Bhoirake at 15:12, 4 May 2026

2026-05-04T15:12:02Z

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{{short description|Indian educationist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Bertha Gyndykes Dkhar
| image =
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| birth_date =
| birth_place = [[Shillong]], [[Meghalaya]], India
| death_date =
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| restingplace =
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| othername =
| occupation = Educationist
| yearsactive =
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| website = {{URL||Official web site}}
| awards = [[Padma Shri]]<br>National Award for Child Welfare
}}

'''Bertha Gyndykes Dkhar''' is a visually impaired Indian [[Education|educationist]], best known as the inventor of the [[braille code]] in [[Khasi language|Khasi]].<ref name="Tehelka">{{cite web | url=http://www.tehelka.com/inspirations-bertha-g-dkhar-52/ | title=Tehelka | publisher=Tehelka | work=News report | date=13 August 2011 | access-date=15 November 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129033635/http://www.tehelka.com/inspirations-bertha-g-dkhar-52/ | archive-date=29 November 2014 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Woman for Society">{{cite web | url=http://womanforsociety.com/bertha-dkhar/ | title=Woman for Society | publisher=Woman for Society | work=Web Profile | date=2014 | access-date=15 November 2014 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129041306/http://womanforsociety.com/bertha-dkhar/ | archive-date=29 November 2014 }}</ref> In 2010, the [[Government of India]] awarded her with the [[Padma Shri]], India's fourth highest civilian award.<ref name="Padma Shri">{{cite web |url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Shri |publisher=Padma Shri |date=2014 |access-date=11 November 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015 }}</ref>

==Early life ==
Bertha Gyndykes Dkhar was born in Shillong, Meghalaya<ref name="Highbeam">{{cite web | url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-2420309481.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329042610/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-2420309481.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=29 March 2015 | title=Highbeam | publisher=Highbeam | date=13 August 2011 | access-date=15 November 2014}}</ref> as a visually-impaired child with [[retinitis pigmentosa]], a disease which causes degeneration of the retina, and lost the eyesight completely while she was in college due to which she had to abandon her studies. Without means to support herself, she sold fruits in the market for a living.<ref name="Woman for Society" /> Continuing with efforts to overcome the disability, Dkhar researched in Braille code and designed the code in [[Khasi language|Khasi]], the local language in Meghalaya.<ref name="Tehelka" /><ref name="Woman for Society" />

== Work and recognition ==
Bertha Dkhar is the headmistress of the ''Jyoti Sroat School'', a school run by the Bethany Society for the visually impaired children.<ref name="Jyoti Sroat">{{cite web | url=http://jyotisroat.in/who-we-are/achievements/ | title=Jyoti Sroat | publisher=Jyoti Sroat | date=2014 | access-date=15 November 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129090013/http://jyotisroat.in/who-we-are/achievements/ | archive-date=29 November 2014 | url-status=dead }}</ref> She received the fourth highest Indian civilian award of [[Padma Shri]], when she featured in the 2010 [[Indian honours system|Indian Republic Day honours]] list.<ref name="Padma Shri" /> She is also a recipient of the national award for Child Welfare from the Government of India in 2000.<ref name="The Hindu">{{cite web | url=http://www.thehindu.com/2001/08/11/stories/0211000y.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129011922/http://www.thehindu.com/2001/08/11/stories/0211000y.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=29 November 2014 | title=Title unknown | date=10 August 2000 | work=[[The Hindu]] | access-date=15 November 2014}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Braille code]]
{{portal|India}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite web | url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/padma-awardees-2010/padma-shri-to-bertha-gyndykes-dkhar/slideshow/5748033.cms | title=Padma Shri Investiture Ceremony | publisher=Economic Times | work=News photo | date=2014 | access-date=15 November 2014}}

==Further reading==

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Literature & Education}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dkhar, Bertha Gyndyke}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Shillong]]
[[Category:Indian blind people]]
[[Category:Khasi people]]
[[Category:Braille]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian educational theorists]]
[[Category:Scientists from Meghalaya]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women scientists]]
[[Category:Women scientists from Meghalaya]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian educational theorists]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women scientists]]
[[Category:Women educators from Meghalaya]]
[[Category:Educators from Meghalaya]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Women school principals and headteachers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women educational theorists]]
[[Category:Scientists with disabilities]]
[[Category:Blind scholars and academics]]
[[Category:Blind educators]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature and education]]

Bertha Gyndykes Dkhar - Revision history

Bhoirake at 15:12, 4 May 2026