“Faraway, down in the valley, we could see some huts scattered around. It’s a village...,” a voice narrates, in Malayalam. It is a chapter from the class seven Malayalam textbook. Rajaneesh S.S. records the narration using a 12-year-old desktop computer in a makeshift sound studio space at the Government School for the Visually Impaired at Vazhuthacaud. Eventually, the whole textbook will be recorded and copied into CDs and sent to schools across Kerala for visually-challenged students to listen and learn.
Karnamrutham, a pioneering project of the school to make audio books, was started by Rajaneesh in 2009. Rajaneesh, currently the computer instructor-cum-studio operator at the school, was a former student of the institute. “We had audio chapters back in our day too. But they were recorded on cassettes using tape-recorders, mostly by Premavathy, a former matron of the girl’s hostel. We then used to make copies of our own. It was a tedious process,” he recalls.
Today audio books from Karnamrutham are available in CDs in MP3 format that can be copied to other devices like smartphones. Audio texts are a boon for students as Braille versions of bulky textbooks and guides are hard to come by, says headmaster Abdul Hakkim. “Students find it easier and interesting to learn subjects like history by listening, rather than from Braille texts. We used to charge a price for the CDs, but now we don’t. This is not a business and we are not interested in selling knowledge,” he adds.
Narrating texts
Apart from school syllabus textbooks, guides and reference books are also recorded as part of the project. The audio texts are in high demand across the state as they are of relatively higher quality. New versions are produced as soon as the syllabus changes. “But we are struggling as there are no separate funds for this work,” says Rajaneesh. As they can’t pay narrators, they have been forced to depend on volunteers.
Meera R. Thampi, student counsellor at Sarvodaya School, for instance, has been a regular volunteer for the last five years.
“I learnt about this venture from a newspaper clipping and it has been a wonderful experience. The reader has to be extremely careful with words as the students tend to believe what they hear unthinkingly,” says Meera.
Pronunciation and clarity of narration are the most important factors while reading for audio books. Photographs and drawings also have to be described. In some cases, you need to add something more than what is in the books.
“Stories should not just be read. You need to get to the soul of it and then narrate it with the right emotions. Two or three takes are often required to achieve that,” explains Vinod N.G., assistant teacher at the School, who also contributes as a narrator once in a while.
Apart from individuals like Meera and Vinod, students from institutions in and around the city have also lent their voices for the cause. A group of students from Government Medical college used to help out Rajaneesh with science books initially.
“As they were students of biology and chemistry, they were exceptionally good at explaining the subjects, both in English and Malayalam. But they are medical students and, I guess, their work load got to them. So after a while they stopped coming,” says Rajaneesh.
Nowadays, students from the Government College for Women and LBS Institute of Technology for Women come here to narrate stories and talk about science for the audio books.
Lack of funds
Although many have come forward to help, lack of funding is a problem. Rajaneesh believes he could do much more if he could upgrade his studio, which is a spare computer room on the top floor of the school, and get people who specialise in particular subjects like mathematics and music to record the matter.
He adds,“Unless you who have learnt mathematics in Malayalam, it will be difficult to narrate it in the language. The same goes for classical music. I have been trained in Carnatic music, so I record some basic lessons for the students.”
But regardless of whether anyone funds the project or not, Rajaneesh and the school authorities hope to continue with their good work.
A newly-launched website of the school, Rajaneesh hopes, will make it easier to distribute the study material recorded. They will be uploading the recordings on the website, making it accessible for anyone with an Internet connection to download the matter.
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