Chennai: Karna Vidya, an NGO at T Nagar, has been the guiding light in the lives of visually-challenged persons, for a long time now. Conducting reading classes for the community, the organisation has also helped many achieve in their chosen streams.
Shyla Viswanathan, the coordinator of the group, that recently celebrated its anniversary, speaks to News Today.
Q. When did Karna Vidya start and what is its objective ?
A. We started in 1999 with the sole aim of helping the visually-impaired in their studies and hence began reading sessions for them at Sarada Vidyalaya School, Usman Road.
Q. How many students have been benefitted so far?
A. Over 1000 of them have done well and have bagged jobs in both the private and public sectors. We feel proud that one of our students has become a civil servant and is now serving the nation. Another heartening aspect is that most of those who are benefitted here, return to serve in our forum and volunteer for the reading sessions.
Q. What are the other services you provide?
A. We have also started a voice-recorded library for students to listen the lessons repeatedly. Our volunteers also do scribe work for them at colleges. Around five years ago, we launched a technology centre at Guindy, to help the visually-challenged upgrade themselves.
Q. How do the students fare in other activities?
A. Apart from academics, many of them excel in sports like judo and volleyball. Our children recently won a State-level trophy in volleyball representing the city team.
Q. Few words about the volunteers
A. No words can match their dedicated service to help. They are the pillars of Karna Vidya and come from various walks of life. They also enjoy a good rapport with the students.
Q. Has your mode of working changed over the years?
A. It is only now that communication has become easy through WhatsApp. Earlier, I used to call the volunteers personally to inform them about the reading sessions.
Shyla Viswanathan can be reached at 93810 04365.