We proudly present Vidyasagar by Shankha Ghosh in the form of audio book. It is a short life history of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (September 26, 1820 – July 29, 1891) recorded keeping in mind the bicentennial birth anniversary of this great man. This brief biography is part of a series of biographies of great men, initiated by Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya for the young readers in the ‘fifties. This life of Vidyasagar was first published in January 1956. We have recorded the entire text from its ninth edition of March 2002.
This book, Vidyasagar by Shankha Ghosh, has an extra significance for Blind Persons’ Association. It was the first Braille publication of our Braille press project.
About the Book Vidyasagar
Although written for the young, Shankha Ghosh’s Vidyasagar is highly recommended for readers of all ages. The prose is rich with glimpses of the author’s poetic afflatus. He has narrated many well-known events of Vidyasagar’s life along with evaluation of his epoch-making achievements. The narrative starts with the famous incident in which an old woman fails to recognize Vidyasagar when he appears in simple and worn-out clothes. He relates the mythical event of Vidyasagar’s swimming across the turbulent Damodar in the face of a strong current and fierce wind. The author refrains from entering into the controversy whether such an adventure is physically possible at all. He points to the strong and daring character that gave rise to myths like this.
Shankha Ghosh has also told the historical events like the passage of Widow Remarriage Bill in 1856 and the publication of Varna Parichay also in 1856. He established innumerable schools for educating the girls all over Bengal. When the British Government refused to grant assistance for these schools, he maintained them from his own income.
Listen to Vidyasagar for many more events of his life and his role in building up Modern India. The audio book is about 79 minutes long. Though it is not put up for download due to copyright restrictions, any print-disabled reader may contact us for a copy.
