Now, a magazine for the visually impaired @ White Print, a magazine for the visually impaired
White
Print gives readers “a sense of independence” and keeps them updated on current
affairs and news on latest tech
Mumbai, December
28:
It
takes time to register that a cafe in Mumbai’s upmarket Juhu doubles up as an
office for Upasana Makati. It is from here that she works on White Print,
a magazine for the visually impaired that she founded four years ago.
“The
name (white print) represents a creative representation of the Braille script,”
explains Makati over a steaming cup of tea. This is precisely why the meeting
is taking place: to find out more about this person who is going the extra mile
to help the visually impaired.
“The
idea was just half the battle, what was more challenging was executing it,” she
says. Makati was barely 23 when she decided to start a magazine for the blind.
She was working as a public relations professional in Mumbai and this meant a
complete detour in her work life.
“I
visited the office of the secretary-general at the National Association for the
Blind (NAB) and convinced them to let me use their printing press for the
magazine,” she says. Obviously, this meant coughing up money which was a
challenge since Makati “did not come from an affluent family”.
The
other dilemma was working out the business plan for White Print. “I
spoke to a few visually impaired people who did not want any sympathy. They
were ready to pay for a magazine,” she recalls.
Makati
then began reaching out to companies for placing advertisements in her
magazine. The going was not easy and finally her persistence paid off when a
marketing head of a top corporate house agreed to release an advertisement for ₹30,000.
“At
present, a yearly subscription for White Print is ₹300
but rising printing costs are a challenge,” Makati said. Additionally, some
editions have not had any advertisements which makes the going tough. The
magazine is a 64-page compilation of cover stories, interviews and columns.
However, advertising is the key and this is where White Print faces a
big challenge considering that its longest contract thus far has been a mere
three months.
Despite
this headwind, what gives Makati a lot of satisfaction is the feedback she gets
in the form of postcards from every nook and corner of the country. “The
visually impaired are marginalised with people thinking they are useless and
dependent when they are not,” she says vehemently.
Big role
White
Print plays a big
role here in giving its readers “a sense of independence” while updating them
on current affairs and news on the latest technology.
Makati
is also excited about the tactabet, an a-b-c learning book in Braille. This has
been very effective with children and the response has been good enough to
consider a tactabet in Hindi with similar ones planned for numbers, animals and
so on.
Source | Business Line | 29th December
2017
Regards
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior Manager @
Knowledge Repository
Khaitan &
Co
Twitter Handle | @Pralhad161978
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