Lucknow professor’s audio books break pandemic shackles for blind

LUCKNOW: In the time of pandemic, audio capsules recorded by a professor of National PG College have become a beacon of hope for thousands of visually impaired students who are shackled by campus shutdowns and struggling with online classes, where the pedagogy is yet to evolve for the blind.
From Lucknow to London, visually impaired students are now able to revive the classroom ambience by listening to audio textbooks and reviews of web series recorded here.
Available in three languages — English, Hindi, and Urdu — these audiobooks recorded by a visually impaired professor, Rakesh Jain, and his team are being lapped up by students across the world, including United States, UAE and Austria. Some of his international clients include a chess player based in Austria, Mahendra Ghelani, and London-based musicians Sitara Devi and Balaji. “The audio module is in big demand in European countries, where the word spread through NRIs at rehabilitation universities,” said Prof Jain.
Facing a double challenge in Covid times, differently-abled students from school to graduation and post-graduation levels, who were unable to attend online classes, are using these books to stay abreast of academics.
Available for free and created by Prof Jain’s non-profit organization — Rehabilitation Society of the Visually Impaired (RSVI) — the demand for audio books has shot up by over 60%.
“Requests are pouring in from rehabilitation institutions from across the globe. Compared to 800 requests per month, we are now getting over 2,000,” said Prof Jain, who is also head of English department at Lucknow University’s National PG College.
On students’ demand, RSVI recently launched two new audiobooks – ‘RSVI News Capsule’ that keeps students updated on news and entertainment and ‘Udaan’ that helps students prepare for competitive examinations.
“The books are recorded by a team 20 volunteers in two studios in Moti Mahal Lawns, Sikanderbagh and others at an apartment in Hazratganj. Earlier, students would come and collect CDs or we would send them by post. After the Covid outbreak, we began sending audiobooks through a special file transfer application,” said RSVI member Shradha Srivastava.
She said, nearly 1,500 textbooks of arts, science and commerce prescribed by UP Board, ISC, CBSE, NCERT and other universities have been converted into audiobooks, covering syllabi from class 1 to post-graduation.
“When the lockdown curtailed our movement, I sent a request to RSVI for books and received links the next day. These have been very useful,” said Akansha Vaish, a visually impaired MA student at Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University.
Another student, Lalit Kushwaha, who is preparing for civil services, said, “I was delighted to find that the audio books were exhaustive and catered to competitive exams. Now, I don’t have to visit coaching centres or any mentor for preparation.”