Lifestyle Magazine for visually impaired - Fusion - WeRIndia

Normal people have many options to read as they have plenty of magazines and newspapers. But, what is the condition of visually impaired if they want to read? This is because there is no magazine or newspaper printed separately for them.

Upasana Makati had cared about this. She is a graduate in Mass Media who studied in Canada. While working in Mumbai in a PR firm she mulled over this. After conducting thorough research and communicating with several visually impaired people, she decided to bring out a lifestyle magazine. She preferred to register it as an NGO rather than running it as charity venture.

She came up with White Print magazine in 2013. It is the first lifestyle magazine which is printed in Braille English for the visually impaired in India. Today, it has a wide audience. This magazine publishes stories and well-researched articles, and also encourages Braille literacy.

But, bringing the magazine in Braille is not an easy thing. Rather it was a challenge for her as there were no advertisements in Braille before that. And, Upasana wanted to try it. She sent around 200 emails for advertisements out of which she received only one response. In the first issue of magazine, a five page advertorial was given. Furthermore, she had learned the software that is used to convert text to Braille. She also accustomed herself to all logistics that are required to run this magazine.

The magazine initially started with sample copies, and she had 20 subscribers after a month. The number slowly rose. Several people called her and shared their experiences after reading the magazine on their own without depending on others. All this encouraged and boosted her. Upasana writes three columns in this magazine every month, and several freelancers from all over the country are contributing the content voluntarily. Barkha Dutt accepted to contribute a political column. The magazine is publishing Sudha Murthy’s short stories each month by acquiring the rights. Still many corporates are hesitant to advertise with this magazine doubting the returns. But, Upasana is trying to solve the problem by writing to many corporate giants like Tata.

Image Reference: TheBetterIndia