Now, copies of Bhai Gurdas ‘Vaars’ available in Braille

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 17

He could have been like any other ‘raagi’ after his retirement in 1998 from the Golden Temple, where he worked for 30 years. But, Bhai Gurmej Singh had a wish. Being visually impaired, he wanted many like him to read the holy Sikh scriptures.

He transliterated Guru Granth Sahib into Braille in 2012. Four year later, he transliterated ‘Vaars’, a kind of Punjabi poetry, of Bhai Gurdas into Braille.

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Avtar Singh Makkar released the copy of ‘Vaars’ of Bhai Gurdas in Braille today.

Copies of the holy book prepared by him are already being read by visually impaired children studying at Central Khalsa Orphanage, where he spent his childhood.

One copy each of the holy book of Sikhs in Braille was presented to an old-age home for the visually impaired near Phagwara, in Anandpur Sahib and the Golden Temple.

While recalling how the first copy was printed in Braille, Bhai Gurmej said, “Getting the first copy out in Braille was very difficult as we had a tough time zeroing in on a printing facility before reaching the Helen Keller Institute for Deaf and Deaf-Blind in Mumbai. The institute offered its help on a no-profit-no-loss basis.”

The SGPC chief said if desired by Bhai Gurmej Singh then the committee could bear expenses on publishing ‘Vaars’ of Bhai Gurdas in Braille.