Touch and See

“I wanted to start a venture on my own,and when I was doing some research,I realised visually-impaired people have nothing to read on a monthly basis,” says Upasana Makati,founder and publisher of the magazine. This was about a year ago. She then approached the National Association for the Blind (NAB) in Worli,and put forth her idea to them. Initially,they were a little apprehensive,considering that she was a 24-year-old public relations professional. But by then,she had also managed to find support in some friends and the NAB saw merit in the idea soon after. They will,now,also print all copies of White Print. The monthly magazine is priced at Rs 30.

After Makati quit her job,she has been working full-time on putting together the 64-page magazine and hasn’t hired anyone yet to work on it with her. While Makati will write some stories,there will be a number of writers contributing their columns and articles,as well. “One of my friends will write a column on politics,another on beauty and a stand-up comedian on humour,” she says. It will,in addition,welcome short story contributions by young authors,and a dedicated space in every month issue will be saved for articles sent by readers. There will also be other news from around the world,including art,culture and politics.

For the moment,distribution of the magazine depends entirely on the NAB’s database. This does,however,contain a strong network of individuals and organisations that will make it certain the magazine reaches more than a handful of people. “We’re printing 500 copies of the first issue which we’ll distribute to different people and NGOs ,” says Makati.