e a r c h S c h o l a r a t t h ed e p a r t m e n t o f G e r m a n ,University of Mumbai. Born on14th October 1988 in Mumbai, thea u t h o r t u r n e d b l i n d a s apremature baby while in theincubator. Her parent's decision

of educating her in a regular school in theIntegrated Education Program of NationalAssociation for the Blind, India has contributedsignificantly to her all-round development. Sheperceived B.A from Fergusson College, Pune(Junior college) and Patkar Varde College Mumbaiin History and English literature. Parallel shedecided to perceive German language-trainingfrom Max Müller bhavan Mumbai, In 2009 shebegan with her M.A in German studies at Universityof Mumbai. In 2011 the author was selected for theWertewelten scholarship for her essay titled 'myvalues' which was ranked amongst top 10 textsworldwide and later published in their respectiveanthology in Germany. The same scholarshipprovided her the opportunity to travel to Germanyfor the first time and spend an entire semester atthe university of Tübingen, which opened the doorto a new world.After her return to India she workedfor a MNC Lionbridge technologies PVT.LTD as alanguage lead. In the same year she cleared UGCnational eligibility test (NET) in first attempt andalso secured JRF on the second go. From 2012 to2014 she worked as a translation lecturer for theM.A German Studies at Department of German,University of Mumbai. In 2014 she received theDAAD Ph.D. Scholarship for research at Universityof Göttingen. This article gives an overview of herPh.D.Research topic.

Aesthetics of the Non-visual

Is aesthetics, as a science of perception,incomplete if one of the five senses, namely thevisual sense is left out? This doctoral researchdelves into the possibility of conceptualizingaesthetics without the visual sense.This research isconducted by a blind researcher who undertakesthe analysis of literary texts written by blind writersto derive the elements of the aesthetics of the non

visual. In this sense, it is research by the blind on theblind, of the blind, for the blind as well as for thesighted. Therein lays the uniqueness of this rarestudy.

An overview of western aesthetics shows, so faraesthetics could largely not do without the visualsense. Indian aesthetics of Rasa on the other handseems to put the sense of taste as a primary sense,which as the analysis reveals,however does not holdtrue either. This gives rise to the need for a newconcept. And yet the methodological premise of theRasa was selected with the aim of adding on to theexisting framework, in order to make space for theaesthetics of the non-visual, which hardly seems tobe addressed in the present rasa concept oraesthetics by and large.

While attempts were made to analyze the literarytext, many dif f icult ies were f aced due topredominantly visual nature of the prevalentaesthetic theories. Though the concept of rasaseems to derive its essence from the sense of taste,the aesthetic process, leading toelements aestheticpleasure are primarily visual. This could beexplained with the help of examples in portrayal ofSringara rasa (love).Most of the stimuli used in orderto invoke this rasa are visual. So is the case withresponses, which manifest themselves in form ofgestures, looks, costume, embraces etc. which aredifficult to perceive in absence of the visual sense.This leads us to the question how is it possible for ablind spectator to understand, theempathisetenderness of the emotion on the stage?portrayedThe alternative of live audio description during theactual play, which facilitates a detailed description,is hardly explored in Indian theater. The audiodescription theater projects widely popular in theUSA and Europe are worth mentioning at this point.This process includes the equipment for audiodescription (typically a hand-held receiver withvolume control and other knobs and a headset),which enables the blind and visually impairedspectators to follow the chain of visual events. Nosooner the receiver is switched on; the blindspectator can listen to the description about stagelayout and characters even before the beginning ofthe play.1 The best possible solution to fill up the

1[10.12.2018]http://www.acb.org/adp/theatres.html

Aesthetics of the Non-visual

BY Urvi Jangam

14 December 2018

visual gaps as far as the Indian theater isconcerned, is description offered by sightedcounterparts parents, siblings, partner, children,relatives, friends accompanying the blindaudience. The awareness required for describingthe visual aspects in an effective way to conveyvarious aesthetic shades to blind spectator ismissing. Furthermore, the sighted companioncould forget to describe the scene, on thepropsstage while her-his attention is focused on the play.On the other hand frequent questions by the blindand visually impaired spectator could be adisturbance to their sighted companions. Thus, itcould be only guessed how unfulfilling theaesthetic experience would be for a blindspectator who fails to grasp the play in entiretyit'sdue to lack of visual input. Not all scenes areportrayed through dialogs. To what extent is itpossible to convey the intensity of the nonverbalelements such as a light smile, embraces, and finegestures of the eyebrows, sneaking glances andlooking sideways etc word to word? Thedescription is an important source to gain insightsinto the protagonist's looks, appearance, costume,jewelry,and other apparatus used on the stage.

Besides, the constraint of getting into vivid detailsrelated to love scenes in presence of parents,teachers etc.existing as a taboo has to be taken intoaccount.

Furthermore, it is not the mere absence of visualinput that proves to be a hindrance,but the inabilityto activate the imagination which remains the areaof concern. The awareness required to invoke theimagination, non-visual pictures is missing. Thevery realisation that imagination plays a differentroll, which inturn leads to the aesthetic perceptionof the blind and visually impaired is absent.Fortunately, the description provided by thesighted companions is not the sole means for ablind and visually impaired spectator to enjoy theplay. With help of voice, such spectators gain adeeper understanding of the characters. Due tooptimum of the auditory sense, gentle,utilisationmellow and delicate words enable them tovoicesexperience the intensity and of love. Sokindlingwhen the feelings are primarily expressed throughthe medium of voice, the blind spectator has anupper hand.Since these spectators are in a positionto feel, grasp much more through dialog incomparison to the fellow human beings whomajorly perceive through body language. Thesereasons depict the vitality of the coming up with an

independent concept of Adrishya rasa.Hence,it wasabsolutely necessary to come up with a theoreticalframework which could make space for the dueinterpretation of the selected texts and poemswithout questioning their validity.

It is to be noted that aesthetic experiences are notformed in a vacuum but are largely dependent uponpositive and negative experiences (in case of blindand visually impaired writers) on personal as well associal fronts. A simple reason for this is the writer'sreliance on sighted assistance for clear,precise andin-depth understanding of different phenomena.These factors in turn go on to develop a uniqueaesthetic perspective and mould the blind subject'screative independence through writings. Adrishyarasa or the aesthetic pleasure of the non visual is nota mere outcome of the lack of visual sense, or acompensation of remaining four senses.Neither is itsupposed to be supernatural, nor is it a heightenedstate of other senses in the absence of visual sense.The lacking visual sensory perception may actuallymean a different potential deriving from theoptimum utilization of the four senses, namelyhearing, touch, smell, and taste coupled withunparalleled imagination and empathy. Thisaesthetic perception is cultivated since childhood incase of readers, spectators who are blind by birth.This holds true for late blind individuals as well: theonly difference being that they have to trainthemselves to this unique way of perception, whichdepends on various factors such as acceptance oftheir disability, adaptability, shifting the focus tosenses like hearing and touch which has been so faroccupied by the visual sense, the extent of loss ofvision etc. Thus it is also an outcome of the givensenses coupled with imagination, empathy and theinfluence of visual memories. Such aestheticperception cannot be stimulated temporarily by asighted person. It is to be taken into considerationthat this area of aesthetic pleasure is shapedessentially owing to a differing role of imaginationfor a blind and a sighted aesthete. Along with thefour senses and their combination, the imaginationfor a blind individual serves the purpose of comingcloser to the perceived reality, to fill in the gaps,andto complete a picture (a perception that is not to beequated with or aspired that of a sighted spectator).Thus this form of aesthetic perception woulddistinguish itself owing to unique patterns ofimagination, whereas for a sighted aestheteimagination at times serves to take a flight from theperceived reality. This proves that the aestheticperception in case of both sighted and blind is

Blind Welfare 15

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16 December 2018

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Blind Welfare 17

intrinsically of a different kind: for the sighted fromthe normal reality to imagination and for the blindfrom constricted perception to wider imaginationof pitching in for the missing visual stimuli andsharper use of the other four senses to aqualitatively different perception.

When the visually impaired can be artists andwriters as well as connoisseurs and readers,conceptualizing aesthetics without the visual senseshould bring new insight, particularly, is as is thecase here substantiated by travelogues, shortprose and poems by blind writers which form theprimary text corpus for this doctoral thesis.Conception of a new rasa namely rasa, inAdrishyaorder to cater to the unique aspect of selected textsand a critical appreciation of literary texts writtenby blind writers leads to an alternative aesthetics,which has so far hardly been conceptualized. Thisaesthetic perspective is an attempt to effectivelydissect the role of 'non-visual' perception, i.e. allother sensory organs except eyes and it'sprioritization in contrast to prevalent aesthetictheories where visual perception is pivotal.

Different modes of 'seeing', such as 'seeing' withfingers and ears,are less familiar and relatively lessexplored. Unfortunately, the power pof othersenses besides the visual sense is underestimatedeven today. Consequently, the capacity of a blindand visually impaired individual to observe andperceive the world especially through travellingcontinues to be undermined.This thesis attempts tounearth the crucial aspect and aesthetic valueclosely associated with such experiences.Critiquing the conventional position of 'sight' in thebranch of aesthetics constitutes an importantmotivation for this research.

Observation is closely associated with perceptionand primarily with visual perception. Perceptionenables us to come to terms with variousphenomena around like the beautiful, picturesque,attractive, discrete, stunning and the ugly amidstothers. In this process we assign an aesthetic valueto an object.Yet another significant question in thiscase:how is aesthetics based on non-visual sensoryperception shaped and structured i.e. how does ap e r s o n wh o i s bl i n d by b i r t h p e rc e iveaesthetically? Or how does a person confrontedwith the loss of sight, which till the given momentoccupied an indispensible position in her/his life,come to terms with this grave loss? Do the erstwhilepictures and images then in due course of time takeup a non-visual form such as tactile or the auditory

form, or the combination of the remaining senses?To what extent does the visual element preservedthrough memories determine the nature of newpictures? In other words how strongly could theimpact of the visual aspect be felt even when thesensory input on this front remains absent.

These questions shall be answered on the basis ofthe analysis of the chosen literary texts applying thenewly conceptualized rasa.Adrishya

*****

Car Rally for the BlindPallavi Kadam

Executive DirectorNAB, India

The National Association for the Blind, India inassociation with the Rotary Club of Mumbai Elegantand Indian Automotive Racing Club (IARC) hadorganised a Car Rally on 18th November,2018.

The objective of organizing Car Rally was to createawareness amongst the society about thecapabilities of theVisually Challenged Persons.TheVisually Challenged participants also get a chanceto interact with the Society which in turn createsemployment opportunities in the mainstreamsociety.

There were 78 Visually Impaired Navigators fromNAB, India and 78 Drivers from Rotary Club ofMumbai Elegant. The whole event was coordinatedby NAB,India and IARC.

On 18th November, Sunday morning at 8.00 a.m. atWorli Police parade ground our ex-cricketer Mr.Umesh Kulkarni and well-known T.V serial actressMs. Parul Chaudhari flagged off first car. After oneminute gap 78 Cars were on track. Dignitaries fromNAB India as well as from Rotary Club of MumbaiElegant were there to witness the flag off ceremony.By 11.00 a.m.Cars started coming back to NAB HeadOffice by completing thirty five k.m. distances astheir targets. All the cars reached by 12.00 to 1.00p.m. Ms. Kusum Gajarmal, Visually Impaired ladywas the first winner declared followed by Mr.ShivamPatil as 2nd Winner and Mr. Dyaneshwar Mardhewas the third. They were honoured by well knownfilm actir Mr. Jacky Shroff and famous NationalBowler Mr.Harbhajan Singh giving Trophy and CashPrizes.

NAB, India's Hon. Secretaries Mr. A.S. Athalekar, Mr.Suhas Karnik, Mrs. Swati Thakurdesai, ExecutiveCouncil Member Mr. Ramakant Satam, ExecutiveDirector Mrs. Pallavi Kadam was present. NAB's

18 December 2018

Brand Ambassador and famous actor Mr. JohnAbraham's Parents were Special Guests for theprogramme. Mrs. Anjali Pansari, President, Mrs.Savita Dalmiya, Secretary and other members ofRotary Club of Mumbai legend were among thedignitaries. Mr. Ketan Mehta and his team from

IARC were also present for the event. There werearound 400 persons present for the event.

Overall the event was a grand success andNavigators as well as the Drivers both enjoyed theride.

Received various reply in Social Networking site

through Whats'app

Blind Welfare 19

Reply received from Ms. Chetna More,a Visually Impaired girl.

Hello, my name is Chetna More. I work with Canarabank. I am very excited to participate in this event asalways.Ihadparticipatedpreviouslyandwonaswell.

It's kind of an adventure for me whereby mynavigation,a participant finds write path in specifictimeframe. Besides that, I get acquainted with newpeople and be friends with them as well as I get tomeet my old friends afterwards. I don't need to doany such preparation because the Braille map sheetis given on the spot and I manage reading Braillequite well. Sent I don't foresee any challenges frommy side provided the participant listens to giveninstructions carefully and drives safe.

*****

World White Cane Day EventPradnya Upadhye

Director, NAB, India

On 15th October, 2018, NAB Department ofRehabilitation, Mahalaxmi and other Departmentsof NAB conducted awareness programs at varioustraffic junctions in Mumbai.

The first site was Near Braille Press,Worli Seaface at10 a.m where all the officials from NAB (I)-alongwith Mr. A. S. Athalekar, Hon. Secretary, Ms. SwatiThakurdesai, Hon. Secretary, Ms. Pallavi Kadam,Executive Director, NAB(I) were present andflagged off the event. A small awareness programalongwith crossing of the roads by the officials andvisually challenged persons was held.

Thereafter, the team of NAB officials from NAB –Department of Rehabili tation, Mahalaxmiproceeded to the site at: Elphinstone Station, NearIndia Bulls at 11.30 a.m.where few RTO officials hadjoined the program and similar awarenessprogram was conducted,with crossing of the roads.

The third site was near Regal Cinema, Mumbai at12.30 p.m.where the dignitaries of Taj Palace Hotelhad also joined and they flagged off the event at theculminating site.Similar awareness programs wereheld there along with the dignitaries, by providingtips on helping the visually challenged persons,bycrossing of the roads along with the officials.Sponsorships of T shirts, Caps, snacks, food, whitecanes etc. were arranged by individual donors. Tomake the above occasion a success, we receivesupport from the Mumbai Municipal Corporation,the R.T.O., the Commissioner of Police, B.E.S.T. andother local authorities.

Other Departments of NAB also conducted same

awareness programs at dif ferent sites viz.Siddhivinayak Temple, Century Bazar, Kalachowkiejunctions etc.

*****

REPORT – 210TH Birth Anniversary ofLouisBraille – January 4, 2019

Dr.Vimal Kumar DenglaHonorary Secretary

NAB, India

It is a matter of pride for all of us that United Nationshas acknowledged the contribution of Robert LouisBraille for the millions of visually impaired personsthrough out the world. 4th January 2019 is declaredas first World Braille Day by United Nations. On thisoccasion, National Association for the Blind, Indiaorganized various functions throughout the countryin all its State Branches and various activities.P ro g ra m m e s we re o rga n i ze d i n G u j a ra t ,Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,Delhi, Haryana, etc.We are forwarding herewith thebrief report of the function at organized atheadquarters of National Association for the Blind,India,Mumbai.

Every year on 4th January, National Association forthe Blind, India celebrates Brail le Day tocommemorate the Birthday of Louis Braille.

National Association for the Blind,India,Sir J.DugganBraille Press organized a function on Friday, January4,2019 at 11.00 a.m.at the entrance of the NAB BraillePress Building, Worli Seaface Complex, tocommemorate Louis Brai l le 's 210th Bir thAnniversary. The Head of NAB Departments - Staffand visually impaired trainees/persons were presenton the occasion. Mr. Hasmukh Shah, well wisher andlife member of NAB,India was also present.

The function started with the lighting of the lamp.The trainees of NAB TCTVH Centre gave tributes toLouis Braille by briefing the audience about LouisBraille's great contribution by inventing the script“Braille” for the visually impaired. Poems on LouisBraille were recited by the trainees.

Mr. Hasmukh Shah spoke the importance of braillescript which helped him considerably in running hisbusiness successfully. Mr. Hasmukh Shah paid floraltributes to Louis Braille. The importance of braillescript was highlighted in this function.

Two braille books “Braille Teaching Course - 1” inEnglish and “Abacus” in Hindi were officiallyreleased on this occasion. Mr.Vijay Nawale thankedall those who were present for the function and alsothe staff who helped in organizing the function.

20 December 2018

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*****

Blind Welfare 21

Introduction:

Legal tender/currency is a part and parcel of oureveryday life. For almost every commodityexchange we require currency. Like in India, inmost of the countries this currency is available inthe form of paper notes and coins of variousdenominations. Each country has their ownendorsed economic establishment to make adecision on the currency related issues.In India,wehave Reserve Bank of India as an apex body todecide the issues on currency.

Present scenario:

In India, the present government, through ReserveBank of India, has developed the new currencieswhich are totally different in design than theprevious one. The previous currencies weredifferent either in shape, size, thickness, lengthand/or width for e.g. a note of Rs.500/- was longerthan that of Rs. 100/-. The notes of Rs. 50/- and Rs.20/- were similar in length but were distinct inwidth. Coin of Rs. 1/- was thicker than that of Rs. 2/-though it was similar in size. So it was easy even forordinary person to differentiate between thecurrencies even without looking at it. Obviously itwas easy for a visually impaired person also torecognize the currency without vision.

Whatever reason there may be but the presentgovernment has come up with a new design ofcurrency notes/coins on the ground of foreigncurrency which is almost similar in shape, size,length, width, texture, thickness, weight etc. Thecolours of the notes are different and attractive andvarying by denominations. A low vision personwith better vision can identify it to certain extentbut as there are no other identification marks onthese notes or coins for discrimination so it isbecoming very difficult for a totally blind or lowvision person with poor vision to recognize it andthat is a big challenge in front of us today.There aretwo options to overcome this problem:

Identi�ication of New Currency by Blind and

Visually Challenged: Challenges and Solutions

Swati Thakurdesai

Honarary Secretary

NAB, India

1. To make the currency blind friendly or

2. To find out the appropriate solutions to enablevisually challenged person to recognize thecurrency easily.

Out of these, for the first option i.e. making thecurrency blind friendly there should be somechanges or adaption in the currency printing systemwhere the policy decision is involved and steps to betaken at the apex level in the Reserve Bank.NationalAssociation for the Blind, India, being a largestorganization in the field of Visual Impairment, hasalready filed a PIL against this in High Court. Thecase is in the conduit.

How Other Countries Help Blind To RecognizeThe Currency?

Let's have a glance on the scenario in othercountries:

United States: As per a study only two majorcountries issue notes that do not vary in size bydenomination-Canada and United States. HoweverCanadian paper currency, unlike US banknotes,feature tactile marks that helps blind and visuallyimpaired to make the difference by touch.

In US an interim solution that is used to identifycurrency is mainly based on technology. They arethe currency readers those identify and announcethe denomination of a note inserted into a sensor onthe device.This includes:

1. The iBill Talking Bank Note Identifier: It's acompact device that can be easily inserted into aside pocket.It recognizes all US currencies providedthe currency is not too crumpled or otherwisedamaged. It announces the denominations in threeways:

It can speake the each denomination;

It can produce a different pattern of tones for eachdenomination;or

22 December 2018

It can vibrate silently when you count your change.

This device is now available free of cost fromTreasury Department to any US citizen who is blindor visually impaired.

2. A Mobile Solution: Along with iBill currencyidenti f ier, Treasury Department has alsodeveloped a pair of mobile apps that use yourAndroid or iOS device's camera to identify UScurrency. The Android version, named IDEALCurrency Identifier, is available on the Google PlayStore. The iOS version, called EyeNote is availablefrom the iTunes App Stores. Once you start any ofthese apps, just point your phone's camera at thecurrency you need to identify.After a few seconds itwill inform both, the amount and whether you areshowing front or back view of the currency.

3.Other Solutions: besides these the LookTelMoney Reader for Apple iphones, iPads and newermodels of the iPod touch is available from iTunesStore for $9.99.One can also use his Mac desktop orlaptop to identify currency with the OS X version,which can be purchased from Mac App Store.

These apps operates similarly to the free versionoffered from the Treasury Department,but LookTelMoney Reader identify currency from 21 differentcountries and absolutely useful for internationaltravelers.

Likewise there are several apps available onpayments ranging between $5 -$20 which areuseful for the cause.

Australian Dollar: The Australian dollar tacklesthe accessibility issues in a very simple method,bymaking larger denominations not simply larger butlonger.They also have strong colours and contrastsfor the visually impaired.

Euro: the Euro bank notes were designed wothheavy input from Blind organizations and have avery simple dist inguishing f eatures: bigdenominations are big whereas little are little. Thenotes have some intaglio printing, which givesthem relief marks that can be felt. The €200 and €500 notes have special tactile marks on them aswell,to avoid confusion and for security purpose.

Canadian Dollar: Canada: Like US Canada also

has all banknotes of same size but they have added atactile mark on the currency. Like most othercurrencies, different denominations are coloureddifferently to help visually impaired too. TheCanadian currency tactile feature indicates thebanknotes denomination in the upper left corner ofthe face side of the banknote using a series of raiseddots.The dots are similar in appearance to Braille, itdiffers from Standard Braille. The banknote use fullBraille block/cell of 6 dots. The $5 has one cell andadded one more cell than the previous one with theincreasing denominations of $10, $20 and $50. The$100 note has arranged two cells with empty spacein between.

It has been done in consultation with the experts inthe field of visual impairment.

Hong Kong Dollar: Hong Kong's very coolcurrency-a lion-has three of the hallmark featurestypically seen; intaglio printing, different sizes anddifferent colors, which is most convenient forvisually challenged to differentiate between thedenominations.

Japanese Yen: Japan also uses special intaglio-printed tactile marks and each note is in differentsize.

Swedish Krona: Sweden has different colours forvisually impaired and different sizes for the blind.

Swiss Frane: Switzerland: the Swiss currency has alot in common with the Euro with its different coloursand sizes for its Franes. However, the Swiss go onestep further adding intaglio marks and a perforatednumber that you can feel.

British Pound: British banknotes are differentiatedby size and to a certain extent, by colours.They alsohave large numbers like US dollars so that thepeople with bad eyesight can easily differentiatebetween the denominations.

Paper used for printing of Notes by differentcountries:

Polymer,Plastic,Silk and Cotton.

NAB I's submission to the court:

As mentioned earlier,NAB I has already filed a PIL inthe High Court.The requisition made in this PIL is:

Blind Welfare 23

1. There should be a device designed currencyreaders that identify and announce thedenomination of a note inserted into a sensoron the device. The device should be compactenough to slip into a side pocket.It should havetalk back in English as well as local languages.As it should be useful and economical to theend users who are from weak financialbackground.It announces the denomination inyour choice of three of three ways: It can speakthe amount; it can produce a different patternof tones for each denomination; or it canvibrate silently which may be helpful inkeeping your financial information privatewhen you use the device at a cash register orcount your change.

2. As per technological move mobile apps to bedeveloped which will speak in local languagesand should be economical.

3. Braille cells or raised marking which is easilyread by visually impaired. Paper textureshould be non tearable wherein Braille dotsare not erased easily. Intaglio marks also willhelp for identification.

4. Coins should be of different shapes and sizewhich was in the olden times that were easilyidentified by blind as per their shapes andsizes.

Conclusion:

In short we can say that, in India, either we candesign the blind friendly currency by makingvariations in shape, size, length, width, thickness,texture and colour contrast, tactile intaglio marksetc. or we can develop an accessible andappropriate currency identifying system which ismost easier for a blind person, irrespective of hiseducation and socio-economic background, toidentify the currency with no/less difficulty.

Source : Through Google

Ps:We are happy to inform you that our Hon.Finance

Minister has recent ly announced that the

government will come out with the first ever Rs. 20

coin which will be shaped like a 12-edged polygon

and new series of Rs.1,Rs.2,Rs.5 and Rs.10 coins will

also contain design features which will be of great

assistance toV.I.persons

OUR SHINING STAR - Marufah Bano

Ms. Shalini KhannaNAB India, Centre For

Blind Women & Disability Studies, Delhi

Marufah Bano has been placed as a `Masseur atcorporate `PayU Money in Bangaluru from June 2018.

A role model defying all barriers and limitations,Marufah hails from Jharkhand and belongs to amarginal farmer's family. Never sent to any formalschool for education or skill building till 18 years ofage,Marufah was married to a visually impaired boyin 2017,and after three days of her marriage,she wasadmitted in the centre for learning cooking so thatshe could support to run her home.

This bright girl not only trained herself in necessarylife skills of home science, mobility and Braille butalso equipped herself quickly in the profession of`Spa and Massages, without any formal education. Alot of effort was put on her grooming andcommunication skills as she did not even knowproper Hindi language when she came from home.After finishing her training in Spa and Massage inDecember 2017, she was taken as `On the jobtrainee to train in other girls in the same skill fromJanuary 2018-May 2018.

The girl had to strive and fight with her parents, in-laws and husband to convince them that she will beable to manage on her own her life and job even inanother part of the country due to her skill buildingat the centre. Finally, with the centre's support, shewas settled in Bangaluru with accommodation nearher workplace. Today, Maruf ah commutesindependently and is managing herself well in theworking women hostel. She is the bread earner ofthe family as the husband is still studying.

24 December 2018

Blind Welfare 25

Alay Patel-Contributing Member of Family

Krupa VelaniBlind Peoples Association, Ahmedabad

Let's Meet Alay Patel. He is young and handsomeman. He is currently working in Vocational trainingCentre at BPA.He is getting around Rs.5000 stipendper month. He comes regularly to the vocationalc e n t re by l o c a l b u s i n d e p e n d e n t ly. H ecommunicates with other trainees and participatesin other activities of the centre. When he istravelling by bus if he was sitting and he see any oldor disabled person,he will call them and give his sitso he has sense of responsibilities.

His birth date is 12th October 1992. He is stayingwith elder sister. She is working as an assistantteacher in centre for persons with deafblindness.Father was working in Bank of Baroda as a peon.Mother was house wife but she was busy in makingdry snacks and sold in houses.

Alay was Pre mature delivered by his mother, hewas in incubator for 1 month and 10 days, jaundice,Epilepsy, bilateral congenital cataract, and He wasoperated for his cataract.At 1 yr.Age disability wasidentified. Ophthalmic dept. Civil hospital,Ahmedabad,referred him to school for blind.

He was brought to school for the blind at BPA. AsAlay along with his vision problem had severecommunicat ion problem due to hear ingimpairment. Authorities at Blind school found itdifficult to admit him in the school. That was thetime BPA just had started centre for children withdual sensory impairment. Alay was referred to the

centre and he was admitted for his training andeducation.

Before joining the programme, Alay had severeNystagmus in his both eyes. He did not like to wearglasses. His attention span was very short. He hadpoor neck control. He ate only semi solid food. Hewas totally dependent on his mother. After joiningthe programme Initial focus of training for Alay wasactivities of daily living and communication. Helearnt to eat, groom himself, use toilet and play withother children.He started responding meaning fullyto gestures and few signs.

Within first one year teachers identified Alay'sabilities to learn to read and write. He was taughtbasic reading writing skills along with his training inmobility skills. The team re-approached authoritiesof the school for the blind to admit him.Alay passedhis 7th std. from same school with support fromteachers of deafblind unit. He joined one yearcourse in carpentry from technical school for theblind. He mainly learnt through drawings, picturesand signs.

Along with his academic achievements Alay startedparticipating in co curricular activities like dance &drama. He won the several medals in drawingcompetition and sports. Daya was his only friend tillhe was in school. Now he has many friends invocational training centre. He also joined KaushlyaVardhan Kendra, 3 months course in Art & Craft,recognized by the dept.of employment and trainingGovt. of Gujarat. Today Alay is master in makingfancy paper bags, tie and dye work and jewelry. Healso works as a Master trainer to other deafblindstudents.

He always helped his mother in her household work.Like cleaning vessels, swiping and mopping.Mother was always proud of him. Unfortunately helost her four years back. She was suffering fromcancer. Alay used to be confused about hercondition. Teachers, sister and mother herself triedto help him to understand and cope with the same.Itwas big struggle to make him understand concept ofdeath. He performed all the rituals the son isexpected to do.The family was happy with that but itbrought more and more confusion to Alay's mind. Ittook almost year to help Alay to understand andaccept mother's death. He had started showingirrelevant tantrums at home and school.

26 December 2018

He likes to teach skills like paper bag making, tie &dye work to other students and teachers.He likes towear new clothes and collect money. He loves totake care of his niece. Recently his father died dueto cancer. Alay was taking care of him, i.e. givingmedicine on time, feeding him liquid through foodpipe. He also knows at what time and how much(quantity) food to be given to his father.Sometimeshe is having an argument with his father whenfather says “no” to food, he communicate with himthrough sign that food is must for you to get wellsoon. When the relatives or known persons visitshis home to meet his father Alay through signcommunicates with them and explain what happento his father.

He knows his stipend given by cheque so teachershowed one time to fill the bank slip, he copiedsame and he knows to give this cheque to bankofficer and he see the passbook entry.

Initially the educator had problem in teaching inmeaningful communication through signs, with theconsistent efforts, training. The teachers used totalcommunication method and taught practically. Ittook long time to help Alay to develop expressivecommunication.He very selectively communicatesthe teachers and known people.

Teachers are saying Alay is one of our first studentadmitted to the Deafblind unit.We never dreamt ofAlay acquiring skills certificates,medals.We all areproud of Alay of achieving medals in sports,drawing competition, passing his school examsand vocational courses.

His sister says “We never expected that Alay canindependent in his life.Today not only he is able totake care of himself but is important contributingmember of our family.”

Journey of Sanika

Ujwala KharatCo-ordinator MHB Unit

NAB, India

Sanika is a 2nd child of Mr. Sunil and Mrs. DevyaniPatil. Born on 5th Nov, 2002, Sanika seems to bequite normal as her elder borther. Patil familybeing a joint family was very happy with Sanika'sbirth.The large joint family stays under one roof atWorli gaon,Mumbai.

Sanika was growing up as a normal kid amongst theother normal children from the family. By age of twothe Parents had doubt about Sanika's vision and theyconsulted the ophthalmologist from Mumbai. Hegave report about her vision loss,which was a directshock to the family. Nobody had thought of it in adream also. It took some years to the family to comeout of this shock & think about Sanika's future,education etc.

They approached NAB Department of Education toget support. Once she was enrolled with us ourteacher started working with her on different skillsneeded for any blind student to study. Till that timesanika was at home with support from family as wellas our teacher, She started attending Mata LachmiNursery for the Blind at Sion. Mean while duringhome visits she learnt to do her daily chores likebrushing,bathing,dressing etc.

At Mata Lachmi with support of the teachers thereshe started muttering nursery rhymes, her mobilitywas improved. Here she started accepting newpersons,sounds,etc.which was not there before.

During these days parents specially her fatherobserved that she is very fond of music & pics ups totune very fast otherwise due to the autisticcharacteristics ingrained in her she hardly speaksorinitiate conversation.

Father bought the music system with that supportsanika develop her habit of singing. By listening tothe music she herself tuned to songs she likes andshe sings the songs exactly with proper wordings.She herself learnt to sing in duet voices.

She practices on her & result is she grabbed All IndiaRadio Uddan Idol Award this year.We are very proudof sankia & wish her very success in this endeavor.

Blind Welfare 27

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28 December 2018

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Blind Welfare 29

Learning photography has made these visuallyimpaired children more confident at an early age.Express Parenting met fashion photographer RichaMaheshwari, who is helping these kids expresstheir love for photography, fuelled by the desire tobe seen on social media.

At the National Association for the Blind (NAB), ayoung boy came up to me and urged me to gothrough his social media page.A student of class 11or 12, the boy eagerly scrolled down the page onhis smartphone to show quite a number ofphotographs of monuments, birthday parties andthose of friends and family. All the photos wereclicked and uploaded on social media by the boyhimself, who is visually impaired. Further into theconversation, the boy revealed that he composessongs,raps,and runs his ownYouTube page.

On a bright Sunday morning, Express Parentinghad reached the institution to meet some visuallychallenged girls and boys, of class 8-12, who havebeen learning the art of photography from award-winning fashion photographer Richa Maheshwari.Flaunting their prowess, the kids asked some of usto pose, tell them our exact location, after whichthey adjusted their camera accordingly with somehelp from Maheshwari, and kept clicking photosand selfies too.And one wouldn't have been able totell they were clicked by visually disabled childrenunless one witnessed it firsthand.

The kids love their guru of photography and thefeeling seems mutual.“I have been associated withNAB for a couple of years. The kids are reallyinspiring, in the way they love life. Their positivitymoves me every time I meet them. Initially, theykept asking me about my photo shoots and were inawe of the glamour attached to it.I always wanted todo something for them and the best way to do thatwas to teach them photography,” Maheshwari toldExpress Parenting.

How social media inspired photography

Most of the kids are very active on social media andthey love to upload their pictures on onlineplatforms. They have their own Facebook andInstagram pages like every other teenager. Thefeeling of sharing moments captured in self-created frames and the instant reaction on thephotos excite them. And their parents and friends

News from the MediaThese visually challenged kids are learning to click pictures with a regular camera

are equally enthusiastic and extremely supportive,the children said.After all,the virtual world is amongthose few spaces that can blur differences betweenpeople, in this case, the difference in physical(dis)ability. Initially, these kids clicked pictures onlyon their mobile phone but they were eager to learnmore. And the attraction of social media is whatmarked their journey from the mobile phone to thecamera.

How to click

For a layman, to comprehend how visually-challenged people click photographs,an art that hasmuch to do with one's visual perception, is difficultand one has to actually see them do it to understand.The kids at NAB operate the regular, digital, point-and-shoot cameras,which they use with utmost ease.“All the cameras used by these kids are point-and-shoot cameras so that they don't have to go throughthe whole process of setting up things manually.Thekids picked up the art very fast. Of course, youcannot instill the idea of a frame in every kid–it is apersonal sense of aesthetics–but I taught them thebasics of photography,”Maheshwari said.

Besides Maheshwari's guidance, the children arealso assisted by mobile apps and softwares likeScreen Reader, which help them monitor the frame,distance of the object, colour or the amount of lightwhile clicking a photo. After clicking a photo, theyalso edit it on a regular computer and upload it ontheir Facebook or Instagram page. Of course, theyhave a verbal software guide that helps them in theprocess but their speed is no less than any sightedindividual. “These kids have a very vividimagination of things in the world and an amazingsixth sense.They have an understanding of colours,of night and day. They have their own set of visualvocabulary. They are technologically very sound,”expressed the proud teacher.

'Photography is the best tool of expression'

Children, as young as seven or eight years old, canstart learning photography, as long as they canhandle the weight of the camera and understandinstructions,said Maheshwari.

“A lot of children in their growing up years are notable to effectively communicate much of theirfeelings and thoughts. Photography is the best tool

30 December 2018

to express oneself. It's the best tool for expressingideas and imagination. Photography is the eyethrough which kids can translate their imaginationinto something tangible,”asserted Maheshwari.

Maheshwari also talked about how photographyhas made the visually-challenged kids even moreconfident. “I have seen their confidence risingalong with their hunger to learn more,” sheexpressed. “If you want to pursue an art formseriously,you will have to put your heart and soul init. As for these visually impaired children, I haveseen them putting in double the effort.They take anentire day to do one assignment and it only speaksof their dedication and level of creativity,” sheadded.

Source : indianexpress.com

Cuttack's therapeutic chair that cares forcerebral palsy patients

By S N Agragami

CUTTACK:On Monday,President Ram Nath Kovindwill present the National Awards for Empowermentof Persons with Disabilities, 2018 in New Delhi.Among the recipients will be Senior OccupationalTherapist from Swami Vivekananda NationalInstitute of Rehabilitation Training and Research(SVNIRTAR), Cuttack, Subrata Kumar Haldar.Haldar has been selected for developing anadaptive seating device that promises to transformlives of children suffering from cerebral palsy (CP).

The Postural Correction (PC) Chair,as it is called,isan innovation that not only ensures posturali m p r o v e m e n t i n C P c h i l d re n b u t a l s oaccommodates their physical growth andencourages changes in physical activity. It is cost-effective and at the same time provides a singletherapeutic aid for all the different disabilitiesmanifested in CP.

Cerebral palsy is the most common locomotordisability in children with an estimated prevalenceof 2.5-3 per 1,000 live births. It results in impairedmuscle coordination and movements but thedisabilities vastly differ from child to child.

“The PC Chair is one-of-its-kind in the world as it canbe adjusted to all kinds of CP impairments and helpsposture correction of different manifestations be itmuscular weakness, paralysis, floppy and rigidlimbs and necks or exaggerated reflexes. Further, itworks long-term through the child's growth from 2years to 10 years”, said Haldar.Though he hadconceptualised the appliance in the 90's, he startedworking on it in 2016 and finished it in March 2017.

The adjustable chair comprises a seat,an adjustableback rest, an adjustable foot rest, an adjustable pairof arm rests, an adjustable pair of shoulder guards,two backwardly inclined back legs, two front legs, acut out tray, an adjustable pommel, adjustable Cshaped pelvic supports and fixtures. It holds theuser in a desired position to achieve quickimprovement in posture correction and controlledlimb and trunk movements.

“Besides CP, the chair is also beneficial for downsyndrome, spina bifida, brain injury or otherneurological motor disabilities. We have tested itwith over 30 children with very successful results.My patent application for this product has beenaccepted by the World Intellectual PropertyOrganisation and it is expected soon”,he said.

The PC Chair will go into mass scale productionafter patenting.It will cost only around Rs 7,000 to Rs8,000 so that all sections can afford, Haldar stated.Recognising the innovation, the PC Chair has beenselected in the category of 'Best new cost effectiveproduct development aimed at improving the life ofpersons with disabilities' for the National Award.

Source : indianexpress.com

Blind Welfare 31

World Braille Day210TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF LOUIS BRAILLE - JANUARY 4, 2019

Printed and Published by Anand S. Athalekar, on behalf of National Association for the Blind, India and Printed at Shaan Printers, 23, Prem Bhavan,

Colaba, Mumbai 400 005 and Published at National Association for the Blind, India, 11, Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan Road, Worli Seaface, Mumbai 400 030.

Editor –Archana Joshi,NationalAssociation for the Blind,India,11,KhanAbdul Gaffar Khan Road,Worli Seaface,Mumbai 400 030.

32 December 2018

Ms. Kusum 1 winner�� Mr. Dnyanoba Marde -3 winner�� Mr. Shivam Patil 2 winnerⁿ�

Car Rally for the Blind 2019

Car Rally being flagged off

Blind Navigators and Drivers getting ready for the race

vol. 59 no. 3, december 2018 the rustomji merwanji ... · vol. 59 no. 3, december 2018 shri sachin...

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