TN magazine for kids to launch Braille edition for the visually challenged

Sivaraj says that the stories in the book will help mould a child from his/her early days and make them more passionate about life. “In today’s world, it is very important for kids to learn to be appreciative and thoughtful of what they are doing. We have published 49 books so far that have beautiful illustrations done using various mediums of art. Along with a few friends, I met the visually challenged artist Manohar Devadoss. His paintings created a huge impact on us. We wanted to do something for the visually challenged children but didn’t know how to go about it,” Sivaraj starts the conversation.

Sivaraj is also the founder of the popular alternative school called Cuckoo Forest School near Tiruvannamalai. “We had put out details about our book on social media. Canada-based Suba Balasubramaniam got in touch with us and bought some books for orphan children in Sri Lanka. While discussing with Suba how books can touch children’s lives, Suba said that all children should be able to read books. This gave an idea of coming up with audiobooks and books in Braille format for visually challenged children. Audiobooks will not just be a translation - we are planning to get a talented storyteller to narrate the stories along with music, sounds of birds and so on. Children should get that feeling while listening to the audiobook. We are planning to republish Thumbi’s 49 books in Braille format and these books will be distributed to visually challenged children in Sri Lanka,” he adds.