Torikul Islam Nazim, 20, has been a regular visitor at the Ekushey Book Fair for the last six years. The reporter found him in a little stall wearing black sunglasses, fervently reading what seemed like a white book.
Born blind, Nazim who has just completed his Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams, travelled alone from Narayanganj to sit for hours at the Sporsho Braille Prokashana stall that lets visually impaired people read books that it has published in Braille for free.
A student of the Somonnito Dristi Protibondhi Shikkha Karjokrom, Nazim is an avid reader who finished reading over 30 books in the past year.
The month of February is a treat for him as he can take up Sporsho Braille Prokashona’s offer of free books and read to his heart’s content at its stall.
Story books and novels for the blind are close to rare, as not many publishing houses cater to special needs.
Sporsho Braille Prokashona is the only publication firm in the fair that takes a different approach, distributing books in Braille for free. This year, it published its 100th Braille book.
“I love to take advantage of the offer at this publication in the book fair,” Nazim told Dhaka Tribune.
“Although I can't see the weather here, I can feel it. I would love to know what kind of books are in the other stalls, but I wish I could read those books,” he said.
Muhammad Zafar Iqbal's ‘Doler Nam Black Dragon’ and Mofidul Haque's 'Se Kon Rabindranath' take Nazim through a world of imagination when he turns the pages.
He says while Zafar Iqbal is his favourite author, he has not been able to read many of his books because they are not available in Braille.
Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka TribuneNamira Binte, 14, who likes to read poetry and rhymes, says she often has to repeat books as options in Braille are limited.
“Why would only one stall be limited for us? We want three or four more stalls to have one Braille book at least,” she told the correspondent.
Sporsho Braille Prokashona was established in 2009 with a goal of making reading more accessible to the blind.
Ever since its establishment, it has been letting people read all day at its stall and offering free books for the blind. It has also published stories, poetry and novels in Braille.
“We can't print as many books as the kids need because the price of one Braille page is three times that of regular pages,” says Sporsho Publisher Nazia Jabeen.
“The cost and process are very expensive,” she said, adding: “If private and government organizations and publications could publish a small number of books each year with little initiative, there would be some benefits for the visually impaired.”
Nazia Jabeen, however, has satisfaction in the fact that the visually impaired know that there is a place for them.
In 2009, Sporsho Braille Prokashona published the first “Chharar Tale Monta Dole” Braille rhyme book in the country. Its books appeared in the book fair in 2011.
In 2016, Bangla Academy published its first Braille book in collaboration with Sporsho.
The publication does not sell books and distributes them completely free for visually impaired people.