At the heart of the bustling Amar Ekushey Book Fair, where the scent of freshly printed pages mingles with animated literary debate, a quieter yet powerful revolution is unfolding — one that is being read not by sight, but by touch.
Tucked within the premises of Bangla Academy, the stall of Sparsha Braille Prokashani stands as a beacon of inclusion. Here, visually impaired readers gather around tables lined with embossed pages, their fingers gently tracing lines of raised dots that carry stories, history and hope.
Among the visitors this week was Arafat Tuhin, a visually impaired student who arrived at the fair with friends. Guided to the Braille stall, he was introduced to a range of literary works and shown how new titles are produced. For Tuhin, the experience was both heartening and bittersweet.
“Academic books are available to some extent,” he said, “but opportunities to engage with literature are still very limited. Initiatives like this truly matter.”
Established in 2009, Sparsha Braille Prokashani has been working to bridge that gap. Since joining the Ekushey fair in 2011, it has published 166 Braille titles, distributing them free of charge to registered visually impaired readers. This year, six new books are being prepared for release, with a publication ceremony scheduled for 14 March. Children’s books in Braille are also featured prominently at the stall.
The process is carefully organised. Visually impaired visitors register their names and preferred genres during the fair. On a designated day, books are formally handed over to them. Those unable to attend can receive their copies by courier — a small but meaningful gesture that extends the fair’s spirit beyond its physical grounds.
Volunteer Ishrat Sultana Akhi, a postgraduate in Bangla from Jahangirnagar University, believes the initiative represents more than charity. “We don’t want sympathy,” she said. “We want access. We want publishers to produce Braille, PDF or audio editions of their books. We are willing to buy them like any other reader.”
Her words underscore a larger reality: despite progress, visually impaired people in Bangladesh still face barriers in education and employment, often exacerbated by the scarcity of accessible reading materials.
The stall’s collection reflects an ambitious literary scope. Works by towering figures such as Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Humayun Ahmed and Selina Hossain have been painstakingly converted into Braille, ensuring that canonical texts are not confined to the sighted alone.
For organisers, the mission extends beyond publishing. “We want to create reading opportunities and also raise awareness,” said a representative of the stall. “Literature should belong to everyone.”
As the fair continues into the evening — filled with seminars, cultural programmes and new book launches — the Braille stall offers a poignant reminder that inclusion, too, is a form of celebration. In a festival devoted to language and identity, these raised dots speak volumes.
