Success & ABILITY
India’s Cross-disability Magazine
April–June, 2011
Rs. 30
 SLISH SLISH
 Splash
 trickle...trickle...
You
hear more,
when it’s through your imagination!
Sounds of Silence
9th Cavinkare
Ability Awards
Calling All Creative People!
PARTICIPATE IN
60 Seconds To Fame!
All India One Minute
Film Competition
On Disability
Theme:
Breaking Barriers Together
Rs. 2.25 lakhs to be won!
ABILITYFEST 2011
India International Disability Film Festival
www.abilityfoundation.org
26, Second Cross Street, Gandhi Nagar,
Adyar, Chennai – 600 020, Tamil Nadu.
Tel: 91 44 2445 2400
Email: fame@abilityfoundation.org
GRUNDFOS
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Editor: Jayshree Raveendran
Deputy Editor: Janaki Pillai
Associate Editors: Radhika Venkatarayan
Shashwathi Sandeep
Assistant Editor: Padmini Natarajan
Senior Designers: RG Kishore Kumar
Cover Credits: Ogilvy & Mather
Illustration: Vikram Nandwani
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without the prior written permission of Ability Foundation.
Ability Foundation reserves the right to make any changes or
corrections without changing the meaning, to submitted
articles, as it sees fit and in order to uphold the standard of
the magazine. The views expressed are, however, solely
those of the authors.
Contents
6 Events CareerAccess 2010, a first time job
fair in the North East – a joint venture of
Sishu Sarothi and Ability Foundation:
Monideepa Choudhury writes.
10 Happenings The Second National
Conference on DeafBlindness at New Delhi
was a sterling affair with many firsts as well,
writes Vaishnavi Ventatesh.
13 The Awards 2011 9th CavinKare Ability
Awards: an evening of glitz, glamour and
celebrations – a stirring account of the event
and the recipients.
26 Management Mumbai Dabbawallas – we
have so much to learn from them… Dr Ketna L
Mehta tells us.
29 Taste Buds Puja Subramaniam and
Vaishnavi Venkatesh offer a variety of ways to
add to our cooking spaces and methods…
making cooking a more pleasurable and
disability friendly experience.
33 Alternatives Pet therapy can work
wonders and make inroads where medicines
fall short… Shashwathi Sandeep visits St.
Johns Hospital, Bangalore that follows this.
36 Film Review A part poetic and part
appalling tale of an artist as depicted in the
movie “Black Swan”: a review by Kavitha D.
37 Book Review One Little Finger by Malini Chib,
is a journey of her spirit and passion for an
independent life says Saaz Aggarwal .
39 Poems A myriad of human emotions in verse
beautifully brought out through words by
Srividya Suryanarayanan.
41 Literature The Jaipur Literature Festival – an
extravaganza recounted by Radhika
Venkatarayan.
COVER FEATURE
Sounds of Silence
An in-depth look at various aspects of hearing
impairment.
43 Spotlight Aileen Crowe Nandi and Madan
Vasistha introduce us to our very special feature
on deafness, brought out specially for “Success &
ABILITY”
45 Teaching Methods An educationist's
perspective on the loops that exist in classrooms
49 Dialogue A diplomatic dialogue on the web…
a virtual meeting examining a gamut of
experiences by three highly successful deaf
persons.
52 Perspective A poignant account by Angshu
Jajodia on being deaf and on people's
misconceptions about deafness that will surely
strike a chord in our hearts.
68 Corporate Mirakle Couriers, a company in
Mumbai which makes it a point to employ
deaf persons and where communication is, by
and large, in sign language.
71 Personal Account Monica Punjabi's
perspective on being a proud daughter of
deaf parents and her views on education.
73 Wellness Yoga… Lila Lolling finds her
calling in translating ancient Yoga texts into
sign language.
75 Conversation Jean Moog speaks out to
Aileen Crowe Nandi on the need to give
importance to the spoken language for deaf
persons.
77 Institution Balavidyalaya School for Young
Deaf Children, Chennai – a profile.
78 Making a Difference Madan M. Vasishta
introduces us to a pioneering school for deaf
children in Indore.
80 Routes A vivid account by Mark Leekoff
on what drew him to the field of Otology.
81 People Vidharthe Naga, a talented artist
and a budding entrepreneur and her
mother… on making a difference in the field
of art – as described by Valsala Menon.
85 Higher Education The IGNOU- UCLAN tie
up – making inroads towards felt needs.
55 On Communication Sarika Mehta visits a
school in Chengelpettu and looks into the many
ways that the children there communicate.
87 Journey Geeta Shandilya talks about her
daughter Avani's journey towards perfecting
the spoken language.
58 Culture In conversation with renowned
performer Astad Deboo, where he recounts his
experiences of working with hearing impaired
dancers and performing artists.
88 Tail Piece Deafness manifests itself
everywhere… in pets too… a heartwarming
tale about Alica the pet dog, who found her
perfect home.
62 Reality Check Arun Rao evaluates the status
of deaf education in India and, in an interview
with Gaurav Mathur, goes on to elucidate about
his association with the deaf community.
Kesar GIFT MARKET
FOR ALL REASONS AND SEASONS Ad
From The Editor’s Desk
Friends,
Have you ever wondered how your life would have been if you had a different perception of things? If you had
just accepted instead of reacting? Life is full of ifs and buts. This was a thought that repeatedly occurred to me
during the compilation of the lead feature of this issue – on deafness where the 'ifs and buts' of life seem to
figure predominantly all through. The whole feature with the variety of articles it presents brings up a
multiplicity of opinions and perspectives. All of which seem to seek out more than a few “what-if” questions.
“What if I had insisted on sign language for my ward?” “What if I had focussed more on speech and lip
reading?” “What if I had gone to a school for the deaf instead of a mainstream school? What would and what
could I have done?” Profound ifs and but, to be sure... but nevertheless, necessary ones. I must say thanks a
ton to Aileen Crowe Nandi, Principal Commercial Officer, US Consulate General, Chennai and Madan Vasishta,
Associate Professor, Gallaudet University, Washington, for this. Together, they have done a brilliant job in
compiling these articles... each so differently articulated from the other. Heartfelt thanks, guys... true friends
are made of such stuff (sugar and spice and all that's nice). The compilation makes you pause and ponder...
'what if...' open ended questions that need answers.
Explorations as these, in turn lead to a discovery spree, taking us on a path of rediscovery. Discovering how
much more we are capable of doing... understanding ourselves, making ourselves understood and reaching out
towards horizons that we each believe as possible.
These discoveries urge us to redefine roles, to set out with determination to rectify matters and seek out what
is ours by right, treading unknown paths in the bargain... which is what our CavinKare Ability Awards recipients
have done. Each one of them bringing in his/her own distinct personality and unique dimensions. Yet, each and
every one is united in their final answer to the problems of disability: “Be yourself. Believe in yourself. Do your
utmost. Keep up your courage. Reach for the moon. Dare to dream...” When we do this, then comes the
greatest step: we must move ahead and accelerate. In action, comes true knowledge and a wonderful sense of
freedom and achievement... though discouragement may seem oftentimes inescapable, we learn to put this
aside, and when we do that, we win.
In conjunction with all this, we bring you a kaleidoscope of profound as well as pleasurable reading, all put
together with care. Hope you enjoy this issue.
Jayshree Raveendran
j.raveendran@abilityfoundation.org
EVENTS
A DREAM JOB FAIR
- MONIDEEPA CHOUDHURY
Like all good things Career2010access also began with a dream.
EVENTS
In March 2010, Shishu Sarothi, a premier centre for rehabilitation and training for multiple disabilities in the
Northeast of India, launched its Disability Employment Initiative (DEI). The project, funded by Austrian social
service organisation Chritoffel Development Co-operation or Light for the World, was started to act as a focal
point, catalyst, and facilitator for economically empowering persons with disabilities in remote Northeast India.
One of the primary goals that the Initiative set for itself was holding a job fair for persons with disabilities. It
was a challenging proposition in a region where private industry is in a nascent stage and government
departments and public sector companies parrot about the three per cent mandate of reservation for persons
with disabilities and a preset process of recruitment.
Dreams however refuse to die, and this one was infectious enough to embrace many hearts.
On March 18, Arman Ali, Executive Director, Shishu Sarothi, wrote a mail to one of his dearest friends, Jayshree
Raveendran, Founder and Honorary Executive Director, Ability Foundation, which had been working for equal
opportunity employment for 14 years. It has been the pioneer in holding annual job fairs for persons with
disabilities in India: “I have this dream,” he wrote, “a dream to change the dismal state of employment among
persons with disabilities in the Northeast, make our lives a little brighter. I realise that obstacles are plenty but
with your experience and guidance I am sure we can overcome them.” Jayshree Raveendran wrote back, “Sure,
we will join hands with you towards common goals and take this forward. Your dream is my dream as well.”
Jayshree Raveendran then invited Arman Ali to visit the Foundation's National Job Fair at Chennai. And then
followed months of exchanging mails between the Ability Foundation and DEI teams and CareerAccess2010
began to take definite shape. No one quite realised it then, but CareerAceess 2010 was about to make history
as the first ever job fair for persons with disabilities – not only in the Northeast but also in eastern India.
Enthusiasts and well-wishers even love to say that in a strict sense it was the first job fair ever in the Northeast;
this however is open to debate.
Persons with disabilities currently represent the single largest minority group seeking employment in today's
market economy. Unfortunately, societal prejudice and physical barriers have severely restricted their access to
employment. In remote Northeast, where private industry is still in a nascent stage and the overall employment
scenario pathetic, the impediments are greater.
The challenge of assembling private sector employers for an equal opportunity job fair was therefore colossal.
A few Pan-India corporate offices had only just set shop in Guwahati, local industry had just begun to gain
momentum after years of insurgency, IT and ITES companies were conspicuous by their absence, and the
concept of equal opportunity generally unknown. It was not surprising then that many corporate
representatives mistook efforts to get them aboard an equal opportunity platform like CareerAccess 2010 as an
exercise in corporate social responsibility. Several turned down requests for participation citing dearth of
vacancies, and a few startled ones expressed reservations about the wisdom of holding such an event in the
Northeast of India. As Radhika Rammoorthy, Programme Manager (Placement), Ability Foundation was to tell
both teams after conversations with many corporate representatives, “They ask me, why Guwahati?”
Pioneering ventures are however always hard to explain.
EVENTS
However, as both the Ability Foundation and DEI teams believed – nothing is impossible, only a beginning has
to be made. The Ability Foundation team impressed upon naukri.com to run tickers about the event on its
website. Representations for support were made to government departments and federations of industry, and
they received fair response. The Federation of Industries and Commerce of the North Eastern Region (FINER)
released a circular among its member companies, requesting participation in the novel venture. The FICCI
Ladies Organization (FLO) too helped both teams network with industry and government in getting potential
employers and candidates aboard CareerAccess.
Disseminating information about the job fair among candidates across the eight states in the Northeast was a
gigantic and costly task and it was realised that the government machinery also needed to be involved. The
Commissioner of Disabilities, Assam obliged to a request to write to her counterparts in Meghalaya, Arunachal
Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura, Manipur, and Sikkim. The Assam Social Welfare Department and
Directorate agreed to insert an advertisement in two leading English and vernacular dailies in the Northeast,
calling persons with disabilities with 15 years+ education to apply for CareerAccess2010. The Director of
Employment and Craftsmen Training, Assam and the Vocational Rehabilitation Centre came forward to issue
circulars in this regard to their respective district offices. Enthused by the idea, the Employment Generation
Mission of Assam too released a public notice about the job fair in all vernacular dailies.
Red FM and Newslive, an Assam-based news channel, were involved as Radio and TV partners. Shishu Sarothi's
partner NGOs in the eight north-eastern states as well as disabled peoples' organisations contributed in
distributing posters and spreading the word. Enquiry calls began to pour in from across the country and the last
date for receiving applications had to be extended. The Shishu Sarothi office in Guwahati was deluged with
applications, prompting Innocent Marak, the Project Officer of Disability Employment Initiative to pithily say
that it was time to open a new office.
Meanwhile, Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC), Oil India Limited (OIL), State Bank of India (SBI) and FINER
came forward ; Employment Generation Mission, Government of Assam; Director of Employment and
Craftsmen Training, Government of Assam;. Our TV partner is NewsLive and Radio Partner is RED FM.
Trepidation however matched enthusiasm and as the date for CareerAccess 2010 drew near, both teams, now
simply christened the CareerAccess team, began to panic about the outcome. A few corporates who had
confirmed participation at the fair withdrew, pleading a hold on recruitment. The team was also unsure about
the attendance of the 352 registered candidates (among the more than 550 applications which had come in) on
the day of the job fair, as many would be travelling from eleven states and remote areas.
On November 17 at a press meet formally announcing the event it was informed that CareerAccess2010, a oneday job fair, would bring together a dozen open-minded sensitive employers – representing
Telecommunications, Insurance,
EVENTS
Retail, Manufacturing, Consultancy Firms, IT and ITES, Cosmetics, and FMCG – and for qualified persons with
disabilities. This initiative was focussed on a region bereft of avenues of wage employment and at a time when
private industry was just learning to recognise the wealth of talent that lies in waiting amidst disabled people.
Finally, at 7:30 am on November 19, 2010, the first of the candidates, eyes bright with hope and confidence,
was wheeled in through the gates of Pragjyoti, ITA Centre for Performing Arts in Guwahati. Soon, by the time
the last touch had been given to the stalls, the VIP enclosure, and the CareerAccess office, the waiting area was
packed with hopefuls and their guardians. In the next two hours, human resource executives of 22 companies
also arrived, awed by the scale of the job fair. As one of the HR executives was to admit later, “It was an
emotional moment for me, a learning experience.... We were thrilled that such a talent pool existed among
persons with disabilities.”
CareerAccess 2010 had begun.
When Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi arrived, interviews were on full swing. Enthused by the ambience of
the job fair, Tarun Gogoi took a tour of all the corporate stalls, interacting animatedly with corporate executives
and candidates. Finally, addressing all present, the Chief Minister appreciated the efforts of DEI, Shishu Sarothi
and Ability Foundation and announced that the government would be keen to set up a skill development
institute for persons with disabilities in the state.
The last of the candidates and corporate executives left the venue at 5 pm, overwhelmed by a host of emotions
– hope, confidence, awe, and a motivation to help make lives brighter. A satisfied and happy Armaan Ali was to
say, “CareerAccess has been a milestone in the promotion of equal opportunity and inclusiveness for disabled in
the North East.” Jayshree Raveendran said, “This milestone job fair taking place for the first time in Assam
involving all the Northeastern states, distinctly points towards common goals and needs of people with
disabilities in India.”
A dream had seen the light of day.
HAPPENINGS
STOKE THE CONFIDENCE!
2nd National Conference
ON DEAFBLINDNESS
- VAISHNAVI VENKATESH
'Invoke the Spirit, Stoke the Confidence' was one of the most reflective resolutions made during the 2nd
National Conference on Deafblindness, held in New Delhi from 20th to 22nd January, 2011. The conference was
jointly organised by Sense International (India) and National Institute of Empowerment of Persons with Multiple
Disabilities (NIEPMED) under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India. Ability
Foundation, Chennai was the media partner. The entire conference was funded by the European Union. Aptly
themed 'Building an Inclusive Environment', the conference brought to light a group of individuals whose claim
for rights have always been witnessed by silence.
The Deafblind community is unique, in the sense that it can neither be completely incorporated into the Deaf
category, nor the Blind. They have their own identity formed by the disability, which is largely unknown to most
of the population. Hastily labelling them as either deaf or blind has cost this community years of exclusion, due
to difficulty in communication. Therefore, the theme of building an inclusive environment focused on bringing
their lives to the forefront, discussing their rights and opportunities, infusing them with a surge of confidence
and attempting to mainstream them into society.
Since there are over 450,000 deafblind people in India, most of who are ignorant of the rights and facilities they
can avail, such conferences are meant to increase awareness. The objective of this conference was to:
 Involve practitioners, researchers, government officials, development workers, educators, deaf-blind
people, families as well as experts from the related fields
 Create an opportunity for creating an inclusive environment
 Sensitise the medical, teaching and government personnel towards deaf-blindness.
From Day One, there was a positive energy amongst the audience that sustained, even doubled by the finale of
the conference. During the inaugural ceremony, Zamir Dhale (Advocacy Head of Sense International), a
deafblind person himself, spoke of his aspirations and expectations from the conference. He hoped that
through the conference, barriers of exclusion would be broken and give way to more avenues for programmes
on Deafblindness. An inclusive environment was as important to the deafblind community as any other disabled
community, in fact, more so, because of the years of
HAPPENINGS
exclusion due to ignorance.
Slowly and steadily however, milestones are being set in the deafblind community's progress. As Akhil Paul,
Director, Sense International- India, observed in his inaugural speech, the resolutions made at the end of the
previous conference was mainly to recognise deafblindness within the legal system and provide access of
facilities to deaf-blind people near their areas of residence.
Now, not only has deaf-blindness been included in the new draft of the law, but government has also extended
support in providing access to regional learning centres in as many areas as possible. The numbers are small,
but significant enough to give hope to more deafblind people in the country who struggle to be noticed. Truly
marking his words, it was seen that support from the government was assured, and reiterated by the presence
of Mukul Wasnik, Minster of Social Welfare, Justice and Empowerment. Not only did he work around his tight
schedule to make it to the conference, but also understood the nuances of communicating with the deaf-blind
and vowed to provide solidarity and commitment to support the endeavour.
The conference covered various aspects related to deafblindness, from communication to human resource
development and mainstreaming for inclusive education. While the first day focused on the lives of the deafblind people, the second and third day focused on current situation and remedial techniques for making the
society more inclusive in the areas of education, healthcare and community at large. A finale plenary discussion
was on fundraising, an important aspect of any NGO that strives to meet challenging goals.
Some of the topics that were discussed and presented during the conference were :
 Facilitating communication for persons with disabilities
 Quality of life
 Resource mobilisation to initiate and sustain services for the deafblind
The topics presented through papers and posters were case studies on successful inclusion, understanding the
reach and impact of regional learning centres etc. By the end of the three days, several resolutions had been
proposed and
HAPPENINGS
discussed by the audience and the panellists.
It was resolved that early identification and remediation would be a key initiative, and more emphasis would be
given to pre-school training, alongside strengthening the mainstreaming initiatives. Furthermore,
mainstreaming would not be possible without adequate resources, therefore, it was also resolved that the
human resources required for training and implementation of facilities would be strengthened. Empowerment
and Capacity Building would be two important initiatives that had to be partaken in order to provide good
quality facilities. Finally, it was also resolved that the deaf-blind community should have adequate
representation in decision making bodies, as these are presently dominated by single voices coming from
various disabilities.
A very valid observation and suggestion made by a person in the audience was that in order for fair
representation for all disabilities, the sectors should all unite and claim their rights as a single entity. Members
of each disability sector fighting for their own rights would cause fragmentation of the disabled as a whole,
resulting in further exclusion of people who overlap disabilities.
The conference on deaf-blindness provided a very educative insight into the lives of the deaf-blind community that it is certainly not a silent spectator to the changing world. While many interesting initiatives were proposed
and discussed, one of the most important messages this conference delivered was the importance to
strengthen human resources in this field to further train and educate deaf-blind people. As M.N.G Mani,
Keynote Speaker of the conference aptly quipped, “There is no dearth of Helen Kellers in the deaf-blind
community. What the society lacks, is the Anne Sullivans.”
Did the conference meet the expectations of the organisers? “Certainly”, said Akhil Paul. In fact, he was
overwhelmed with the support from the government, Indian and foreign agencies and felt bad that many
participants had to be turned down due to limited seats. One of the most encouraging aspects of the
conference was that over 70% of the speakers at the discussions, paper presentations, poster presentations and
workshops were first-timers, and a majority of the participants in general, were women. This not only
diversified the audience, but also provided an excellent platform for those who wish to make a difference.
The finale of the conference was a beautiful dance-drama by the disabled children of Saksham Daksh, a school
in Noida. The overpowering applause that followed their performance bore testimony to the confidence and
zeal stoked amongst the participants, truly reiterating the fact that if a sense organ is lost, something is lost, but
if spirit is lost, everything is lost. Conferences such as this one are in place to revive that spirit, stoke it, and
build it to a fire of empowerment.
CAVINKARE ABILITY AWARDS 2011
THE AWARDS 2011
The Stars Shone Brightly That Evening
The stage was set. The guests had arrived and were seated in their designated places. The event was all set to
begin, to entertain us, to inform us and to take us into the worlds of our stars of the evening.
It was only as the event began to unfold, one realised that this was no ordinary evening. One also realised that
this was no ordinary awards ceremony. It was a confluence of extraordinary people. It was about inspiring
people. People whose lives would touch us. People whose stories and achievements would impact our lives for
a long time to come.
This was the evening of the 9th CavinKare Ability Awards that took place on the 19th of February 2011 in
Chennai. Each year, the awards are given to those heroes, whose poignant experiences and daring adventures,
treading the path less travelled, creating a path where there were none have paved the way for others to follow,
with hope, optimism and faith and touching the entire human kind with their deeds. Four such persons with
disabilities are singled out each year and applauded as examples for all to emulate.
The evening began on an emotional note, as it was dedicated to a person very close to Ability Foundation, who
had not only been a pillar of strength to the Foundation from the time of inception, as a founder trustee, but
was also Jayshree Raveendran's mother – Smt. Leela Swamy. Following the opening prayer song, rendered
beautifully by Ms. Uma Ramanan, a short film on the previous years' winners immediately put the audience
onto the spirit of the evening. The dance performance by Astad Deboo and the street children from Salaam
Balak Trust was truly poetry in motion. The minimal yet complex choreography was based on the Bhakti Rasa.
Then came the introduction to the recipients of 2011 and the focus shifted to these stars of the evening:
Harman Singh Sidhu, Babli Gambhir, Varun Jain and Sujatha Burla. Thunderous applause filled the hall and their
families looked on with emotional pride. The awards ceremony began with citations being read and then the
trophies and cheques were presented by celebrities and chief guests… as it encapsulated the personal triumphs
of each recipient.
Revathy, our master of ceremonies of the evening touchingly brought out, how important it was to applaud the
winning streaks
THE AWARDS 2011
of the winners as well as the family support they had received. Someone to laugh with, someone to cry with, a
shoulder to lean on, and a nudge to prod you on. This time, the Awards celebrated not just the personal
triumphs but those of their families as well.
Inspiration did not stop with the Award winners alone. There was also Major General SK Razdan, India's first
and only officer of the Indian Army who had risen to the rank of Major General despite being a wheelchair user
– who was one of our Chief Guests of the evening. His story of courage in the line of duty touched an emotional
chord among many in the audience.
The importance of following one's heart, one's convictions, one's faith in oneself, regardless of success or
failure, was underlined that evening, leaving all in the audience charged with inspiration to make more out of
their lives. “They say there is a light at the end of the tunnel but then sometimes, the light may seem too far
off… that is when we need to take out a torch, light up our paths and carry on. Make your own way. Plough
through new fields. If you desire something and if you have the determination, you can do it. No son of a gun
can stop you from doing it. Therefore, rise and shine,” said our General… a truly motivating thought for every
one in the packed hall.
There was more… our other special guest of the evening, Sri Ramachandra Guha, well known writer and
historian, while paying rich tributes to the winners stressed that they were extraordinary individuals who had
overcome many odds to lead nourishing and creative lives. He chose to equate the struggle of our winners to
the struggle that we, as a nation, went through at a time when no one had given us a realistic chance or paid us
any heed and yet despite this, India had emerged as one of the great nations of the modern world, very similar
in comparison with the struggles of the recipients of CavinKare Ability Awards, he said. He also went on to
point out that, “the strength of a democracy is in the social institutions that mediate between the citizen and
the state, and make sure that even though citizens who, because of their circumstances have not enjoyed, shall
we say an advantage in life, have been able to take their rightful place as honourable, dignified, hard working,
upright citizens of India. I salute the Ability Foundation for their work not just in honouring these awardees
every year but their work in deepening the very idea of India,” he said highlighting the importance of civil
society in the context of nation building.
To those who thought that the surprises of the evening were over, there was yet another one coming: the
rendition of the Silent Indian National Anthem! Our National Anthem signed rather than sung, by young
children with disabilities: with and without hearing impairment. And thus bringing to the fore that you don't
really need a spoken language to connect with people, you just need to be able to communicate.
So nonplussed were the thousand odd people in the audience, we tried our best to rush hither and thither
recording the voices we heard… some of which are here reproduced for you…
THE AWARDS 2011
THEY CAME, THEY SAW, THEY SAID…
Dr MOHINI GIRI, Chairperson, Guild of Service
“My association with Ability Foundation has been the most rewarding experience that I have had. To know that
the selection process is so fair and so wide, that is fulfilling. The fact that it provides a platform for the
deserving, that is joyous. I remember that it had smaller beginnings, the magnitude is more, but the soul is still
the same. Thanks to this, there is greater awareness now among the public. It has gone beyond just the
awardees and has begun building awareness among people, and once you do that you have won half the
battle.”
MAUREEN & TIMERI MURARI, Writer
“The awardees at the CavinKare Ability Awards Ceremony on Saturday, 19th February, 2011 left us with an
indelible and overwhelming sense of humility. We were so impressed with the professionally executed evening,
balanced with a stunning dance performance by Astad Deboo and his group of dancers and inspirational
Awardees. Our congratulations to the team for yet again reminding us that there is ability in disability.”
PAUL SELLERS, Director, British Council, South India
“It was an honour to be invited to the 2011 CavinKare Ability Awards ceremony. The evening filled us all with
immense pride. The event is a real tribute to the dedication of those who are working so hard to build
awareness on ability issues, and in doing so, making the lives of those with disabilities in India more promising
by the day. I also had the opportunity after the ceremony to relax with the awardees over a delicious dinner,
and to hear their stories first-hand. The British Council is very proud to be associated with these inspiring
people and we look forward to the 2012 Awards!”
ARATHI ABRAHAM, Visual Communication Designer
“The CavinKare Ability Awards are THE celebration of a person's abilities. Each winner's story is an inspiration. It
persuades us to go ahead and use life's challenges as a springboard for greater achievement. A big life lesson
for all of us that evening, especially so, for my 13 year old son who said at the end, that a challenge is all you
need to find success. Thank you.”
SAI JAYALAKSHMY, National Tennis Champion
“As each recipient of the Cavinkare Ability Award went up on stage and their story was shown on the big screen,
I have to admit I had tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. Even as I write this piece I have goosebumps just
thinking about the courageous stories of the awardees. Each winner had to overcome adversities. It would have
been so easy to give in, lie back and wallow in self-pity, but these bravehearts fought one and grew from
strength to strength.”
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BLAAZE, Rap Artist
“Another year went by, and I found myself anxiously waiting to see whom we would honour today for their
amazing abilities. Unlike any other awards show, this feels so human. So personal. So real. So worthwhile. The
videos of the awardees highlighting the strength and courage were an eye opener. On this occasion being asked
to present the citation was overwhelming. I wanted to shout in the top of my voice how great these achievers
are. I only wish that we could all see them and learn what faith and determination really is. Thank you for
allowing me to be a part of this. God Bless. Peace.”
SRIDEVI REDDY, Principal, KRMM School
“Awards like these provide a platform to show how a person with disability can set an example to the world. My
friend who accompanied me to the event for the first time was a young man of 23 years. I noticed the tears that
rolled down his cheeks when General S K Razdan came on stage and narrated his encounter with terrorists in
Kashmir that had led to his present situation. Thank you, Ability Foundation, for giving me the opportunity to be
part of such a wonderful experience. In the words of my favourite singer Louis Armstrong," What a wonderful
world....”
SULOCHANA MANI, Educationalist
“I have been attending the CavinKare Ability Awards function for many years. This year it was scintillating to
watch Astad Deboo and his group of young dancers. All the four winners of the awards were breathtaking in
their achievements. As if that was not inspiration enough, there was also Major Gen. Razdan. His speech, full of
army lingo, was cheerful and his courage and attitude were inspiring. This year too, as with every year, we
came away humbled and inspired by the strength and beauty of the human spirit.”
MARY JOSEPH
“I sat glued to the chair and watched with tears trickling down my cheeks. Tears, not with pity for the heroes on
stage, but with my heart brimming with admiration! Today it dawned on me that these awards to people with
disabilities far surpassed all realms! They were truly deserving of every word of praise.”
REVA ANANDA, Radio Producer
“A last minute invite to the CavinKare Ability Awards 2011 by a friend brought me to Sir Mutha Venkata Subbah
Rao Hall. The programme was anchored by Actor Revathy and every word was translated in sign language. That
was when I realised I was amongst some very special people. It was an award show that was not just about glitz
and glamour, but feel and fervour. A beautician who was once deemed ugly by all around her, a paralysed
adventurer, a paraplegic television anchor, a road crash victim who now works for road safety; these are not just
inspiring stories of real people but a catalyst to change the way my life was led all this while. When I was just
getting overwhelmed the day's events, Sunil Kumar Razdan, India's first paraplegic Major-General summed it all
up; "If you are weak in your knees, despite your ability, you will be an incapable person.”
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CavinKare Ability Mastery Awards
The Mastery Awards which are three in number are for those achievers who revel in the sheer joy of living and
have become masters in their chosen fields.
WORKING MAGIC WITH HER HANDS!
BABLI GAMBHIR, Jaora, Madhya Pradesh
Fighting attitudinal segregation as a result of short hands, Babli Gambhir turned the tables on societal prejudice
by excelling in a profession that required perpetual use of her hands: the beauty profession. This spunky, young
lady from the small town of Jaora, today, is called the girl with “golden hands”
Babli Gambhir could have chosen to become a school teacher, but she was firm that it was her hands that
would provide the “magic touch”. She thus did a beauty course and opened a beauty parlour - one of the very
first in a small town like Jaora. In doing so, she had to look beyond an orthopedic impairment and the attitude
of a society that was male-dominated and conservative on gender issues. Hence, for Babli, winning the
CavinKare Ability Mastery Award truly paved the way for further possibilities, opportunities and living her
dream.
The youngest of eight siblings, Babli was born with both her arms half formed, her elbow joint missing and
some fingers fused. She had two fingers functioning in one hand and three in the other. Her condition left even
her own mother baffled on how to get her daughter to learn the use of her hands. In fact, her parents were
advised to “poison” her off in her own interest! However, her doting father did not see Babli's hands as an
impairment and encouraged her to develop its use and to gain maximum dexterity
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and control.
Babli recollects how her father bought her a dholak at a time when her hands could barely reach them. With
perseverance, Babli managed to learn to play the instrument. That was the first achievement that motivated her
to try to accomplish anything with her hands. Her father, to whom Babli attributes much of her success, taught
Babli an important lesson - the need to dream big. Outside of her house however, her hands were perpetually
commented upon and even mocked. Babli could have easily become emotionally scarred and disillusioned for
life, but the support of her father kept her going throughout her childhood.
Babli lost her father when she was 10 years old and was devastated. She was soon sent away to a larger town to
study. There she did not thrive and returned after a SSC, with a feeling of inferiority and total worthlessness.
Things changed for her when her sister took her under her wing and Babli began to discover that her 'deformed
hands' were in fact capable of much beauty. Her sister was the next person to stand by her to pursue her
dreams. She completed her MA in English Literature. Then she found her true calling in the beauty business.
She had the conviction and self-belief to train in beauty services, something that really required dexterous use
of hands. 'Why should I limit myself?' she asked of herself constantly.
Thus began Babli's road to success. It started as a small, single-chair-and-mirror set up that offered basic
services. This was transformed through sheer hard work, to a large beauty parlour right in the heart of town.
Babli recalls, “ I was the first person to bring a beauty parlour like this in Jaora. People spend a lot of money in
my parlour. They have full faith in me. What more can I ask for?” The beauty parlour called Sheen, offers
services using the Cheryl brand of cosmetics. In fact, the cosmetic brand chose to showcase Babli's beauty
parlour as a “success story” in one of their internal newsletters. She now has to her credit, a large clientele who
prefer her parlour to the larger ones at Bhopal and Indore.
Today, Babli's parlour offers a whole range of beauty services. She has a staff of 15 young girls, many of who are
from backward and neglected backgrounds. This apart, she has also trained about 700 to 800 girls, which has
further given her the confidence to think on starting a beauty academy for girls from underprivileged and
marginalised sectors. Babli says, “ I am never satisfied. I want to achieve more and more.” Her self-confidence
and unwillingness to let go off her dreams make her a real winner. Says Babli, “The CavinKare Ability Mastery
Award makes me feel even more triumphant. It is a validation of self-belief and has given me wings to soar
higher and achieve further.”
-
GAYATRI KIRAN
THE AWARDS 2011
A STAR AMONG THE STARS!
SUJATHA BURLA, Hyderabad
TV anchor, entrepreneur, businesswoman, social worker, Sujatha Burla is all these and more. A beauty
with brains and with a heart of gold, there are really no full stops in Sujatha's life.
It is difficult to pen down a description of Sujatha. Perhaps, one could just say that she is, quite simply, an
example for others to emulate. Not only is she a successful business woman and a media person, she is also a
caring person giving back to society: lending a helping hand to orphans with disabilities. She veritably lives her
organisation's tagline, “Life beyond imagination.”
In 2001, when Sujatha was on her way to Shirdi with friends, the car she was travelling in crashed into a lorry.
“The others had broken arms, legs… all of which could be fixed, but I'd been asleep in the car when the accident
happened and my body was relaxed. My neck thus got twisted and my spine got broken. We were all taken to a
nearby hospital and they were immediately able to see that I had a spinal injury. So an ambulance was hired to
take me to Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad,” she remembers.
In the four months in hospital she was operated on by neurosurgeons for bone stabilisation. With all the
misinformation around her case, it took another six months before she decided to squarely face the fact that
she would never walk again. “There's so little awareness about paraplegics in India!” she exclaims. “You leave
the hospital with a discharge summary that lists medicines and mentions physiotherapy. Then you go on for
years and years thinking that you are going to walk again because doctors tell you that you have to keep trying.
Nobody tells you how critically important physiotherapy is. Nobody tells you how dangerous bedsores are. Six
months after my accident, when I was able to operate my laptop again, I read about Christopher Reeves. He had
also been in an accident that left him a paraplegic and nine years later, he died of bedsores. Well, if Superman
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had never been able to walk again, what were my chances, I thought. For me that was the big turning point. I
knew that I had to stop marking time and start a new life for myself. I started going for physiotherapy at NIMS,
Hyderabad, knowing that I had to make the best of what was left of my body.” She became more informed
about her condition and began to take good care of herself and guarded herself against bedsores. Through the
entire period of her recovery, she remained positive, never once losing faith in herself and in her ability to
bounce back.
Her focus next, was to ensure that she led an independent life of dignity. It wasn't easy. A lot had changed
around her after the accident. “Just before my accident, I had learned still photography, industrial photography
and started my own studio along with a partner. I was also preparing to go to USA to attend a professional
course in photography. After the accident, my partner continued with the studio and I had to then think what I
could do to make myself financially independent… I also realised how alone I was. My father was so disturbed
by my illness that he fell ill and two years later, he died. My two brothers and sisters were all busy with their
own lives and moved on to other places. My many friends too began staying away, perhaps they were
frightened of how they would face me in this condition.”
With her previous experience in photography and fashion, she started a home furnishing textile unit. Her
promptness and quality of work soon earned her a loyal clientele and her business grew. She also dabbled in
stock market trading for a while, something she could do sitting at home with a computer and an internet
connection. Her own experiences of grappling with situations during the recovery from her accident, made her
start an NGO called Shraddha. The organisation helped people handle their disability with accurate information
and maintain a positive attitude. Through this, she met other NGO workers and created a strong support group.
As her network grew, Sujatha was invited to give inspirational talks at prestigious institutes and came into the
media eye. This led to widespread recognition and a number of awards. At one of the award ceremonies, she
met Ravi Prakash, CEO of TV 9 – a meeting which was to change her life as it eventually resulted in a high-profile
job as the anchor of her own chat show, “Close Encounters with Suzy”. The channel promoted her as “The most
beautiful anchor in Andhra Pradesh”, something that created immense audience curiosity. The channel and its
guests kept silent about Sujatha's disability. On the completion of fifteen episodes her condition was revealed
for the first time to viewers, her story of courage truly surprised and moved the audience.
Doing the show itself was tough, especially the gruelling schedules under the harsh arc lights. “It was initially
difficult for me,” admits Sujatha, “just sitting at 90 degrees is hard work and I would get giddy after a while.
Each show takes about twelve hours – travel, make up, two hours of interview, but I love doing it! I find the
celebs I talk to really open up with me.”
“It's now ten years since I became a paraplegic. I have achieved a few things… and most of all… I do not have
any bedsores… which to me, is a huge achievement. I know that I have many years ahead of me and I have
many more things to accomplish,” she sums up.
It is Sujatha's enormous self-belief that has made her accomplish so many different things in her young
life...with the bright smile firmly in place on her face.
-
SAAZ AGGARWAL
THE AWARDS 2011
WHO DARES, WINS!
VARUN JAIN, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand
Adventure… thy name is Varun. Becoming a wheelchair user at age twenty, at a time when life was seemingly
near perfect, his infallible never-say-die spirit of adventure, goaded him on to take on routes where “angels fear
to tread”… river rafting, mountaineering, kayaking, lonely road trips on a Quad Bike… passions that set one's
adrenaline rushing. His rewarding career, plus his determination to create awareness for accessible
infrastructure and equal status for persons with disabilities, singles out Varun as a champion. In his own words,
“Adversity causes some people to breakdown and others to break records.”
Varun Jain has lived life twice. His first innings ended when he was an aspiring student, all of 19 years. His
second innings began at the Intensive Care Unit of a hospital where his survival was nothing short of a miracle.
Since then, for Varun, there has been only one motto in life: to live life as beautifully as anyone else.
Varun was the lone survivor of a car accident in 2004 in which three other friends died. Says Varun, “Life came
to a grinding halt and my world turned upside down. I was in a state of shock and it took me a long time to
understand my medical condition. I was thoroughly upset and cocooned myself into a shell. However, one fine
day, I decided that my life couldn't go on this way and that however hard life's challenges were, I had to take
them in my stride and ever since, there has been no looking back.”
Before the accident, Varun was a model who walked on a ramp. After the accident, the college management
made a ramp for him to ensure that he had easy access to his academic pursuits. Looking back on the past,
Varun says, “There is a difference between a person born with disability and one who has acquired it, especially
at the peak of his or her youth. My diaphragm was affected and I had lost my voice yet my zeal to sing made me
overcome this problem. When I realised I could not even talk, I
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started to practice to scream and to sing rock songs. I ensured that I expanded my lung capacity and today I can
sing comfortably.”
Varun's next goal was to become financially independent. He got himself involved with his family business. He
transformed his old fashioned business to a professionally managed one, by putting his education to best use.
He also became a consultant for a well known beverage company and witnessed a steep rise in his learning
curve. His desire for independence was so strong that he wanted to lead a day-to-day life that required
minimum reliance on others. He taught himself how to drive a car modified to suit his needs. In all his efforts,
his supportive family always stood by him.Yet, Varun couldn't help but feel that something was amiss. While his
achievements were already many, he somehow felt that much of this was mundane and did not appeal to his
adventure-loving persona. He felt he could push himself to do more, to explore uncharted territories as it were.
He had always enjoyed a sense of adventure and he did not want his disability to make him feel differently
about this. The idea of pursuing adventure sports began to grip him. In his hard fought battle to lead a
productive life, the only thing missing was a sense of thrill and an adrenaline high. Adventure sports thus
helped overcome this lacunae in his life.
Of course, there were difficulties. There were barriers and fears within him that he needed to overcome and
there were issues related to accessibility. He took these up as a challenge and trained to improve his strength
and endurance to begin this new chapter in his life.
His first adventure was river rafting. Says this Limca Book of Records holder: “I did river rafting in April 2009 to
test my limits against nature. It was a tedious task and I had many barriers. For someone with no chest or trunk
balance, the feasibility analysis showed little scope to perform. However, with my zeal and enthusiasm, I
completed the 14km journey of rafting, kayaking and swimming. I was the first paraplegic river rafter of India.”
Varun used the event as a tool to spread awareness for accessibility.
His next adventure was in May 2010. He decided to do a road trip on a 300 cc Quad Bike. The 120 kms stretch
from Rishikesh to Mussorie, reaching an altitude of 7000 ft above sea-level, served to create awareness for
accessible infrastructure and equal status for persons with disabilities. The ride sure was a bumpy one! Talking
of this exciting and dangerous experience, Varun said, “Disability is not incapability. Driving the Quad Bike was
like riding a horse. There were steep passages in between and the roads were narrow and uninvitingly
dangerous. However, I completed the task in the calculated time and with a lot of fun!
Varun's mantra for life is that anything is possible for anyone in this world – disabled or not. All one needs is the
right approach. He aims to achieve great deeds in physical endurance and through this, increase awareness on
making life accessible for disabled persons. He wants to break barriers- mental and physical. He constantly
dreams, thinks and chants: where there is a will, there is a way!
-
PRIYA KRISHNASWAMY
THE AWARDS 2011
CavinKare Ability Award for Eminence
The CavinKare Ability Award for Eminence is a single award for an Achiever with disability who has
chosen to look beyond personal triumphs to serve society at large
THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED!
HARMAN SINGH SIDHU, CHANDIGARH
Dejection and a life of resigned acceptance do not figure in Harman's scheme of things. A road accident that left
him paralysed neck below, made him to look beyond himself and save others lives from road accidents. Harman
established an NGO “ArriveSAFE” whose mission it is, to advocate policy level changes and create awareness on
road safety.
For Harman Singh Sidhu of Chandigarh, it was an informed choice to dedicate his life to create awareness on
road safety. This was based on his own experience which made him all the more determined to ensure that
people be saved from the dire consequences of road accidents.
In a country like India, road safety is never a priority. Harman was hence determined to establish his NGO
“ArriveSAFE” to work towards policy changes and advocacy on road safety and also to work with the police
department to ensure road safety at various levels. “ArriveSAFE” is the first such NGO in this field. Right from
incorporating safety awareness at school level, to conducting awareness workshops, to training the police staff
in managing/handling traffic, widening horizons in road engineering, Harman has addressed all issues of road
safety. Today, Harman has become a spokesperson in most matters relating to this and has represented the
country at several international forums. Due to his determined, persistent efforts, several roads have become
safer today and important traffic regulations introduced and implemented.
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Harman's love for trekking and his interest in animals took him to the unruly and dangerous ghaat sections of
Himachal Pradesh, where he met with a car accident.. He could not move out of the fallen car. When he was
eventually rescued, there was no ambulance. It was a very difficult transition period for Harman from just
looking at the ceiling of the room, to stepping out into the open. His body was paralysed neck down with partial
movements of three fingers. Eventually, Harman overcame his own physical inabilities. Says Harman, “Things
around me changed. All the time, for more than two years, while I was lying in bed, my thoughts constantly
revolved around road safety. Thus was born “ArriveSAFE” in 2003. I just wished that everyone who drives out,
returns home safe. The impact of road accidents on every member of the family – physiologically, emotionally,
mentally, economically – is immense.”
When it came to actually carrying forward his dream, he however found, that no one really encouraged him, as
the whole concept of road safety promotion was totally unheard of! Says Harman: “People compare road
accidents to destiny. That is our culture but it is really much more than that. I wanted to go out in my
wheelchair yelling this out, but everything takes time and I had to wait for a right opportunity.” Harman
designed a website for Chandigarh Police that propagated safe and responsible driving. The primary challenge
was to educate policy makers and this kick-started the process.
Harman's medical condition has deteriorated in the last four years and he has lost out on a luxury called “sleep”.
His day begins with painkillers and sleeping pills to numb pain. “Even if I sleep for a brief while, the pain is
excruciating after I get up. I fear the pain and avoid sleep,” is how Harman puts it.
Today, Harman is a stakeholder in Global Road Traffic Injury Prevention Project. He has also represented India in
the “First Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety”. His published papers include:
 Status of road safety in South Eastern Asian region ; Indian Roads,
 An Overview of Mobility and Safety Issues related to Highway Transportation in India
 India's Motoring Revolution
He has participated in international conferences organised by the United Nations, World Health Organisation
and British Broadcasting Corporation. At the National level, Harman has conducted innumerable workshops,
presentations, road-shows, campaigns, multi-media screenings, etc., all of which aim at educating people to
drive safely and arrive safely. He has put all obstacles behind him and is totally focused on doing everything in
his power to ensure that everyone arrives home safe - serving the society at large and humankind in a unique
way!
-
PRIYA KRISHNASWAMY
MANAGEMENT
Time Management: Learning from MUMBAI DABBAWALLAS
- DR KETNA MEHTA
To Realize
To realise the value of one year:
Ask a student who has failed a final exam.
To realise the value of one month:
Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.
To realise the value of one week:
Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realise the value of one hour:
Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realise the value of one minute:
Ask a person who has missed the train, bus or plane.
To realise the value of one second:
Ask a person who has survived an accident.
To realise the value of one millisecond:
Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.
MANAGEMENT
Time waits for no one…..except for a few well-paid management educated executives. They seem to have
joined an organisation to while away their time, be considered career oriented in society and sometimes maybe
to take a break from a tyrant mother-in-law and return home refreshed ready to face the onslaught once again!
Let's call her the Zero Time Valuer.
Let me elucidate by first commending the terrific efficiency, effectiveness and time management skills displayed
by our Mumbai Dabbawallas and then return to this Zero Time Valuer mentioned above.
The Dabbawallas of Mumbai are a world renowned case study. B school students are exposed to the virtues of
quality systems and management with emphasis on six-sigma as a learning paradigm. There is a connection
between time management and the Dabbawallas saga as well, which is not emphasised in management texts.
Mumbai Dabbawalla, [Hindi: one who carries the dabba or lunch box] is a person in Mumbai India, whose job is
carrying and delivering freshly made food from home in lunch boxes to office workers. Though the work sounds
simple, it is actually a highly specialised trade that is over a century old and which has become integral to
Mumbai's culture.
All Dabbawalla's belong to the Warkari community. They still wear the same attire with a Gandhi Topi or cap. At
19,373 persons per square kilometers, Mumbai is India's most densely populated city with a huge flow of
traffic. Because of this, lengthy commutes to workplaces are common, with many workers travelling by train.
A collecting Dabbawalla, usually on bicycle, collects dabbas from homes or, more often, from the dabba makers
(who actually cook the food). The dabbas have some sort of distinguishing mark on them, such as a colour or
symbol as most Dabbawallas are illiterate.
The Dabbawalla then takes them to a designated sorting place, where he and other collecting Dabbawallas sort
(and sometimes bundle) the lunch boxes into groups. The grouped boxes are put in the coaches of trains, with
markings to identify the destination of the box (usually there is a designated car for the boxes). The markings
include the railway station to unload the boxes and the building address where the box has to be delivered. At
each station, boxes are handed over to a local Dabbawalla, who delivers them. The empty boxes, after lunch,
are again collected and sent back to the respective houses.
How they function:
Everyone who works within this system is treated as an equal. Regardless of a Dabbawalla's function, everyone
gets paid about Rs 2000 to 4,000 per month. More than 175,000-200,000 lunches get moved every day by an
estimated 4,500-5,000 Dabbawallas, all with an extremely small
MANAGEMENT
nominal fee and with utmost punctuality. According to a survey, there is only one mistake in every 6,000,000
deliveries. The American business magazine Forbes gave a Six Sigma performance rating for the precision of the
Mumbai Dabbawallas.
The BBC has produced a documentary on Dabbawallas, and Prince Charles, during his visit to India, visited them
and he had to fit in with their schedule. Some of the Dabbawallas have been invited to give guest lectures in top
business schools of India. Most remarkably, the success of the Dabbawalla trade involves no modern
technology. The main reason for their popularity is the Indian people's love of home-made food delivered
punctually.
The service is uninterrupted even on the days of extreme weather, such as Mumbai's monsoons. The local
Dabbawallas at both ends are known to the customers personally, so that there is no question of lack of trust.
Also, they are familiar with the local areas they cater to, which allows them to access any destination with ease.
Occasionally, people communicate between home and work by putting messages on chits inside the boxes.
How they do it:
99.99% success rate ON TIME. EVERY TIME!
Each and every office goer gets their tiffin and lunch meal on time satiating their appetite with homemade
food. The Dabbawallas are generally uneducated and illiterate, many don't even wear a watch but they perform
to six sigma levels, day in and day out on time, relentlessly.
A six sigma process, a business management strategy, is one in which 99.99966% of the products manufactured
are statistically expected to be free of defects (3.4 defects per million).
Switching to the Zero Time Valuer:
Let us switch to images of educated staff boasting first class degrees, but who do not deliver any task on time
(consistently!). They have ten thousand and more excuses for not having delivered despite being supplied with
factors and conditions, all favouring them. Air-conditioned plush offices, computer systems, hygienic
surroundings, canteen service on their desks, telephones to make calls (personal or otherwise!), coffee machine
conversations, smoke breaks, headache (and mother-in-law tantrum) leave's, expensive training sessions and
more.
Imagine what will happen if one of the Dabbawallas thought “I am too tired to get up at 5.15 and I will get up at
6.15 am.” This means 15 customers would go without their daily meal. It is more of a realisation that the
customer is the Annadataa giving them their lunch and not any other compulsion for work efficiency.
Maybe all these brand toting management graduates should be made to do a field internship with the hard
working faultless and efficient Dabbawallas for some time!
TASTE BUDS
Cooking Up a Storm
They say that the world is made up of two kinds of people. There are those who live to eat and there are others
who eat to live. No matter which side of this debate you find yourself on, you need to eat. Our days are neatly
divided into parts based on the meals that we have and cooking is just a recurring chore in our lives. A disabled
person in his or her desire to be self-reliant also learns to cook, factoring in their disability.
Here we look at two views on this subject. Both of them offer a practical guide to ensure that our spaces and
cooking processes can be tweaked a little bit to make it easier for the disabled to cook. While the first piece
gives us a practical guide of sorts to prepare our kitchen space and cooking tools, the second is a personal
account of a woman who does not find her disability coming in the way of her cooking up
a storm!
TASTE BUDS
BECAUSE COOKING IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE!
- PUJA B. SUBRAMANIAM
Born in a food fascinated Punjabi family, I always found myself in love with food and cooking. When I grew up
and tried my hand at cooking some delicacies on my own, I was left with a feeling of complete dependence and
dejection due to my physical limitations. The kitchen seemed to be the most complex part of the world where
all I could see was inaccessibility. High cook tops, unreachable storage shelves, heavy cookware, lack of space to
move around everything reflected a no entry sign board. My weak grip added to the misery by bringing in
peeling, chopping, stirring and other cooking challenges. However, my firm goal to cook independently never
allowed me to give up. Gradually I started finding alternatives to each cooking challenge and with a bit of
management and a positive approach I could finally create a barrier free kitchen for myself.
I adopted a 3-way-approach for making my kitchen fully accessible to give me a comfortable cooking
experience.
1. Space for easy movement
2. Accessibility to all the required items
3. Preparation and cooking adaptations
To achieve the first target of creating space easy movement following can be done Clear ground space
If you have a small kitchen then rearrange things in the way that it provides more room to turn and move the
wheelchair freely. This can be done by looking for alternate storing space for the items which obstruct the
walkway in the kitchen. For instance, a wall mounted or hanging stand can be an alternative for keeping articles
that occupy ground space.
Organise to add space
Kitchen often gets stuffed with things that we rarely use. Trash anything that you do not use at all. Check out
your utensil drawer or holder. Are there utensils there you never use and are just clutter? Are there too many
spatulas and pancake turners? Are any items broken, stained, or rusty that could be thrown away to give you
more room in your drawer or holder?
Identify those items which you do not use frequently and shift them to a different storage space outside your
kitchen. If your utensils are in a drawer, install a drawer divider to keep them contained in one place so they
don't slide all over.
If you work towards clearing your kitchen, you will be amazed at the number of unnecessary things occupying
your kitchens space. Better throw the unwanted stuff or keep it at a different place if you are not using it
regularly. Make monthly clearing a habit for better utilisation of space.
Once you have enough space in the kitchen for free movement then the target of easy access to all the required
items can be attained to a great extend by these simple yet thoughtful ways.
If you find the kitchen counter too high then lower the height of the cook top or counter to the level where you
can have a clear access to your cookware while cooking and can visually supervise the progress of cooking food.
If that cannot be done then you can use cushioned wheelchair seat which will elevate you to a certain extent
providing you a better reach to your gas stove.
Make sure you have free knee space under the cook top or gas slab so that your wheelchair can fit in. If there is
close cabinet under the cook top then keep it empty enough to give you free leg space so that you can open the
doors of the cabinet and reach to the level of your gas stove.
TASTE BUDS
LAUKI, STALK AND TWO SMOKING BHATURAS!
- VAISHNAVI VENKATESH
To quote the proverbial line, the route to a man's heart is through his stomach. However, with women treading,
and sometimes overtaking men in all fields of life today, it is perhaps safe to generalise that the route to
anyone's heart is through the stomach. And this seems to reflect on why television shows on cooking are
gaining in popularity.
Surfing channels on a lazy Sunday afternoon can open up a recipe book of sorts, as each cooking show coaxes
you to try out new and daring cuisines, or revisit traditional ones that evokes nostalgia in us. It is little wonder
that shows like Nigella's Feast, Masterchef (both India and Australia), Highway on My Plate have cooked their
way into the lives of the average householder. Of course, the title of the patriarch amongst Indian cooking
shows would arguably go to Khaana Khazana. The smiling face of chef Sanjeev Kapoor, as he sifts through
ingredients to create magic with food, is not forgotten easily as one tries to replicate such dishes within the
confines of a house kitchen.
So where is the link between cooking and disability? It is a curious thing, but cookery shows are often the most
disabled-friendly in terms of television programmes. This is because the correct quantities of ingredients are
not only spoken out loud, but written as well, making it easy for the visually and hearing impaired to replicate it
at home. It is almost like a self-reading recipe book that instructs you with detailed steps to churn out the
perfect dish. However, it is the execution of this that has most people stumped in terms of accessibility.
What is the first reaction that one would have to 'cooking without looking'? Often, it is one of surprise or even
apprehension, as one imagines so many hazards in a kitchen that simply need to be overcome by vision. Sharp
knives, burning stoves, boiling water or even something as simple as switching ingredients. All these are part
and parcel of a cooking process that needs to be made accessible. However, there are people all over the world
who have been making this accessible and breaking kitchen barriers with immense perseverance. The premise
behind this notion is often taken to be, 'We blind people eat, so why shouldn't we learn to cook?'
One such individual is Mrs. Veena Mehta, a visually impaired person working with NTPC in Delhi. After a long
day's work at the office, her thoughts while getting back home are similar to what most of us have as well,
'What's cooking tonight?' Of course, the exception lies in the fact that she does the cooking.
With knives, gas stoves and boiling water instantly entering my head as possible perils, I tread the ground
carefully while asking her. She instantly laughs and tells me that these are issues that need to be overcome with
practice and familiarity with the cutlery being used. Of course, since gauging milk kept on boil is rather hard,
she has procured a milk boiler, not very unlike a kettle. It hoots like a whistle when the milk has boiled and
effectively prevents a nasty spill. For making fluffy phulkas, she uses a net like contraption with a handle that
can directly be kept over the flame. This not only helps the rotis cook perfectly, but also prevents any direct
contact with the flame and charring. Mehta believes that if she can be self reliant to cook vegetables and lentils
by herself, it is but natural that she learn how to adapt in order to make rotis and paranthas as well.
Today, technology has managed to bridge the gap between barriers in kitchen. So what if one cannot read from
grandma's recipe book? It can always be scanned and read with a screen reading software. Most of Mehta's
recipes are also taken from the internet. In fact, she likes trying out new
TASTE BUDS
recipes when she invites people over for dinner.
Storing ingredients in various sized containers not only help in recognition by touch, but can be verified by
smelling or tasting them. Like Mehta says, 'I have to keep my chilli powder container far apart from everything
else! I would hate to substitute salt or sugar with chilli accidentally!'
Of course, Braille labels can be stuck on identical containers, helping differentiate between the contents.
Another ingenious idea would be to tie rubber bands on containers – one for sugar, two for salt etc. Therefore,
where vision fails, olfactory and tactile senses overtake and compensate.
But this still does not solve the problem of impending fire hazards or injuries, does it? A little bit of additional
caution needs to be exercised. This is something that everyone must follow in general, because the best of
cooks have cut their hands in a momentary lapse of attention. As for the stoves, many new contraptions that
are completely electric and made of a single gas-less frame are being employed these days in kitchens. One
such stove, the Touch and Turn is in fact, endorsed by the Royal National Institute for Blind People. This is not
only safe for operation without any fire; it is also helpful in checking when the food has fully cooked.
So can cooking be done by the disabled? Of course, and sometimes they can give most people a run for their
money, because they refine their taste and smelling capabilities over the years, and can pick out the finer
nuances of a dish remarkably well. Initiation into the kitchen is a very important aspect of cooking by the
disabled. As Mehta says, 'Most families do not allow the disabled to cook. They feel it is unnecessary and
sometimes hazardous, and don't encourage cooking at all. True, it can prove to be dangerous if one is
immediately thrust into a kitchen. But acquiring the skill over a long period of time and perfecting it can
overcome all these barriers. It is like any other occupation one tries to perfect.' Adjustments need to be made
within a kitchen to make it more disabled-friendly, yes. But in the long run, it is rewarding to know that the
kitchen is another area where the disabled have conquered with panache and relative ease.
There are issues that need to be resolved with the co-operation of other family members as well. As Mehta
rightly says, 'My kitchen is organised in a particular way so I prefer being the sole user of it. For me, cooking is a
one-time process. Getting out in the middle often results in burnt food, because my mind slips from it
completely. Also, I keep ingredients in specific places so I have easy and familiar access to them. When other
members of the family cook with me, they may replace containers and ingredients in unfamiliar spots which
often cause me trouble. Finally, checking quality of vegetables while cutting them or cleaning them, my maid
takes care of.' All these seem very valid. In fact, Mehta also uses a talking microwave, one of the first in the
country, which guides her with the accurate timing and temperature. After registering my awe as she talks
effortlessly about cooking without looking, she laughs and tells me that it isn't any novelty to her, but a routine
task that requires only practice and familiarity, with some caution.
It is often easy to point out and address accessibility issues in the public areas. But addressing them within the
confines of home, and remedying them with simple and small solutions can prove to be far more valuable. This
is because every accessibility step addressed at home is a step towards self-reliance, something that everyone,
both disabled and otherwise, wishes to have.
ALTERNATIVES
Make Way For DR EMU!
-
SHASHWATHI SANDEEP
The sounds of birds and animals resonate as you enter the area. The deer invite us with their funny antics at the
entrance. Emu, deer, rabbits, turtles and different types of birds, all live side by side in this place. We are not
talking about a zoo here or even a park where you usually see these creatures. We are talking about a much
more serious place, normally associated with grimness and pain…we are talking about a hospital!
The Pet Therapy Center as it is called is part of the St Johns Hospital in Bangalore. St Johns has dedicated two
acres of land to maintain the 30 odd varieties of birds and animals in its huge lush green campus of 132 acres.
“It was started in 1998. Our Administrator at that time, Fr Sebastian came up with the idea," Dr Sunny
Chunkapura, Resident Medical Officer of the hospital said. “It was already popular in the western countries but
even now it is at a nascent stage in India," he added.
Pet Therapy is specially meant for patients with physical and mental disabilities and paralysis besides also
patients with psychiatric problems, cardiology ailments and pediatric ailments. Though it is not administered as
a stand-alone therapy, it assists in the treatment process. “The interaction with the pets makes patients happy
and they feel good. Our body produces a hormone called Endorphin which is basically related to the 'feeling' of
well being. This helps in improving the immune system which again helps a person to recover faster," explained
Dr Sunny.
There are different kinds of therapy existing like music or dance therapy. So, how different is this therapy from
the rest? Well, not much actually. "It is the same way music or dance therapy works. In pet therapy, patients
suffering from various forms and degrees of illness interact with animals in natural surroundings. Each patient
prefers a therapy which they would enjoy. For some, it is music; for some dancing does the trick and for few
others just being amongst nature and animals helps them
ALTERNATIVES
The pets do not need any training as they are already friendly and are not the types which would harm anyone.
There is an array of colorful and chirpy birds which would take out the illness in a patient in no time. Some of
the 'Dr' birds present there are the African Love Birds, Zebra Finch, Diamond Dove, Barbary Dove, Java Sparrow
and the Budgerigar. But there are two serious contenders for the most favorite pet amongst them and they are
the Emu and the Deer. In fact, one of the deer also has the name of Sita. “This name was given to her by an
artist who used to visit the center regularly at the time the center was started," said Dr Sunny. Some of the
patients also bring with them food to feed these animals and birds. The pets too, on their part, wait for their
'friends' to come with some eatables!
The Pet Therapy Center is so popular that it does not need to be recommended by the doctors.The patients take
off on their own for a tour of the place along with their relative or friend. The center though is open only during
certain times of the day. “It is mostly in the evenings that most patients visit the center. After all, the animals
and birds too need their own space," he explained. The center receives about 30 to 40 patients on a daily basis.
S Khasin Pera is a native of Hyderabad. This 66-year-old who came to St Johns Hospital for a treatment in the
leg, cannot get enough of the pet therapy center. “Everything about this place is so positive. Being in the room,
with very little access to sunlight, I become very dull. But coming here, it lightens up my mood and refreshes
me. The deer are so cute and makes
ALTERNATIVES
me smile, you know. It makes me forget about my illness and I become one among the nature too. They are
very playful,” he said in an excited tone.
The hospital is expected to make more additions to the therapy center with some more birds and animals
making their appearance soon!
About Pet Therapy:
Animal Assisted Therapy or Pet Therapy is a type of therapy that involves an animal with specific characteristics
becoming a fundamental part of a person's treatment. Animal-assisted therapy is designed to improve the
physical, social, emotional, and/or cognitive functioning of the patient, as well as provide educational and
motivational effectiveness for participants. AAT can be provided on an individual or group basis. During AAT,
therapists document records and evaluate the participant's progress.
Many kinds of animals are used in therapy, including dogs, cats, elephants, birds, dolphins, rabbits, lizards, and
other small animals. Such animals are often referred to as comfort animals. AAT with horses is known
specifically as equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP), equine-assisted creative living (EACL), equine-assisted
personal development (EAPD) or hippo therapy.
Benefits: Physical
Improve fine motor skills.
Improve wheelchair skills.
Improve standing equilibrioception (balance)
Benefits: Mental
A 2007 meta-analysis found that animal-assisted therapy is associated with moderate effect sizes in
improving outcomes in autism spectrum symptoms, medical difficulties, behavioral problems, and emotional
well-being.
Increase verbal interactions among group members.
Increase attention skills
Develop leisure/recreation skills.
Increase self-esteem.
Reduce anxiety.
Reduce loneliness.
Benefits: Educational
Increase vocabulary.
Aid in long- or short-term memory.
Improve knowledge of concepts, such as size, color, etc.
Benefits: Motivational
Improve willingness to be involved in a group activity.
Improve interactions with others.
Improve interactions with staff.
FILM REVIEW
AN ARTISTS’S TO GLORY ‘BLACK SWAN’
- KAVITHA D
'Black Swan' is not so much a story of a rivalry between equal artists competing for excellence, as it is a story of
a journey into the mind and the work of an artist, who tries to transcend her own physical and emotional
limitations. Limitations imposed by her own obsessive personality and aided further by enormous crippling
pressure from her manipulative, controlling mother and a demanding, if not equally manipulative, creative
director.
In this two hour visual roller-coaster, we watch the protagonist Nina Sayers, a talented and dedicated ballerina
in a New York ballet company, losing her grip on reality, as she feverishly prepares for an opportunity that is her
long time dream. The arrival of the sensuous and carefree Lily (beautifully played by Mila Kunis), as a potential
rival coupled with the manipulations of her boss, propel her towards further deterioration. Taunting both the
rival and the boss on separate occasions, little does she realise that, in the attempt, her own self-destruction
has also begun.
The delicacy of the art of ballet is in sharp contrast with the constant hysteria and melodrama in the movie. The
camera gloats over the characters' constant taut expressions in their repressed, rigidly defined existences. Every
bit of glass shards flying and the drops of blood splayed , make you twinge with horror. The movie is an exercise
in extremes: of artistic lives, of unrewarded dedication, of an incorrigible sense of entitlement. Whatever chaos
the flim throws, with the absence of essential visual metaphors, the storyline is certainly not engaging enough.
This is compensated by the dignified and stellar performances of Vincent Cassel and Barbara Hershey. It is
however, Natalie Portman who will haunt you when you walk out of the movie hall.
In the final scene where Nina, as the Black Swan, spreads her arms on stage, in her own mind, her
transformation is complete – with large feathery wings that silhouette starkly against the stage background.
Yet, as we watch the audience watch her, the dual perspective is at once, poetic and horrific.
One of the redeeming qualities about Aronfsky's work is the tiny glimpses it gives us, of what it must be to feel
like Nina, to be that artist, to test your confines and to finally unravel in the grotesqueness.
BOOK REVIEW
A Glamorous Crusader
- SAAZ AGGARWAL
When I first met Malini Chib in January 2009 and she told me about herself, one of the things I remember her
saying was that she has two separate Masters' degrees and had typed both theses with just one little finger. So I
knew what the title of her book meant: it was a tribute to a certain very special finger, and quite characteristic
of Malini's wry sense of humour.
Malini has cerebral palsy. She is an extremely emotional person – enthusiastic, independent, full of life, very
good looking, a little impatient, and irrepressibly eager to try out new things. These attributes are reflected in
her book.
One Little Finger is the inside story of a struggle that many face – but few are gifted with the ability to
articulate. And Malini does not just tell--- us a personal story, she also makes a poignant comment on the
difficult situation she has faced all her life and conceptualises and analyses the various facets of it. She jokes
about these too. For instance, she tells us that as she was growing up, the world viewed disability through –
what is now known as – the “medical model” which means that disabled people were considered as medical
cases and accordingly isolated. The prevailing view today, however, is the “social model” which applies a “rightsbased approach” and considers disability as a social issue: that we each are, at some level or the other,
dependent on one another – and that each of us must consider it a simple responsibility in our lives, to include
others of varying abilities. Thus when her friend Varsha Hooja helps her onto a bus in London and a copassenger gushes, “you are a wonderful person. God will bless you,” Malini and Varsha secretly laugh and
define a new “medical charity model”: anyone helping the disabled will be blessed!
In this book, Malini tells us the story of her life, starting from her birth in an educated, privileged and well
connected family in Bombay. When her parents realise that their child has special needs which will not be
satisfactorily met in India, they move to London. In the years that follow, her life is divided between Bombay
and London. Wherever she is, she has the intelligence to analyse her problems
BOOK REVIEW
and look for solutions.
When she joins college at St Xavier's in Bombay, she agonises: Do I have my own personality? Am I just another
disabled girl who needs things done for her? I know that I am different and am trapped in a dysfunctional body,
but don't others realise I have a spirit and a mind of mine own that is separate from this body? My body may
not work like others, but my mind does. Don't they even consider thinking that my desires are just the same as
theirs?
When her classmates make plans to go for a movie together, it doesn't occur to them that Malini may want to
go too. So instead of just sitting there feeling sore and left out, she invites herself along and soon enough they
learn how to help her along and get used to involving her in their plans.
It struck me that by having the courage to maintain this approach, Malini has always been able to influence
people around her towards inclusion, even before she became the activist that she now is.
However, the environment was full of barriers. The classrooms at St Xavier's had a raised strip at the doorway
which made it a struggle for a wheelchair to get across. When she got a job at Bombay Times for a short period,
the canteen was out of reach, so she could never join her colleagues for a cup of coffee or lunch. In India, even
toilets meant for people with disabilities were not accessible.
Malini's struggle with inclusion and access is reduced today, though it continues in different ways. In London,
she has several happy stints. Here she experiences independence using technology, that makes her mobile and
is able to communicate to the world at large through her different appliances. At Berkeley, she frequently meets
a large number of disabled people leading normal lives and this opens new worlds to her.
She writes about things that is, for most of us, simple things, such as an outing, that is largely taken for granted
by most others which for her in nothing short of an expedition! We share her excitement and her tremendous
sense of achievement that she feels when she finally gets to go out all by herself for the first time. We feel her
joy when she writes about her travels with friends who enjoy her company. At Notre Dame in Paris, Malini is
stirred by the atmosphere and writes, “I felt a spiritual presence encircle me. I prayed, and thought about how
lucky I had been in life”. Later, when she learns to give lectures using PowerPoint, she comments sardonically, “I
absolutely abhor the sound of my monotonous voice. I wish I had a sexy, husky one with a clipped Oxonian
accent, but I guess one cannot have everything in life.”
I found this book entertaining; I admired the writing style, and enjoyed looking at the photographs and found
myself smiling at the humour. I was happy to have from it, an endorsement of the belief implemented in my
own life: that a professional attendant is much more conducive to a life of independence and dignity, than being
cared for by just family members.
There was something however, about this book that made me angry and that was the quality of editing and
proofreading. This book is published by Sage, has a good story, a beautiful cover and is well written. To be
strewn with careless mistakes is inexcusable and unfair to Malini.
What I liked best about this book is what I learnt from it. For the majority of us who have little experience with
disability – a situation resulting of course from that “medical model” – Malini's response to the different types
of reactions that she gets from the different types of people she meets, shows us the way towards appropriate
ways of behaving.
POETRY
Musings
Here are four poems written by SRIVIDHYA SURYANARAYANAN
GREENATHON
WOMEN OF LETTERS- A CHALLENGE
Come let's plant a seedling bean
Carefully watch it grow and slant
So hail the land of future green.
Long hours spent in trying to find,
Perfect words strung into musical notes.
A mode of expression to leave behind,
A trail of my past that I wrote by rote.
A congregation of world dean
Gather together so they could grant
Come let's plant a seedling bean.
The planted seeds never grow lean
Nurturing the plants' every want
So hail the land of future green.
Flourishing trees should be seen
While a positive thought we bant
Come let's plant a seedling bean.
Watch the green land that has been
An enticement of the tireless nature's pant
So hail the land of future green.
As our environment becomes clean
We shall all begin to rant
Come let's plant a seedling bean
So hail the land of future green.
Equipped with a quill and parchment?
I dictate all my genuine expressions
Relaxing now, then euphoric with excitement
All the while recording sincere versions.
I turn around and tell myself
Shouldn't I challenge the norm,
To acquire the spot on the shelf,
While about me the library will inform.
How strange occurrence got replayed
In a loosely structured blank verse.
My internal nemesis remain unbeaten,
As he gathered around the camp-fire to converse.
Story-teller have finished their story
And they pass the traditional smoking pipe,
Now I hold it in my hand in all its glory.
I begin my story with much modern hype.
In short my verse shall speak for me,
While I strive for a routine writer's style
Camouflaged in freely written verse for no fee.
A challenge, a new fashion statement from my
aisle.
PERHAPS LIFE
FEMALE HERCULES
Should you believe that life is wonderful
Then take each precious moment in hand
And live it completely and be delightful.
For life is a single breath of the running sand.
A stranger with voice like satin
Calls me to speak about
My online job profile,
Contacted me one day
Like chiming prayer bells
She sang to my spirit.
Filled with sudden flips of fortunes for man
Should such a change on to your lap land
Then be not surprised by fate's plan
For life is a single breath of the running sand.
Strange situations are but common place
Mine life unendingly to get to the fand
The fluor spars gathered sparkles in space
For life is a single breath of the running sand.
Routes that twist and turn at life's fancy
From mankind life asks for serious mand
While secretly hoping for necromancy
For life is a single breath of the running sand.
Perform whatever you set out to accomplish
Before you wear away your shoe's rand
For who knows for how long you will stand
For life is a single breath of the running sand.
POETRY
Musings
She was a surprise gift package
When in person I met her
A strong woman on wheels
Now prayer chimes included
Visions of sparkling smile
Flashback of my best friend
From the golden school days
Such joy sprung forth
Maybe a mirror image
A yonder year friend
Rochelles and Raghavis
Sudhas and Karuniyas
Are rare and gentle species
Whose upbeat spirited outlook
Of life is a definite mood lifter.
LITERATURE
The Greatest Literary Show ON EARTH!
- RADHIKA VENKATARAYAN
The winter sun gently shines down on us, as we wait for Mr. Coetzee, the reclusive Nobel laureate. The front
lawns of the 150-year-old Diggi Palace in Jaipur is swarming with people, the spiraling crowds threatening to get
out of control. The Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF), India's annual literary event, a one of its kind gathering, is
now well on its way to becoming the largest literary event in this part of the world. It is five days of books,
debates, discussions and music.
The Jaipur Literature Festival was started as an initiative of the Jaipur Virasat Foundation, an NGO working with
musicians and craftspeople of Rajasthan, to preserve skills, promote economic livelihood, and protecting
heritage. From a two-and-a-half-thousand attendance in 2008, to the almost sixty-thousand people who
congregated this year, this event has grown enormously.
What draws people to this carnival of literature?
The reasons like the people who come here are many. Some aspiring novelists were there to understand the
craft of novel writing better. Vidya, an aspiring novelist from Mumbai says, “Writing is frightfully lonely as a
vocation. I needed to find from these people, how did they do it?”
For some others, like Andrea from Montreal, Canada, it is an extension of her 'Incredible India' experience. She
is particularly fascinated by the colour that she sees around and says, “I don't see this in Canada. So much of
colour, it is dazzling. It is like the Fashion Week of books.”
Then there are the starstruck. Bollywood, like everywhere else, is also proving to be a top draw here with the
sessions
LITERATURE
of poets and lyricists Gulzar, Javed Akhtar and Prasoon Joshi proving to be one of the most popular.
But mostly, this is a festival for readers and book-lovers. And they came from everywhere. There were tourists
from Australia, college students from Meerut and school children from Jaipur.
What did these much acclaimed voices have to say about books and literature?
Booker Prize winner Kiran Desai set the book in perspective calling it the “one solid thing” in an age of television
and Internet where words go over everybody's head. This was an optimistic assessment about the future of
physical books.
Orhan Pamuk, Nobel laureate, loved taking centre-stage. His observations captured the audience attention
completely. An interesting point that Pamuk brought up was the challenge that the non-Western writer faced in
the world of literature. He was of the opinion that they were usually marginalised by the fact that they either
wrote in other languages or translated their works in English. To highlight this, Pamuk spoke of how when he
wrote about 'love', Western reviewers saw it as “Turkish love”, while Marcel Proust's version of 'love' was
deemed to be “universal love”.
When J M Coetzee got on stage, he managed to accomplish what seemed rather impossible at that time: to get
the massive crowd to quieten down. The writer of books such as The Life and Times of Michael K and Disgrace
did not discuss his novels or the craft behind them. Instead, he read a short story called The Old Woman and
the Cats.
Writer Rana Dasgupta too took the audience on a storytelling spree with a Kannada folktale, The Flowering
Tree, translated by AK Ramanujan.
The five day festival was also filled with delightful quotes and little nuggets of wisdom that stayed on long after
the event concluded. Martin Amis said to a delighted audience, “To accuse a novelist of egotism is like accusing
a boxer of violence.”
The festival came to a close with a debate on freedom of information, introduced by John Gordon. The 113
panels that preceded it had featured authors from 23 nations, as well as writers in 12 Indian languages.
Besides books and discussions, there were music sessions every evening as well.
In terms of economics, Full Circle, the festival book store did brisk business by selling close to 9000 books. The
big favourite turned out to be Junot Diaz's Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, as
also books by J M Coetzee, Orhan Pamuk and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
My personal favourite part of the festival was the penultimate session, featuring one of India's most loved
writers – Vikram Seth, who was completely at ease and rather unperturbed by the large crowds and willingly
fielded questions and acquiesced to a request to read his poem All you who sleep tonight.
All you who sleep tonight
Far from the ones you love,
No hand to left or right
And emptiness above –
Know that you aren't alone
The whole world shares your tears,
Some for two nights or one,
And some for all their years.
The great five days came to an end with moist eyes and several rounds of applause.
Sound of Silence | COVER FEATURE
SWITCH ON THE LIGHTS… I CAN’T HEAR!
Deafness, the invisible handicap, represents the most misunderstood of all disabilities due to the chasm created
by communication problems. Indeed, the deaf community misunderstands even itself. Unlike many other
minority groups, the deaf community often finds itself at odds with each other with the ongoing conflict over
communication methods since the inception of deaf education. This conflict polarises the deaf community to
the extent of dividing it into two camps: manual and oral. Rather than debate the merits of either
communication tradition, to which we each belong, we have tried to present various articles that will help the
reader develop a better understanding of deafness and comprehend the benefits of both oral and manual
communication for the deaf.
To educate both the deaf and hearing reader about these issues, we have brought forth this special edition of
Success & ABILITY focusing on deafness. Jayshree Raveendran has been so kind to give us a clean slate and free
hand to develop this issue, so free that it took us nearly half a year to complete it. We contacted deaf and
hearing people in both India and the United States to ask them to share their experiences and views. Hence
these articles cover a wide range of topics, such as education,
COVER FEATURE
employment, communication methodologies, attitudes and hopes. These articles showcase a thin layer of
issues that deaf people and their loved ones face. Many are written from the heart, conveying passion, zest and
fervour. We deeply thank the authors who donated their generous time to contribute their expertise and
thoughts.
We hope that you enjoy this volume and learn about deafness and various communication methods for the
deaf. Furthermore, we hope that you will become an advocate to dispel myths and misunderstandings that deaf
people face throughout the world. We ask that you remind people who use the outdated and derogatory
phrase “deaf and dumb” that the deaf are not dumb; using alternative communication techniques actually
enriches overall intelligence. With your help, dear reader, we hope also to inspire and motive deaf children and
young adults to achieve their dreams. While being deaf is a handicap, it is no excuse for not leading a fulfilling,
vibrant life.
AILEEN CROWE NANDI, Chennai, India. MADAN VASISHTA, Washington, DC USA
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dr.
-
Madan Vasishta is Associate Professor in the Department of Administration and Supervision at Gallaudet
University, that pre eminent university for the deaf with an emphasis on education through sign language. His
life, from the time he became deaf at the age of 11, is the stuff movies are made of. After being a farmer in his
Himachali village for ten years, he moved to Delhi later where he first learned to sign. He was a teacher of
photography for a while and worked with deaf associations in India, before came the leap across the seven seas
to Gallaudet University, Washington. At Gallaudet, he proceeded to add one degree after another with a B.A. in
History and Psychology, M.A. in Deaf Education and Ph.D. in Special Education Administration and so on.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Aileen Crowe Nandi is currently Principal Commercial Officer at the US Consulate General in Chennai.
Diagnosed with a profound hearing loss at 18 months, she grew up in the American Midwest in an environment
that supported speech therapy and oral communication. Though her parents were once told that oral speech
would be "impossible," Aileen now speaks several languages. As she wrote in “Success & ABILITY” (July-Sept
2009), “Despite being a neither here nor there student, not “deaf enough” for the deaf community, but with the
challenges of not hearing everything in a “regular” school, I unequivocally support inclusive education- and
work opportunities – for all those who are capable of performing at the required standards.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------When we first decided to do a comprehensive feature on “being deaf”, we immediately thought of Aileen and
Madan as the perfect people to put this feature together. Not only did they read through the pages of “Success
& ABILITY” and evolved to become very good friends, but they are also eminently qualified for the task. Rooted
in their individual experiences and unique differences of being deaf, they each brought to the table facets of
being deaf. And did they live up to our expectations! With enthusiasm and persistence, working with people
across continents, addressing diverse issues, this dynamic duo put together a veritable feast.
So, dear readers, over the next few pages we take you through “Switch on the lights, I can't hear!“ edited and
presented by Dr Madan Vasishta and Aileen Crowe Nandi.
Sound of Silence | TEACHING METHODS
INSIGHTS into EDUCATION
- SURINDER P. K. RANDHAWA
TEACHING METHODS
I have been a teacher of the deaf for over eighteen years now. I have taught from the level of nursery up to
undergraduate studies. And I would like to talk about my experiences and journey as a teacher of the deaf.
I would like to begin with a few anecdotes. I was accompanying a group of deaf students for an arts competition
that was happening in another city. We were waiting at the railway station along with the principal and other
teachers. The deaf children, we were surprised to observe, were talking to each other animatedly by using
signing. They seemed excited and having a lot to say to each other. As their teachers, we had never imagined
that the students could engage in such intimate and fluent conversations. However, the principal interrupted
them and said, “How many years we have been teaching you speech, use your voice.” The students looked
confused. Some of them uttered words, mostly unintelligible speech but most of them became quiet. It did
make me think, who are we to stop the children from communicating in the mode that they were most
comfortable with? As a special educator, was I not supposed to know how to converse with them?
On another occasion I was a delegate at the National Convention of the Educators of the Deaf (NCED). The only
deaf delegate had to leave the conference not only because there was no interpreter around but also because
he was not even allowed five minutes to share his experiences as a deaf student in India and abroad and also as
a teacher educator in one of world's foremost universities for the deaf. It seemed ironical that a convention that
was meant for the deaf didn't have the provision or space to let the deaf air their views. The incident made a
mockery of what we think we want to do and what we actually do. A point to be emphasised is that even if sign
language was excluded in their early lives, most deaf persons learnt it as they grew to identify themselves with
the Deaf Community. This facilitated fluent communication and wider access to information. Successful deaf
persons have narrated stories of how they had missed at on so much of information because of the time and
energies spent on speech training.
The third incident which really impacted me in a big way was the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (education for all)
policy of the government. Some students of a government school visited a special school for the deaf where I
was attached as a consultant. The group included some students with orthopedic difficulties and a deaf boy of
about 10 years old. I was told that there were three deaf students in the school. I asked the boy his name, but
unable to lip read me, he remained silent. Not wanting to turn it into a public humiliation, I asked if a teacher
was with them. A teacher and the boy's father explained that the boy was attending the school and was not
really learning anything. The teacher said they were not equipped to deal with a deaf child who joined the
school at this late age without knowing a spoken language. Now he merely copied what the teacher wrote on
the. In the absence of a special educator and a speech therapist, there was not much they could do since there
were forty other students in the class. While the government had rightly understood the importance of the
right to education of all, mere enrolment wasn't something that was enough. There was the need to have
appropriate training preparedness and infrastructure that could make this dream a reality.
My own beginning, when I started to teach deaf students, was about enforcing language on the deaf pupils. In a
sense, the system was designed in a way that it was oriented to facilitate the teacher with little regard for the
ones who were to actually receive knowledge. This was a common method, wherein a teacher-centered
approach was being followed everywhere. Sometimes use of a hearing aid was emphasised but never
consistently monitored. There was no provision of group hearing aids or well planned speech and auditory
training
TEACHING METHODS
curriculum. Still we were supposed to be 'Oral'. I must add however, that a few students over the years
developed good lip-reading skills. A few had fairly good speech also but that was because they didn't have a
severe hearing loss. Interestingly, while these students did not necessarily have better reading or writing skills
or better academic achievements, but they somehow became the ambassadors of the school when we had
visitors. I myself felt conflicted about this completely verbal method of teaching. And on occasion, when I
contemplated using gestures and signs to facilitate communication, I felt that I was being disloyal to the school
policy. This meant that we were in a less than ideal teaching scenario, with me as a teacher unable to fully
communicate with my students and often my students nodding along even when they didn't completely
understand a lesson.
During the course of my Bachelor in Education training at the National Institute, apart from imparting me with
theoretical knowledge it gave me exposure to schools which were doing a good job of teaching speech to deaf.
This was inspiring and I then decided that on return I would do everything to develop better speech and
language capability in my students. All along we were repeatedly told that students needed to be prevented
from gesturing and using signs let alone presenting sign language as a viable mode of communication or using it
as medium of instruction. And here I was among intelligent deaf students with whom I wanted to talk
everything under the sun but could hardly go beyond very basic communication imparted subject knowledge
through some speech and some gestures. I must confess that many times upon finding that children had
completely misunderstood a certain word or phrase the whole period would then be spent in explaining that
detail.
The term 'Total Communication' outside my teacher training classroom never took any meaningful shape. I did
not know how to sign in Hindi. I did not know sign language and use of gestures alone along with speech.
Hence, communication was not total. Some may consider it as an emotional outburst or high degree of selfdeprecation but that is how the situation was. I remember sharing my confusion and concern over
communication methods with Dr. Madan Vasishta, who very beautifully answered that if you were able to
convey your message and understand children fully through the use of speech then even oral communication is
total communication, but use of speech with a random use of some gestures and signs is NOT total
communication if it does not result in full access to language. Partial inputs lead to partial outputs was what he
told me.
This is when my journey as a researcher began. I decided to keep language assessment of the deaf as a major
component of my doctoral research since poor reading and writing skills of the deaf students was not only my
major concern but also that of every teacher of not just my school but other schools I had visited. My search led
to few available language tests, which were translated and used in pilot studies. Due to administration and
scoring problems satisfactory results were not obtained.
Then, when a Fulbright fellowship at Gallaudet University (USA) was offered, my perspective of deaf education
changed overnight. I was suddenly thrown into a reverse situation. Now it was my turn to experience first-hand
all the linguistic isolation which all these years I had knowingly and unknowingly inflicted upon my students.
The deaf students
TEACHING METHODS
would object if a hearing teacher would offer to speak for my benefit in the classroom. So I could not take full
advantage of the excellent academic courses available at Gallaudet. Till the end I could not know who were
hearing and who were deaf around me as I did not see many of them using their voices and still there were deaf
students from nursery to Ph.D level being taught by both deaf and hearing teachers. The president of the
University Dr. Jordan was deaf, the dean of the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center was deaf, there
were deaf researchers and there were deaf people at many other important positions. And here I was told that
early exposure to sign language hinders speech development and also reading and writing skills. Research has
repeatedly shown that an average high schooler is equipped with reading skills at third or fourth grade and our
deaf students have started to question why even after 12-14 years of schooling they remain practically illiterate
or semi-literate! We urgently need to look at our teaching strategies.
I took forward my research on the deaf in my PhD thesis titled: Status Study of Special Schools for the Deaf and
Identification of Intervention Areas. It was an exhaustive study of the real situation of the education of the deaf
in our country. From a sample of 20 principals, 220 teachers of 20 special schools for the deaf, 55 parents of the
deaf students, 93 deaf persons and 72 teacher trainees who filled up specially constructed questionnaires;
some very interesting research findings were obtained.
It was found that we needed to have better qualified principals and teachers and teacher education needed
some major reforms. In fact, at present some changes are being made. However, the most important revelation
was that majority of our schools did not have a clear communication policy and there existed many
misconceptions among the teaching community on definitions of terminologies like Oral/Aural policy and Total
Communication. In fact, Total Communication was the most misunderstood among all the terms used. Most
were unaware of what Bilingual Education meant and teachers conceded that primary language of the deaf was
sign language. It was also found that schools were behind when it came to keeping pace with technology and
advancements in the area of speech development. Majority of the teachers also showed dissatisfaction with the
curriculum and assessments procedures being used in the schools.
From the overall situation of the status of deaf education in India presented above, one can logically conclude
that an overhauling of the whole system starting with a change in attitudes is necessary. Rehabilitation Council
of India's (RCI) initiatives to bring in revisions in the teacher education curricula both at diploma and degree
level, promoting the use of Indian Sign Language, implementation of UNCRPD recommendations and formation
of a committee to write a manual on communication options will have positive outcomes.
The introduction of BA degree programmes by Indira Gandhi National Open University in collaboration with
University of Central Lancashire, UK has opened new vistas and is a step towards bringing in quality
improvement in the education of the deaf. We need to remember that one size does not fit all. Services and
facilities have to be developed in a way that they are based on the needs of the particular child. Families should
be able to make informed choices so that our deaf students get opportunities to realise their full potential as
well as our schools are able to provide a well-rounded education to the child.
Dr. (Mrs.) Surinder P.K. Randhawa is an independent consultant in deaf education
Sound of Silence | DIALOGUE
A Diplomatic WEBCHAT
-
AILEEN CROWE NANDI
-
CARLETON BULKIN
-
ABHIJIT CHAKRABORTY
It is always interesting to understand the personal and professional journeys of people who hold positions of
authority and power. When a person with a disability achieves professional success there are learnings in it for
all of us.
Three diplomats recently “met” virtually to discuss the highs and lows of serving their countries abroad while
coping with perceived disabilities. Meet:
The People
Carleton Bulkin is a Foreign Service Officer for the U.S. State Department. He has worn hearing aids since an
early age and when he was 24, he was diagnosed with Usher's syndrome. Although he learned some lip reading
while growing up and later some sign language from a deaf roommate, he relies on voice communication; he
also uses a white cane in many situations. He has a master's in Slavic languages and literatures and is looking
forward to beginning Arabic language training this fall.
Abhijit Chakraborty was diagnosed with severe sensory neural hearing loss of 90Db due to an overdose of
antibiotics at 24 months. He went to a regular school and then university. Abhijit uses hearing aids, does not
know sign language and speaks 4 languages. After post graduating in English Literature, his first job was as a
Manager in a Government Enterprise and he is currently well settled in his second job as a diplomat in the
Indian Foreign Service.
Aileen Crowe Nandi is a Commercial Officer for the U.S. Department of Commerce, currently serving in
Chennai. Diagnosed with a profound hearing loss at 18 months, she went to the Central Institute for the Deaf in
St. Louis, MO until she was fully mainstreamed at age 6. Though her parents were once told that oral speech
would be "impossible," Aileen now speaks several languages.
The Chat
WERE PROFESSIONAL OPTIONS RESTRICTED WHILE GROWING UP?
Abhijit - Careerwise certain professions ceased to be an option, like medicine and other highly professionalised
courses where miscommunications couldn't be afforded
CONVERSATION
at all, like the army, bomb disposal and air traffic control. Perceived notions and biases also affected private
employment.
Carleton: I had some great teachers while growing up, and they always encouraged me. My parents were also
supportive. It only became difficult to imagine my professional future when I was diagnosed with Usher's – I
realised how severe my tunnel vision and night blindness were, and I stopped driving and riding a bike then.
After I had lived overseas, I realised how fortunate I had been to grow up in the U.S. In other places that I've
been to, children with disabilities are patronised at best, and no one expects them to achieve. Yet even in the
U.S., where the disabled are like everyone else – I find that some try harder and keep trying, while others look
for the easier way. But luck – especially who your parents and teachers are – has more than a little to do with
it. The lack of positive role models for disabled kids can make it harder too, so I think this article is a great idea.
WAS THERE DISCRIMINATION IN THE WORKPLACE?
Abhijit: In my previous employment as a Marketing Manager, juniors as well as seniors were supportive and
they answered phone calls for me allowing to me to focus on the internet and face to face communications to
get work done. I was also re-allocated from sales to a more research-based job, which required less time on the
telephone without prejudice to my career prospects. In my second and present career, the difficulty in
telephonic part has been so far impressed upon the peers, but it has been at the cost of not having access to
latest knowledge and has given rise to feeling dependent.
Aileen: As an adult I have always found complete acceptance, even in India where wearing a hearing aid is still
considered "taboo" for many people. Most people I meet as an adult don't fully understand the nature of my
hearing loss and I have to keep reminding them to look at me while speaking or not put their hands over their
mouths, etc. People always seem uncomfortable, however, when I have to rummage through my purse for
hearing aid batteries during meetings!
WERE EMPLOYERS SENSITIVE?
Aileen: Yes, until I bought my first pair of digital hearing aids, I always needed an amplifier piece for my work
telephones, which was covered through the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It was considered a minor
issue and I just had to put in the request and do some quick paperwork. However, I had to pay the full costs of
my hearing aids, which are not covered by health insurance.
Carleton: After joining the Foreign Service, I found I was able to ask, e.g., for an amplified phone handset – but
the bureaucracy can be a little frustrating. Less is available overseas, but one colleague took the initiative to
help me get set up with an alarm clock that had a bed shaker and connected to the telephone. The laws are
good and most of my co-workers make no bones about them, though discrimination can be subtle.
Abhijit: That's interesting, digital hearing aids were approved for purchase in my case. However, initially I was
advised to consult doctors and get normal (analog) hearing aids and was told that I was the first of a kind in the
history of this service and therefore had no clear guideline on work allotment. Efforts to create guidelines
through consultations have also not been very positive. The problem of telephonic conversation has
compounded due to foreign postings with different accents and languages.
ARE/WERE YOU DEFINED BY YOUR DISABILITY?
Aileen: No, if anything, I find it harder to have a hearing loss as an adult as I'm often in meetings where I don't
hear/understand everything or people don't realize that I need to look at them while talking. Having a handicap
that
CONVERSATION
isn't obvious (my hair usually covers my hearing aids) means that it's almost sometimes a double handicap.
Abhijit: In the formative years others defined me by the disability which was a greater impairment than the
disability itself. However, as a grown up working man it simply means using the sms more than the voice and a
request to repeat without covering the lips and other minor adjustments to which my interlocutors readily and
graciously agree to.
Carleton: Now that I'm in the middle of my career, I've come to accept that not every opportunity should be taken.
When I went to Afghanistan, I bid on jobs at the Embassy in Kabul rather than at a Provincial Reconstruction Team
(PRT). It wasn't that I didn't want to – but with my night blindness, etc., I did not believe it would be fair to my
colleagues to insert myself into a mission team more likely to face a crisis or combat situation. There's some
discussion within the American Foreign Service Association, our union, as to whether officers with certified medical
disabilities who cannot serve in the full range of overseas posts are unduly disadvantaged for promotions. Perhaps,
but then in some sense, so are officers who are single parents. The bottom line is that this is a pretty unique career.
At the same time, there have also always been officers – Generation X is no exception – who only want to go to the
developed world, and some of the more talented ones do fine achieving a distinctly upward trajectory.
DOES/DID YOUR DISABILITY CAUSE ANY DISCOMFORT IN THE WORKPLACE?
Aileen: There have been funny stories of things I misheard. But I find it odd that people seem to cringe when I have
to change my hearing aid batteries in a meeting. Better that than having another meeting because I didn't hear
anything!
Abhijit: Sometimes I deliberately repeat the words I mishear to lighten the work atmosphere with a laugh but
generally the discomfort prevails as I have to request others to repeat themselves, and I have a fear of missing some
important instruction or piece of information and the worry of not being able to respond suitably to important
telephone calls.
Carleton: In both my current work and in my pre-Foreign Service jobs, it's been the rare person who will complain,
and others somehow manage to listen to their better angels – and that's a two-way street. You have to show that
you're serious: that you're going to work hard (consistently), that you're creative, and that you're willing to go the
extra mile to make the mission a success. Yet I've heard colleagues say openly that they don't believe blind people
should be hired into the Foreign Service, since the work of a political or economic officer is so deeply based in writing
memoranda, cables, etc. And they always tell me “you're different.” I remember the staff at the Foreign Service
Exam advising me, when I asked for their candor, not to walk into the interview with a cane if I could avoid doing so,
due to the assumptions the assessors might make.
HAVE YOU SEEN COLLEAGUES BECOME MORE ACCEPTING OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES DURING YOUR CAREER?
Carleton: I've become more aware of a bureaucracy in my organisation that promotes tolerance, and my current
bureau leadership is demonstratively supportive of the full range of personnel we have. As the ADA has taken hold,
it's seen less as special treatment than as a leveller and as probably or definitely the fair thing to do.
DO YOU SEEK OUT OTHERS WITH DISABILITIES IN YOUR WORKPLACE OR IN YOUR SOCIAL LIFE? DO YOU SEE
HAVING A SUPPORT GROUP AT THE WORKPLACE AS VALUABLE?
Aileen: That's an interesting question. I think we've all been drawn together in this web forum to compare notes
and offer each other support. I would really like to network more with other deaf/hearing impaired people, but I
don't meet them often in the workplace. But I do find that more colleagues are coming to me as they discover they
need hearing aids themselves and I'm the one lending them support and advice. I always have to hold myself back, as
they're usually unwilling to get a hearing aid (for whatever reason) and I have to assure them that there is nothing
wrong with hearing aids or learning how to lip-read!
Sound of Silence | PERSPECTIVE
INTERACTION & Communication
- ANGSHU JAJODIA
Born deaf, Angshu Jajodia is a student of Social Sciences in Mumbai, converses fluently in two languages and
learning a third, member of SAHAS, an NGO in West Bengal working on rehabilitation of deaf children and is
also associated with Trinayani, a cross-disability advocacy and support group.
It has been my experience that many people do not comprehend what hearing loss actually means. Unlike
blindness or locomotor disabilities which are visible handicaps, hearing impairment is a hidden disability that
has many shades of incapability. People can visualise how it feels to be blind by simply closing their eyes and
trying to go about their daily lives, but one cannot shut down the sense of hearing and see how it impedes with
the regular business of life.
This is because hearing impairment is an abstract concept and to understand an abstract concept in concrete
terms is a difficult proposition for anybody who has not gone through and experienced actual hearing loss. It is
true to such an extent that one has to be deaf to understand what being deaf means. When the teacher in class
questions the inability of the hearing impaired student to take down notes despite wearing hearing aids, she is
not displaying her lack of sensitivity to the issue but more her lack of comprehension of the difficulty faced by
the student in taking down notes just like any other student in the class.
The first gross misconception that people have is that the hearing aid is a substitute for the normal human ear
and since the hearing impaired student is wearing hearing aids he should be able to hear as normally as any
other hearing individual. Nothing could be further from the truth. Nothing can replace the God-given hearing,
not even cochlear implants. Cochlear implants merely improve the threshold of hearing by eliminating noise
and distortion factors. Hearing aids, both body-worn and behind-the-ear, produce a sound which serves as the
background for the deaf child to hear other environmental sounds. The deaf child gets used to this background
sound or noise produced by the hearing aid,
PERSPECTIVE
which is more like a constant humming, and utilises this sound to become aware of other sounds in the
environment such as people's voices or the horn of a car.
Any young child learns language by picking it up from the surroundings. This comes automatically and the child
does not have to make a special effort to hear what is being said to pick up such language. For the deaf child
however learning a language becomes an arduous and a doubly difficult task since the child has to make a
special effort to hear and learn the language word by word, brick by brick. Deaf children can only make out
what is being said; they can never fully hear the actual intonation and import of the words spoken. Yet, the
challenge for the deaf child is to reproduce the words of the language as other hearing people do. This creates a
big gap since the deaf child hears one thing and has to reproduce another. This is the main reason why
language-learning is such a slow and tedious process for the deaf child.
Another misconception that parents of hearing impaired children have is that if my child is deaf and is not
picking up language because of deafness, I get him a pair of good quality hearing aids and he should be able to
pick up language just like any other child. But like we discussed before, a hearing aid cannot replace the normal
human ear. When the deaf child puts on hearing aids, everything he hears is highly distorted, and merely
pumping up the volume of the hearing aid, will only serve to increase the distortion level, leaving the child
highly confused. The deaf child needs to be taught to make sense of this distorted world of sound, and here is
where the intense training and rehabilitation programme comes in. The child needs to be put on the languagelearning train and parents need to be in the driver's seat and teach the child to learn language.
Since hearing is so distorted and the child has to make sense of a highly distorted world, the child learns to rely
on other inputs like lip-reading, situational analysis and circumstantial evidence to get a more complete picture
of what is being said. Lip-reading is a very important arsenal in the child's armour since there are many words
that seem to sound alike, and only a movement in the lips shows the difference between the words produced.
Situational analysis and circumstantial evidence are extra tools to help the child make out the words being said,
stepping in where lip-reading fails to help the child understand. During situational analysis and circumstantial
evidence, the child analyses the present situation and circumstances and matches the received sound inputs by
asking himself, is this what Mama said? Did she mean this,
PERSPECTIVE
since in this sort of situation it has to be this word she said and not any other? Many a time, the child comes to
the conclusion through such evidence and analysis and the communication cycle is completed.
Though it may seem like a set of independent complicated processes for the reader, mind you, all this happens
in a flash during the stream of regular conversation. The faster the child can do this processing, the more
normal will the conversation flow be. When the child fails to catch up with the flow of conversation, it is either
because the conversation is moving too fast for him to process all sound inputs, or because too many inputs are
received at the same time making it difficult for the child to process them and continue with the conversation.
This happens in a group situation where many people are talking at the same time. From my personal
experience I can vouchsafe that this is the main reason why I am comfortable in a one-to-one interaction
pattern while I completely lose my way in a group conversation. It has nothing to do with being unsocial or
reticent, though frequently I have been told that I am an unsocial person since I tend to avoid group
conversations and stick to one-to-one interaction patterns.
In a way it can be said that the deaf child is completely on his toes and practically lives on the edge when it
comes to sound awareness. It may seem like nothing so significant, but on a closer look it is indeed incredible
how deaf children can process at such lightning speed, thus lending all normalcy to conversation while actually
living on the edge. Is it not simply incredible the way the deaf have reinvented themselves to catch up with the
hearing world which they so seriously lack?
In daily life at home, school or work, deaf children do encounter problems in unravelling the mysteries of
sound, which requires them to be constantly alert and quickly adapt to changing conditions. Regarding notetaking in class, I would like to draw from personal experience and say why it is so difficult to take down notes
that the teacher is dictating to the class. When the teacher dictates, the deaf student, unlike his hearing peers,
has to use his hearing and lip-reading to first understand what the teacher is saying. Then only can he write
down the dictation. It is more like cracking codes. However by the time the child has finished understanding
one sentence and written it down, the teacher has progressed to the next and perhaps after. Again the child has
to employ hearing, lip-reading and situational analysis and circumstantial evidence to understand the next
sentence being dictated. By the time he has understood what was said, the teacher is on to the next sentence,
before the child has finished writing the previous one. This creates a backlog of unprocessed auditory inputs
and as a result the child completely loses the thread of what is being said in class. And when he throws up his
hands in exasperation, the teacher gives a frosty-nosed stare and asks him, why (the hell) can't you write? What
are those hearing aids for, show?
It is comments like these that bring into sharp focus the need to make people understand the intrinsic essence
of the problems faced by the hearing impaired. It is not the fault of those we label as insensitive: they can be
given the benefit of doubt since they are not even aware of the enormity of the struggles we face in our day-today living. They need to be made aware of and sensitised to the problems faced by the hearing disabled. This is
an attempt to take the first step towards making people aware so that we all can participate in making a more
inclusive society where there is less discrimination and more equality.
Sound of Silence | ON COMMUNICATION
Communication: the cornerstone of education
- SARIKA MEHTA
It began with a simple question during a debrief of the site visit: “Do the children gesture?”
Let me begin from the beginning. My involvement with Jeevan Gnanodaya Charity School (JG) began in 2006. I
was only fund-raising for the school as a marathon runner. It was an appropriate fit given my interest and
background in Sign Language Linguistics and Bilingual Education here in the United States. During one hot
Illinois summer, I sat through a meeting to listen to a debrief of one of our fellow students who had returned
from a site visit with JG. I suspected the school functioned as an oral programme in which the focus rested on
Speech Therapy. But I wanted to know how these students interacted naturally. You know, when the grown-ups
weren't looking.
ON COMMUNICATION
So I asked, “Do the children gesture?”
Little did I realise how this question would open up the floodgates. We began wondering what kind of teaching
was going on at the school. We called in the reinforcements (that is, the experts) including Madan Vasishta and
Gaurav Mathur, both of whom are renowned scholars in Deaf Education and Sign Language Linguistics.
My background and passion forced me to impose suggestions such as the use of Indian Sign Language, home
visits to student's homes, talking with parents of the students, understanding community resources. All of my
efforts came via emails from Illinois, California and Washington, DC. Regardless, Mr Devarajan, school founder
and director, appreciated my suggestions, which were a pleasant surprise to me. In my experiences, my thinking
was inevitably influenced by my American-ness, having never observed any educational programmes in India. I
tried to propose ideas carefully, but firmly. Finally, in 2010, it was my turn to visit the school. I was going to
meet Mr. Devarajan for the first time after corresponding for 4 years. It was going to be like meeting an old penpal!
I visited Chennai and with the help of my future sister-in- law acting as my Tamil/English interpreter at the
school. We visited the school next morning and met Mr. Devarajan. He invited us to sit down and described and
explained the school and the program to Raji and me. Mr. D told us that he appreciated my perspective because
my goals always assumed these students would achieve successful lives and contribute to society, rather than
just getting them through the system. He explained that his son, Jeevan, for whom the school was named, was
born deaf. He began this school out of frustration of the lack of education opportunities for Jeevan.
Mr. D set a schedule for us. The morning was to be spent observing the youngest children's classes, about 20
minutes per class and we were welcome to ask questions of the teachers and students. During lunch we were
to debrief Mr. D about our observations. We were to spend the afternoon observing intermediate children and
have a lengthy debrief after school. The following day would be spent observing the older children, the
vocational training programme, and the primary school for hearing children. Our days would be full and we
would be eating 15-course meals. Bring it on.
What I witnessed over the next two days there was nothing short of loving and dedicated individuals working in
and around a rigid system of board exams, a school culture of students adapting to teachers (rather than vice
versa), and most importantly -- a system that has no place for students with special needs. My frustrations
stemmed out of seeing a lack of child-teacher interaction no matter how much I tried to convince myself that
this was the culture and I could not impose my American ideals. In India, where there were 60 to 80 students in
a classroom taught together, it was impossible to give individualised instruction. God forbid a student had not
been identified as having a disorder, delay or simply a difference; they would be lost in the sea of students
competing for top marks. It would be right to say that, India's mainstream education has failed deaf children.
Back to the school, these students are happy to be at JG. The teachers love these students. Mr. D is dedicated to
this school above and beyond any director I have ever seen. Everyone is teaching the only way they know how,
the way they were taught. Mr. D and the teachers were taught by teachers who did not individualise their
instruction for small classes, so this
ON COMMUNICATION
is likely a new concept to them. JG's classes only have 6-10 students per class, so focusing on each student's needs is
potentially much easier. I also noticed the teachers speak their lessons with occasional pointing to words on a board
or to a diagram they have drawn themselves. The students wrote whatever was on the board. The teacher asked
questions and invited answers - usually just one word. I did not see time or opportunities for discussions on more
abstract and complex concepts (i.e. "What is a citizen?" The students responded "India".). I should also mention that
the 10th standard students were preparing for their board exams, so pressure was high at that time. In one 8th
standard class, the students signed and mouthed something to the teacher - and the teacher signed "AMERICA".
That was the only instance of a teacher signing (except for the Deaf teacher who teaches Engineering Drawing). I
looked at the students and signed in American Sign Language, "YES. AMERICA. I'M FROM AMERICA." Their eyes grew
large and all the students looked up at me. All of the students looked at their teacher asking if they could ask me
questions and I nodded YES! YES! The students began to sign and the teacher interpreted in Tamil at which point Raji
interpreted to me in English. I signed my answers back in ASL and they understood me. They were so excited and I
was simply beside myself!
The students are dedicated to each other. Their interactions (when no one is looking) are in gestures and signing.
They sign and occasionally mouth words in Tamil. Their interaction is completely normal and expected in a deaf
setting. They are passing Indian Sign Language down from older students to younger students and will eventually
pass the language to the next generation.
Some suggestions that I have based on my observations:
Indian Sign Language: I am not against the children receiving Speech-Language Therapy. However, this technique
should be used only to teach the children to speak and how to use their visual and auditory localisation skills. The
language of the classroom should be Indian Sign Language. In the case of deaf children, they learn best by
communicating with signing. That means that the students should be learning their content (school subjects such as
Math, Science, etc.) in Indian Sign Language.
Use of visual teaching aids. Teachers and classrooms need visuals such as posters of realistic pictures and historical
figures, diagrams, alphabet letters, labels (in the language medium of the school or home), flash cards with colorful
pictures and textures, magnetic letters and numbers, clay for molding, small toys hidden in rice, globes for older
children, etc.
Technology is essential: There is a wealth of technological devices that have made the Deaf world much smaller. Most
Deaf families in the US are equipped with wifi internet, computers with web-cameras, video phones, Video Relay
Services (VRS) for relaying calls between Hearing and Deaf people, closed captions on public broadcasting, and
others. Learning technology is essential for all children in this generation: Deaf children would have a leg up in their
education with proper technology.
School-Home Connection: Parents must advocate for their children's needs and schools must meet these needs. This
way, there is no way students could fall between the cracks and deaf children would be at par with other children.
Natural parenting: It is natural for parents to be scared, perhaps lose their confidence when they notice their
children have a developmental delay either for unknown reasons or congenital. Although I view deafness as a
linguistic minority rather than pathology. I also am a firm believer that whatever you do naturally as a parent is the
right thing. Even if your child is receiving Speech Therapy and Audiology training, you are allowed to gesture, point,
and hug your child in order to communicate. These motions will not deter your child from learning to speak, but not
having a proper relationship will. The single most important factor in raising a happy, healthy child is ensuring that
you have a happy, healthy relationship. The learning curve will take longer for both parties, but the long-term effect
is worth it.
For the record: Yes, the kids at Jeevan Gnanodaya gesture. And they do so much more!
Sound of Silence | CULTURE
Poetry in Motion:
ASTA DEBOO
- RADHIKA VENKATARAYAN
CULTURE
A stad Deboo, a pioneer in modern dance has been known to create dance performances that are an
amalgamation of various techniques. Trained in both the Indian classical dances and the Western formats, he
has fused both forms to create a style that is uniquely his. “My work is dance, even while sometimes being
theatrical. Though at times it has elements of theatre, it is still dance,” is how he describes his work.
Amongst his several collaborations has been his association with a deaf theatre company called the “Action
Players” of Kolkata which resulted in a fruitful artistic association with the deaf performing arts community in
India. Today, working with deaf performers has become an integral part in his body of work. The work that
began with the “Action Players” was initially on a small scale. “I basically offered to do a workshop with them.
For the first two years it was just a 4-day-workshop. In two workshops the actors expressed a desire to do a
longer workshop. In the third year I gave them a workshop that lasted for three weeks. That is when I thought
that I could design a show with them,” he says as he explains the evolution of the performances that he created
with the deaf actors.
The work with the “Action Players” came with its share of challenges. For one, it was not very easy to raise
funds for a production like this. “Enlisting support and funding for art is not as easy as you can imagine. It is
always the biggest challenge when one sets out to create new productions,” Astad says. He did eventually find
support and on occasions even turned producer himself.
The other challenge was that this group was made up of trained actors, and not dancers. Astad had to spend a
lot of effort teaching them to dance and emote at the same time. While he worked on a shorter-length show
with these actors, this also paved the way for him to create a full-length production with another group, the
Clarke School for the Deaf, Chennai.
The girls from the Clarke School were trained dancers and this made Astad's experience of working with them a
little different. “The difference between the Action Players and the Clarke's Girls was that the Action Players
included actors who needed to be trained in dance, while the Clarke girls already had a vocabulary of
Bharatanatyam, so the whole approach was different. With the Clarke girls I did a full-length show, lasting
seventy minutes.”
The work done with the Clarke School girls is what he describes as his most challenging work till date. The show
called Contraposition, was based on the Navarasas (nine
CULTURE
emotions of life). With Bharatanatam as the base, the production turned out to be an effective juxtaposition of
love, laughter, fury, compassion, disgust, horror, heroism, wonder and peace. Astad has worked with deaf
performers for over twenty years and evolved a method to train and communicate effectively. While he himself
does not use sign language, he still manages to effectively communicate and train them in dance. “The only
thing I did was to make sure that I was speaking in front of them. I wouldn't sign very much. In Clarke's School
for example, I had both English speaking and Tamil speaking girls. I had an assistant who would explain certain
nuances to them, and I would communicate visually. I didn't see it as a big difference.”
Since his dancers cannot dance by ear, he taught them to respond to musical vibrations and a special eightcount gesture system. In the case of the Clarke School girls who already had Bharatanatyam training, he could
even go up to sixteen-counts. That aside, thump on the planks of a floor, or a change in lighting served as cues
during performances.
A thorough professional, he was also a strict teacher and did not make any concessions for his students just
because they were deaf. It hadn't been easy, he confesses. “All my kids are sensitive. Sometimes I got frustrated
and shouted. Given that the kids had no training in acting or dance and my work is minimalist in terms of style,
it wasn't always easy.” This made him push his performers to the extent that the audience saw them first and
foremost as artists and not as deaf performers.
Appreciation thus poured in from every quarter – from Rashtrapathi Bhawan in front of Dr APJ Kalam who
insisted on a post performance dinner, to various auditoriums across the globe. “There have been so many
times when the audience has been completely overwhelmed by the skill and talent of the dancers. Once during
the performance by Clarke School girls, I stopped the music and the girls continued to dance! That showed the
audience how in tune they were with the performance, their synchronisation and grace. The appreciation and
applause went up by notches when they realised that there no other cues given to them,” Astad recalls.
Astad and his dancers have also performed specifically for the deaf community. The interactions that his
performers had with others in the community, have always been very enriching for them. “In 2000, when I
performed at Gallaudet University, the deaf community was there from all over the world. Thereafter,
whenever I have performed I have always made sure that I have a morning performance for the local deaf kids
and the evening would be for adults, as well as a mixed audience,” he says. In such forums, the girls not only
performed, but they also conducted workshops on their own
CULTURE
and thereby becoming role-models within the community. Astad along with a student Krithika from the Clarke
School performed at the Deaf Way in Washington D.C., a conference that brings together about 10,000 deaf
people from 100 countries to exhibit deaf art, strengthen bonds and further deaf discourse. Astad has also
conducted workshops for deaf people in Mexico and Hong Kong.
His word of advice to other interested deaf persons is, “It is not a bed of roses. There is no 'romance' in
contemporary dance; your work will have to speak for itself. You have to work hard.”He also underscores the
important role that the media and corporates need to play in supporting the arts. "While corporates go out of
their way to sponsor other cultural events, they don't take equal interest in performances by deaf dancers. It
would be nice if they would support and provide patronage for the arts space." Astad also feels that the media
and the public at large typically views most of these performances through the 'human interest angle' and not
really as art. This, he says is not fair on performers who wish, at the end of the day to be evaluated for their
talent more than anything else. “They are artists first, I want you to look at them as performers and judge them
as artists,” he says.
Astad is currently working on a production with street children in collaboration with a New Delhi based NGO
called the Salaam Balak Trust. He does plan to get involved with a deaf school in Bangalore in the future. He
also wishes to work with people with other kind of disabilities with an interest in the performing arts. Astad
wants to commit his creative time and energy into these new works. “My intention is not to create an overnight
sensation. I want to make sure I devote quality time and energy,” he says.
Meanwhile, he continues to create new forms, nurture them and then go on to create newer ones. Innovation
remains the cornerstone in all of Astad's work.
Sound of Silence | REALITY CHECK
EDUCATION of the deaf in India: A REALITY CHECK
- ARUN RAO
Arun Rao is the Executive Director of the Deaf Way Foundation and has been asscociated with other
organizations like the Association of Sign Language Interpreters. He is presently involved with the setting up of
the new Indian Sign Language Research and Training Institute.
REALITY CHECK
Education for deaf people in India is very close to being an oxymoron. Deaf education has been around for over
a century. There were schools in India dating back to the 1800s. The missionaries who saw the need,
established many schools long before India's independence. The methods used were oral. The efforts to use
sign language were suppressed and children were punished for using signs. This continued right through
independence and prevails till date. As I write this article, there are no teachers of the deaf who are deaf, and
there are no teachers of the deaf in India who have formally learned to sign or as part of the Bachelor of Special
Education (Hearing Impairment) programme. Deaf persons are not allowed into the Bachelor of Special
Education (Hearing Impairment) programme because they cannot teach using group hearing aids and cannot
provide speech therapy to the deaf students. That is the background.
Let me start of by asking the qualified hearing teachers of deaf children, who are giving the child the 'needed'
auditory inputs through group or personal hearing aids and are providing speech therapy/inputs whether they
have done the job of “educating” the deaf child in their care. The answer will be a resounding “no”. However,
there are teachers who are concerned about this and willing to admit that they have failed. The biggest fallout
of this is that the student will fail to achieve his / her potential, and as a result, fail to provide for his / her family
and be independent. This will result in a number of psychological, social, physical and financial problems as
well. It is not just that the teacher feels bad and is bold enough to say 'I am unable to teach well enough since
the children don't seem to be getting the point.' The teachers are frustrated beyond measure by the lack of
communication between them and their students.
I visited a deaf school of repute and with the Principal's permission, visited the classrooms. The Principal
consented. The 5th standard class had 5 girls and 6 boys huddled around a Group Hearing Aid. I asked her how
the children communicated. Her reply was “Oh we don't use signs only pure oral communication”. As we were
speaking I saw all the kids discussing me and the Principal in sign language behind her back. I then asked the
teacher to ask any of the children what their favourite fruit was. The teacher called one of the girls and asked
her the question slowly and clearly speaking into the mike. Nothing registered with the child. She repeated and
articulated even more slowly and exaggerated her mouth movements. No luck. After the third effort, she
nervously picked another child. This poor girl could not understand at all. Finally the first child pulled off her
headphones and came to the teacher. The teacher now began using gestures and mime, when I commented on
her use of gestures she stopped and looked horribly under pressure. Seeing her complete inability to
communicate I said 'please use gestures or writing or anything”. She wrote the question on the board. The
children all took off their headphones and came to the board to read. Laboriously they read the question each
being corrected for their pronunciation and diction and none of them could comprehend the question at all.
The teacher went back to her gestures and mime and then they began lip reading the word as she pointed to
'fruit' and 'like' and then they got the point. Then at the end of 15 minutes, one of the girls came up with a fruit
she liked. I went through the other 8 kids in signs and asked which fruit they liked and in their home signs they
each signed their favourite fruit. It took about 30 seconds. The horrors that deaf children go through in the best
(sic) of deaf schools with trained(sic) teachers with graduate degrees in education of the deaf is to be seen to be
believed. This experience made me consider home schooling my child.
My own daughter Abi was diagnosed profoundly deaf. As a
REALITY CHECK
father, I wanted the best for her and registered her in one of the most famous schools in the country. She was
highly stressed and under great tension there. She would look at her book that the school had given us and that
would make her scream her lungs out. She knew the drawer where the book was kept and each time we went
to the drawer to go through her speech lessons she screamed the house down. My wife went through a
nervous breakdown during the last three months of our time there. We had to stop going to that school.
While working among deaf people over the past twenty years, I have met many very sincere dedicated teachers
who genuinely love the deaf children and are very sincere in their work. It breaks my heart to see them
suffering through the methods they use to teach. After all their efforts, they have nothing to show for it. It is a
wonder they are not all depressed. The mechanism to account for failures in our lives is built into our psyche.
“Oh they are deaf; how can they do better?” “Poor kid is trying so hard to do well but deaf people can't read
properly with comprehension.” I believed them because I knew nothing better and had seen nothing better.
Then reading books on deafness from the USA by deaf people and hearing of the “Cycle of low expectations”, I
saw the light.
The inability of the 850 odd schools for the deaf to provide students for college level learning is the greatest
indictment of our educational system. The huge dropout rate and the menial level at which deaf people live and
work in India indicates the failure of the educational system. The educational system held hostage to failed
ideas is too myopic even to evaluate its own failure. Recently an extremely senior educator of the deaf in an
official paper submitted on “communication strategies with deaf”, described sign language as a method to be
used only with dysfunctional and retarded deaf people.
Any system of work has evaluatory processes to measure success and failure. The Indian special education
system in place with regulatory body and training body and so on for more than 25 years has never been
evaluated. Why are deaf children functionally illiterate even after completing their Xth grade examination? The
national agency has not even ensured that each state would have one government school up to senior
secondary level. This is in a country with 10 million deaf people and no government colleges for the deaf.
As and when these questions are asked, they are shown the case studies of deaf 'success' stories; inevitably
orally capable, upper middle class, with educated parents, financially stable homes, where one parent, fully
dedicates their life to making sure their child made it through. I have no grouse against these and I commend
their fortitude but we are responsible for all our deaf children not just the privileged few, which perhaps make
up at most 5% of the total deaf population. What happens to the remaining 95% who cannot afford to use and
maintain hearing aids, cochlear implants and have no financial stable households? There is no answer.
Dogmatism is also deaf.
Over the past twenty years I have seen a precious few who benefit from hearing aids but I have seen thousands
who could benefit from a more open system where other
REALITY CHECK
methodologies than oral/aural teaching could have given them skills and a life full of meaning, learning, and
adventure.
The latest craze is the “Education for all” campaign being perpetrated on innocent deaf children by the state. By
the “Right to Education” Act and under the “Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan”, all children are to go to neighbourhood
schools. All my friends who are disability activists jumped on this bandwagon and pushed “Full Inclusion” with a
will. It made a lot of sense to them and the 'human rights' angle was extremely appealing. Certainly the idea is
right and in many cases it is certainly the right thing to do. But they did not reckon with babudom. The
Government agreed to put all the children in the neighbourhood schools and then coolly washed their hands
off the matter. The disabled are in school. No Problem!
What happened to trained therapists, support teachers, Braille books, interpreters, sign language teaching,
oral/aural support, loop induction systems, basic care of the deaf/disabled child in the classroom? No
provisions are made. As of today, 1.25 million government schools are covered by the “Education for all”
project, and at the current rate of education it will take 60 years to put one “Special educator” to set up a
resource room in each school to ensure “full inclusion”. What about one interpreter per child? What about note
takers, resource teachers, extra tutoring language access and so forth? Not considered yet, but yes, you are fully
included. While in actuality, these children are fully excluded.
Recently I was at a meeting discussing the Right to Education Act and the implementation of it. I said “I am
really happy that my deaf child can go to any school but is that school ready to accept my child and has the
means to educate him? Do they have the capacity to do so? The special schools are yet to be able to do it.”
The Right to Education Act is wonderful but let us open our eyes to the corollary, I have the right to be educated
and if no one educates me in my school, then who is to take the fall for it?
Arun Rao is a long-time hearing ally of the Indian Deaf community. He has played a significant role in many
deaf-related organizations such as the Deaf Way, the Indian National Association of the Deaf, and the
Association of Sign Language Interpreters. Recently, he has been involved in setting up the new Indian Sign
Language Research and Training Institute.
Gaurav Mathur an Associate Professor at Gallaudet University had interviewed him for Success & Ability. Here
are some excerpts from the interview in which he shares a bit about himself and his work with the deaf
community.
Who was the first deaf person that you met? How did you meet her?
It was February 16, 1987 in Delhi, in the ICU section of the Batra hospital. We were huddled around a bed
containing a 5-month old cute baby, and she was screaming at the top of her lungs as the doctor injected her
with her 72nd shot of penicillin of the last 12 days. The doctor smiled at us and told the mother the baby was
doing much better. “It takes strength to scream that loud,” he said, as if it were a panacea for the mother's term
of horror in the ICU. We watched a baby packed in ice like a Coke bottle and then massaged into warmth. This
was repeated for hours till the 108F fever came under control. That was not something we planned on
experiencing in our lives, and yet at the age of 23, this is what I was subjected to. The 'encouraging' voice of the
doctor rang in my ears as my wife and I grasped at any straw to hear that our beloved child would live. She did
live against all odds. Abigail was a fighter and has always been a toughie.
There, at the end of our time in the ICU, we were told the harsh truth that we were already aware of but were
loath to accept: Abigail would not be like other children. She had regressed 2 months of her 6REALITY CHECK
month life, and she was deaf. She could not hold her head up or smile or show expressions for months afterwards,
and neither could we. It was perhaps the most trying experience of our young lives. As I look back at that time, it
seems surreal as though it happened in a different life and in a different world.
How did you become involved with the deaf community?
My wife and I rejected the word 'deaf' and strove to have Abigail grow up and be 'normal' in every way. We were
sucked in by each and every hearing aid salesman and audiologist and therapist we found. We shifted cities three
times looking for better and better interventions to make Abi 'normal'. At the end of our tether and succumbing to
depression after 3 years of trying to find 'normalcy' and unsuccessfully trying to get Abi to talk and be 'normal', we
were ready for the change that we needed to make.
A couple who had a deaf son were working with deaf youth in Delhi, and as a trained youth counselor I decided to go
take a look. Walking into their home, I saw about 8 motorbikes in the yard with helmets stuck on them; the coat
hangers in the hallway had leather jackets and denim jackets hanging there; and in their living room there were
about 15 deaf youth of both sexes busily chatting away in sign language. This was a revelation, and the word 'normal'
came back to me in spades. What I saw was normal. I realised my whole idea of 'normal' needed a revamp. Looking
around in that house, I felt that my daughter too could be fine and normal.
Where did you learn sign language? Was it easy to learn? Do you know other sign languages?
Learning ISL, posed a problem. Nobody seemed to know of a book of ISL that would help us teach our daughter the
language. We fell into the common trap of importing sign language from abroad and learned American Signed
English from a dictionary and started off our daughter on Manual English. It worked well enough for us, and initially it
seemed to be the best way for her to go through school. I myself was involved with the deaf community at a different
level and started learning ISL through immersion in the language. It took a little while for me to get the hang of it, but
eventually I made the grade.
What do you think are some of the major issues faced by the deaf community in India?
The status of ISL is the real issue in India. As the language is recognized and as the status of the language is raised,
then the deaf community will gain in stature and in dignity. Interpreting as a profession will be acknowledged, and
the status of interpreters will be raised. This is the key to the development of the deaf community in India. The
Indian National Association of the Deaf (NAD) is advocating for this, and I am sure that in time they will achieve what
they have set out to achieve, and the deaf in India will be able to enjoy equal rights to education and employment.
Tell us about some of the projects that you are involved with.
Over the years I have pioneered a number of projects as head of the Deaf Way, of the NAD and of the Association of
Sign Language Interpreters (ASLI). However there is the one major project that I am involved in very closely at the
current juncture. This is about the setting up of the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Institute. The NAD
advocated for the institute to be included in the 11th 5-year Plan of the Government of India. The implementation of
it is still in the hands of the government, and I have been closely involved with the proposal process.
What kind of projects should receive priority within the deaf community and what is your dream for the community?
The promotion of interpreters is currently the focus of my work, and I believe that raising awareness of the
profession as well as lobbying for the post of 'interpreter' in the government service is going to be the most
important thing to do. The idea would be to promote ISL as a language, get recognition of some sort, and then claim
interpreting to be a legitimate occupation and as such to be included in the job list.
My dream for the deaf community is too large to express in a few words. India has 10 million deaf sign users. This is
an unprecedented figure and the interventions for rehabilitation, education, access, and employment
REALITY CHECK
are simply not available in any scale. Few pockets of growth with huge gaps in between characterises the
situation. My dream would be that deaf people in India are accepted by society as a linguistic minority and not
as an oddity; have a benevolent education system providing for the needs of the deaf; have a system which
provides for access through captioning, video interpreting and interpreters; and are truly able to participate in
the country's progress as equals.
Sign N TALK
India’s First Interpreter Relay Service
Interpreter relay services serve as a mediator between those using sign language as a primary communication
tool and those who don't. This has finally arrived in India after having proven its efficacy in several other
countries where it has been in use.
'SignNTalk' is an innovative service that provides real time access using Information Communication Technology
to provide online interpreting options for the hearing impaired.
The UNCRPD injunction to provide equal access for disabled persons has catalysed the provision by foreign
governments of free video relay systems that interpret for the deaf community; this system is being rapidly
adopted by the developed world already. Building on the success of video relay interpreting abroad, the Deaf
Way Foundation and Barrier Break Technologies developed a model for India, with the name 'SignNTalk'.
'SignNTalk' enables a deaf person with a webcam and internet access to reach an interpreter online. The
interpreter can then provide communication services on telephone in a variety of situations. Whether it is
merely a matter of a message to be passed on or detailed information to be gathered from another organisation
or even an office environment to enable a deaf person to participate in meetings and discussions, 'SignNTalk' is
up to the task.
Many companies nowadays are actively diversifying their workforce to achieve equal opportunity employer
status and 'SignNTalk' is the solution to the communication issues faced by them. Physical access to mobility
impaired and software access to visually impaired is already being provided, but now with the advent of
'SignNTalk', real time communication access to hearing impaired employees help integrate them into their
workplace more effectively and comprehensively. An employee with hearing impairment can now interact with
colleagues and address issues by simply switching on a Webcam.
Our interpreters can call across the country and receive online visitors from all over the world. The service is so
user-friendly and simple that anyone with internet access can use it, anywhere across the country. The
applications of this network are simply unlimited and as we progress we will be opening up options for deaf
people that never existed before.
At the moment interpreters are Delhi-based and provide access from 10 a.m. to 5p.m. from Monday through
Friday. Interpreters currently use Indian Sign Language to interpret in English, Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali and Oriya.
The website currently does not specify language but in time to come this feature will be added for better
interpreter selection.
Deaf people are already raving about the service; “This is so wonderful I can just sit at home and get work done
and get information so easily,” said one user to our online interpreters. The feeling is growing, and at the time
of writing almost 250 users are registered with this service.
For more information on how it works, visit www.signntalk.org
Sound of Silence | CORPORATE
MIRAKLE COURIERS
Delivering Packets With Passion And Smiles!
CORPORATE
There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the passion of life- so said the famous Italian Director,
Federico Fellini. This must surely be true as it was this passion that drove an Oxford educated investment
banker to quit his job and venture into social entrepreneurship. It was just an idea that led to the establishment
of Mirakle Couriers that has now proved itself as a commercially viable enterprise as well. This surely is social
entrepreneurship at its best.
Mirakle Courier situated in Churchgate, Mumbai operates like any other courier company. What singles it out is
its USP, which is that the majority of its employees are deaf. Today, it has been named as one of the “Top 20
business ideas and opportunities for 2011” by Springwise.
When you enter the office, you will see piles of papers and packages to be delivered. Observe for a moment
and you find that most communication is done in sign language.
It all started in 2004 when the plight of the people affected by the tsunami compelled Dhruv Lakra to quit his
job at Merrill Lynch and take up work at Dasra, an NGO that sought to impart management skills to the nonprofit sector. His work involved evolving strategies for this NGO, during which time he had to spend four months
in Nagapattinam and Cuddalore. This made a huge impact on him. However, what triggered him to create
Mirakle Couriers was an incident while he was travelling in a bus in Mumbai. A chance encounter with a deaf
person which made him realise the difficulties faced by the deaf community in day to day life.
Dhruv spent the next few months exploring the lives of deaf people and also earning Indian Sign Language. All
he needed was a business idea focusing on the deaf community and voila! He came up with the idea of a
courier agency. Through his vast research, he realised that the deaf are extremely good at reading maps,
remembering roads and buildings as they have good visual orientation. Thus, Mirakle Couriers was born in
January 2009. It was not easy for Dhruv though, since he had to start right from scratch. First, he had to gain the
trust of his employees and this was not easy. Deaf people
CORPORATE
had seen their previous employers treat them badly and feared this new employment opportunity. Dhruv
visited various 'deaf clubs' in Mumbai, convinced them about his new enterprise and recruited his staff from
there.
The next step was to get clients for which he received mixed responses. Some were ready and some were
reluctant. Dhruv always remembers the call he got from Ms Anu Aga of Thermax. She offered Dhruv a cabin
space in their office at Colaba and that is where he started Mirakle Couriers. Beginning with just two deaf boys,
today the team has grown to 35 boys and 15 girls.
The job is no charity based on the disability. Dhruv hired his employees only after carefully scrutinising them
and conducting background checks on those who were eligible. Then, begins the training, which is a continuous
process. The boys are trained to open and close the lift doors as they are unable to hear the lift
announcements. Training on grooming is also given for proper body language, using the right walking shoes,
wearing clean clothes and finally returning with delivery reports.
Dhruv does not like anyone using terminologies like 'hearing disabled' or 'differently-abled'. The whole idea of
this business was to empower the deaf community through employment. This is a real job with a real salary for
what each one is worth. It is only one of the few companies where the pay scales are in accordance with the
Maharashtra Wage Board.
Communication at Mirakle Couriers has never been a problem. The language is Indian Sign Language. The entire
management team and the employees are fluent in ISL. While the employees are out on the field, text
messaging via SMS is used.
The agency has achieved many feats since the time it has been incorporated. It has won many awards which
includes the 2009 Hellen Keller award and the 2010 National Award for the Empowerment of People with
Disablities which was given by the President of India, Pratibha Patil. Over the last two years, Mirakle Couriers
has grown to operate in 2 Branches in Mumbai, employing 70 deaf employees and delivering over 65,000
shipments per month. Dhruv, now wants to start more branches across the country.
Dhruv's business model is based on creating a service driven profitable enterprise making use of latent talents
of deaf persons. In the process, he has also given a meaningful life to so many in the deaf community who
would have otherwise languished for want of right employment opportunities. Along the way, he has also been
able to create role models for others to emulate.
Sound of Silence | PERSONAL ACCOUNT
A PROUD DAUGHTER
Views of a hearing child of deaf parents
-
MONICA PUNJABI
I am the proud hearing child of my deaf parents. My father Rajkumar Punjabi and my mother Dr Usha Punjabi
are both deaf. I consider myself very lucky as this gave me the opportunity to see and understand the deaf
community closely. This coupled with the fact that my parents are founders of an Association of the Deaf and
have been running a school for deaf children for the last 36 years, has made me aware of the changes and
challenges in education of the deaf.
At a personal level, I have met and learnt from thousands of deaf people and their families and have been lucky
to have travelled around the world and have met some very successful deaf people, understood their views
towards their language, identity, rights, happiness, growth and life.
First of all, I would like us to take a closer look at the word “communication”. Unless every human being is able
to express and exchange abstract thoughts without any loss, communication is neither complete nor effective.
Incomplete and fragmented communication can lead to a feeling of isolation and identity loss.
There are three approaches to teaching deaf children:
 Total Communication (Sign system + simultaneous speech + reading/writing)
PERSONAL ACCOUNT
 Oralism (Speech + reading/writing)
 Educational bilingualism (Sign language + reading/writing).
Among all these methods, sign language is the most natural and accessible mode of communication for any
deaf child. In fact, sign language, in some ways, can become his mother tongue or first language. And whatever
language he 'learns' or is made to learn with efforts (mostly on the basis of sign language) becomes his second
language.
Deaf people can learn to speak. However, it doesn't mean that they will achieve fluency in spoken language.
This is because it not a natural and effortless process and very often requires intensive training which may not
be possible for all.
In Indian, often there is a tendency to teach the second language first, without a base in the first language.
Based on my own observations and experience, I feel that giving access to sign language before spoken
language helps the deaf communicate better. Once this is taken care of, it also eases the process by which the
deaf can learn a language with all the intricacies of grammar. I have seen both the young and adult deaf person
from a background of sign language having greater confidence to express themselves and coming forward to
meet hearing people and being independent. There is also greater awareness of their rights and their ability to
bring about attitudinal changes.
As against this, in my experience, deaf people who grew up in isolation due to identity crisis, look at the faces of
speakers without comprehending, make themselves look ignorant. This isolation remains throughout their life.
Another question that the deaf persons ask is about their identity. Their language is a language as any other
with its own unique grammar and structure. They have their own culture that they are proud of and seek
recognition of their language medium to understand the subject 100%. They also seek recognition of sign
language to help them understand the rules of written language (English, Hindi, etc.) through education
bilingualism approach.
Successful educational institutes across the world have proved how sign language is used as a medium of
instruction in the classroom to teach second language and have command in reading/writing. Sign language
gives a deaf child the base to express himself completely, which in turn helps him grow mentally, intellectually,
socially, and happily throughout his life. This way the families are able to avoid any of the resultant problems of
isolation and poor confidence levels, commonly faced by people with communication difficulties.
Hence, effective communication is extremely important for the success of a deaf child. This is what we believe
in and emphasise on… … after all, we have two very successful role models who have showed us the way: my
parents.
Sound of Silence | WELLNESS
HEEDING THE YOGA CALL
- LILA LOLLING
In 2007 I founded the DeafYoga Foundation (DYF), a non-profit organization dedicated to uniting the deaf
community and yoga. To date we have trained over 10 deaf yoga instructors and opened the door for nearly
2,000 deaf yogins to learn yoga's ancient wisdoms.
G rowing up in rural America, in a town of 1,000 people, I wasn't aware of any other culture that existed outside
that of the German and Italian descendants who settled there in the late 1800s. I certainly didn't know that
people with disabilities existed until I read the book Helen Keller when I was eight years old. The book was
inspiring, to say the least: a story about a child who became both deaf and blind, yet went on to graduate with
a bachelor's degree. At the time, the thought of being deaf and/or blind seemed so foreign. I remember
reading the book and realising immediately the strong impact it would have on my life. I felt as though I had
read a story about someone in my own family, about "my people, my culture” much in the same way I later
came to feel about yoga.
Helen Keller's book soon became the backbone for the very service that would consume my life and elevate my
spirit. Working as a waitress at age sixteen, my manager asked me to babysit his two daughters - one hearing
and one deaf. I was thrilled at the opportunity to meet the first deaf person in my life. Even though Chelsea
was only five years old, she was full of expression and language, and had the same vitality as any other happy
five year old.
Meeting Chelsea changed my life, and I desired nothing more than to learn the language that effortlessly flowed
from her dainty little fingers. I immediately enrolled in an American Sign Language (ASL) class at a local
community center. The class was taught by an amazing deaf instructor who was a noble representative of her
beautiful culture. She helped to increase my comfort level within the deaf community thanks to her open
nature and patience.
While in college, I encountered my first sign language interpreter who sat at the front of our classroom
interpreting Anatomy & Physiology into ASL for a deaf student in our class. Needless to say, though I received a
“D” as my final grade for the class, my ASL vocabulary grew by leaps and bounds. I could often be found asking
the interpreter questions about specific signs after the classroom had already emptied.
Again, the deaf community and their language continued to
WELLNESS
impact my life. The following year, I transferred to a college that offered an Interpreter Training Program (ITP)
and it was the only time in my life that I received “A's”. It was becoming clear to me and my family that this
would somehow emerge as my soul's service... but exactly how was still unknown.
In the ITP, I met numerous successful deaf and blind individuals: teachers, interpreters, college graduates, and
others. I learned about deaf people - their cultural nuances, ASL language and I quickly learned that their
abilities often exceeded my own. I learned that the deaf community was often misunderstood by most hearing
people. For the first time in my life, I felt ashamed of the unfair labels that had been used, even by my own
family members: deaf & dumb, deaf mutes, hard of hearing... the list is long and not very distinguished.
Years passed, I stopped interpreting and I found my way into the world of classical yoga, my soul's other calling.
During my yoga teacher training course in 2000, I held the beloved deaf community members in my heart. I
thought about their lack of accessibility to such training programmes. Living on several Sivananda ashrams in
the following years, I considered the ASL translation of Kirtan and ancient yoga texts such as the Bhagavad Gita,
Upanishads and the very wisdom that initiated healing in my own life. How could we begin to make yoga and
its teachings accessible to the deaf community? How could deaf community members thrive by doing yoga and
what do they in turn have to offer us? These questions birthed the very passion I had been seeking.
I finally knew my soul's purpose... to translate ancient yoga texts into ASL and aid in training deaf yogins to
become yoga instructors. In 2007 I founded the DeafYoga Foundation (DYF), a non-profit organisation
dedicated to uniting the deaf community and yoga. To date we have trained over 10 deaf yoga instructors and
opened the door for nearly 2,000 deaf yogins to learn yoga's ancient wisdom.
Many deaf students have been deeply touched through their experiences in yoga. As Geeta Sagar, an Indian
student now living in the U.S. states, “I am so grateful to the DeafYoga Foundation for creating accessibility for
deaf people, like myself, who wish to learn yoga. DYF uses sign language, allowing me to follow and understand
the benefits of asanas, pranayama, meditation, and the yogic philosophy. Through participation in group
discussions on various yoga topics, I was able to discover 'who I am' and embrace my spirituality.”
Geeta also states her deep sense of gratitude for being raised in the United States, as she believes that she has
far more opportunities for equal access, higher education and a career. She notices her fellow deaf community
members in India and observes their struggles. As a hearing American myself, I am still amazed at the
suppression that we impose upon people with disabilities in all communities worldwide.
We must reach deep within us and begin to live and experience life through the eyes of God and the infinite
faces that are animated by this amazing Force. Only when we begin to equally see the Self (Atman) that exists
in all beings, can we truly live in a state of oneness and humility.
As the great saint Master Sivananda from Rishikesh states, “See God in all beings and things, as they are a
manifestation of God.” I give sincere gratitude to deaf community members everywhere, for helping me to
realise the potential of my soul. May we all realise the oneness of the human spirit that resides in all of our
blessed bodies... regardless of our physical differences.
Sound of Silence | CONVERSATION
Speak up children
A tete-e-tete with JEAN MOOG
- AILEEN CROWE NANDI
Why is oral communication for deaf children important?
Talking is more than the words we speak -- it is a powerful enabler. It enables us to communicate and fully
participate in the world around us. For children who are deaf or hard of hearing, spoken language opens
opportunities that might not be available if they could communicate by talking. Today, these children are talking
better and achieving more than ever before.
Is this (oral communication for deaf children) a new phenomenon in the United States?
Although deaf children learning to talk is not a new phenomenon in the United States, it is not until the last
fifteen years that it was a realistic goal for the majority of deaf children. Historically, the most devastating effect
of severe and profound hearing loss has been on spoken language -- or learning to talk. We learn to talk by
listening to the sounds of speech around us, and hearing loss reduces both the quantity and the quality of what
is received. Until the last 15 years or so, learning to talk was a realistic goal only for a few. Although the oral
approach for teaching deaf children to talk has been in existence for many centuries, until recently, the
outcome for children with severe to profound deafness have been disappointingly low. Before the late 20th
century, hearing aids did not provide enough access to sound for children with limited residual hearing who
were learning to talk through listening. Acquiring competence with spoken language was difficult and required
superb teaching, which was available in only a few schools that specialised in oral deaf education, or through
tutors. Furthermore, for those who did learn to talk, the process was typically long and tedious; conversing
often required considerable effort on the part of
CONVERSATION
the listener as well as the speaker. However, that is no longer the case. Remarkable changes in the field of deaf
education have resulted in increased achievement by deaf children -- more of them are learning to talk, and they are
doing it faster and achieving higher levels than ever before.
What is the potential for a deaf or hearing impaired child to speak orally and what is required?
Today, most deaf children who are fitted with appropriate sensory aids, including hearing aids and cochlear implants,
can learn to use their aided hearing well enough for their listening to be the foundation of spoken language
development, and most deaf children can learn to talk well enough for their talking to be the way they communicate.
The three factors most responsible for this change in achievement level of deaf children are (a) newborn screening
and early intervention, (b) advances in hearing technology and (c) innovations in teaching that capitalise on the first
two.
What do you recommend for deaf children in India who might not have access to deaf schools or whose parents
can't afford hearing aids?
Hearing aids at the earliest possible age are critical for maximum success for deaf children to learn to speak. Parents
should work with the government and philanthropic agencies to find ways to provide hearing aids to deaf children.
Being able to hear is the most important factor for deaf children to learn to talk. I would recommend parents contact
the John Tracy Clinic as a first step. The John Tracy Clinic in Los Angeles has a correspondence course for parents of
deaf babies and helps parents gain the skills to work with their children. Their website address is
www.johntracyclinic.org Another good resource is the AG Bell Association and their website is www.agbell.org The
Moog Center has been doing some distance work with parents and our website is www.moogcenter.org.
What words of encouragement do you typically give parents who might be devastated that their children are deaf
or hearing impaired?
A child with a hearing loss is only that --- a child with a hearing loss. Hearing loss does not have to limit a child.
Although the individual may have to work harder, the hard work can truly pay off. Many deaf children grow up to be
fully participating adults, who have good jobs, get married, have children and live very fulfilling lives.
How are your students integrated or mainstreamed in the United States? Is there a stigma of being deaf or wearing
hearing aids?
In the United States most of the children are integrated into classes with hearing children for most of their education.
In the United States there are laws that require schools and universities to provide support to children with hearing
loss in the mainstream if they need it. Although many years ago deaf students were sometimes teased and deafness
was misunderstood, there is typically no longer any stigma in being deaf or in wearing hearing aids.
What are the types of career paths that your former students have chosen? Is their deafness a handicap as they
leave the cocoon of a deaf school for mainstream society?
I am sure that individuals who are deaf face challenges that those with hearing do not, but we all face challenges of
one kind or another. Because children with hearing loss are typically mainstreamed at an early age, they adjust
quickly to mainstream society. However, they do probably have to work a little harder and be a little better than their
hearing counterparts to achieve at the same level. My former students have entered a wide variety of careers,
depending on their interests and their skills. A large majority have gone to college. They have become lawyers,
doctors, nurses, teachers, storekeepers, architects, farmers, actors, artists, audiologists, speech pathologists, social
workers, school administrators, writers, college professors, salesmen and sales women, taxidermists, technicians of
various sorts, including computer technicians, and one of my former students was named Miss America several years
ago. There is almost no career that is closed to a deaf person. Thanks to Contemporary Issues in Communication
Science and Disorders for reprint of a previous article that contributed to this interview.
Sound of Silence | INSTITUTION
BALAVIDYALAYA SCHOOL
for young deaf children
BALA VIDYALAYA, The School for Young Deaf Children is a non residential, private and nonprofit voluntary
educational center offering FREE education to babies and pre-school deaf children. Founded in 1969 by two
mothers of deaf children, the school has today grown to be a model institution that focuses on the oral method
of teaching.
The school provides a comprehensive programme 'DHVANI' (Development of hearing voice and natural
integration) formulated and patented by them. The methodology uses early education 'Best Practices' of
teaching young children, like Montessori, Kindergarten, Play way & Project method. The school uses special
teaching aids particularly useful to help young deaf children learn to talk, without the use of sign language.
Innovative curriculum is used in the school which helps deaf children develop their potential as oral
communicators.
The school has state of the art Diagnostic Centre. Infants and young children are diagnosed and fitted with
suitable hearing aids by trained audiologists. Teachers offer Early Intervention programmes to children from
birth to 2 ½ years and help them learn to make use of their 'Residual Hearing' and 'Listen' to acquire age
appropriate language and cognition.
After completing the Early Intervention programme the children move onto the pre-school where their
'listening', 'language' and 'speech' get refined. They are also given readiness skill in 'Reading' “Writing &
'Arithmetic. At the age of 5 or 6 years all children leave the school and enter mainstream schools joining 1st
standard.
The specially designed classrooms are acoustically advantageous to deaf children with attention to noise,
distance and reverberation taken into consideration.
The family is honed in as a matter of course. There are parent-centered services offered for the benefit of all the
family members- both the immediate family and extended family members. Educating young hearing impaired
children is a family affair. By the time the child leaves for the mainstream school, one caregiver from the family
is trained to be the 'Resource Person' to enable the child's progress to be smooth.
There are English and Tamil sections which are offered as a matter of choice depending on the language fluency
of the parents.
The initial intensive training for infants and young children begins with a 1:1 ratio which, which later is grouped
to a 1:4 ratio.
Children are admitted into the school throughout the year. Children are admitted irrespective of their caste and
creed.
Sound of Silence | MAKING A DIFFERENCE
A School Built On Love & Faith
- MADAN.M.VASISHTA
After going through some narrow lanes with houses and shops on both sides, you suddenly come across a huge
C-shaped building with an open front and side yards. The Indore School for the Deaf sites in the middle of a
congested residential area like an island.
The school was founded in 1974 by the Mook Badhir Snagathan or the Deaf and Dumb Association of Indore. Dr.
Usha Punjabi, deaf herself, started the school with five children. Her husband, Raj Kumar Punjabi, acted as
manager, fundraiser, dean of students and in many other capacity. They worked together holding classes under
trees or small available rooms. What the school lacked in infrastructure, equipment and supplies was made up
by passion of the two pioneers to make sure the children received a good education. And they were successful
in their efforts.
Nothing succeeds like success. The school has grown dramatically during the last 30 years. It has now over 550
students from all over India. Over 200 of these students live on campus and others commute from the city and
neighboring towns.
The school is proud of its two and three-storeyed buildings. The dormitory is adjacent to the main school
building. The principal and the director of the school—Mr. and Dr. Punjabi live a few yards away.
Mortar and brick do not make a school—it is people. A visit to this school always inspires me. The children look
happy. They are curious. They surround you with a million questions about deaf people in America. The
teachers stay late to hear from you how children are taught in the United States. They want to learn new
methods to help the students become successful. They are not aware that they are doing a better job than
most schools around the world I have visited.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
All teachers are fluent in Indian Sign Language (ISL). They use it in classroom and in playground. The richness of
communication environment is electrifying. Deafness is a communication “disability.” This “disability”
disappears when unfettered communication environment is created. However, this does not mean students do
not have the opportunity to learn speech and lip reading. Students are encouraged and provided auditory
training if they have residual hearing and motivation to help them benefit from hearing.
The school offers classes up to 12th grade. In the past, students who scored good grades in higher secondary
examination were helped to get admission to local colleges while still living in the school dormitory. Teachers
tutored these students on their own time to help them keep up with their college work.
Three years ago, a college component offering B.Com (BA degree in accounting) was started. This programme is
affiliated with Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in New Delhi. There are 30 students in this
programme.
The school is not just a school; it is also a vocational rehabilitation agency to its students. The administration
proactively contacts government and private employers in the area and helps its graduates find jobs. Some of
the students get technical training in various factories and later get good jobs there.
If you think the school is satisfied with its present success, you need to think again. They are vigorously pursuing
plans to expand the school to post-secondary level. It will mean that soon the school will offer college level
course work and, knowing how devoted and goal-oriented everyone associated with the school is, I am sure
that within a few years a full-fledged college will be in operation in Indore.
I have visited many schools for the deaf—both oral and manual—however, I am always impressed with the
Indore school for the great job they do here with very limited resources. Comparing this school with those that
cater to elite group of deaf children is comparing apples to oranges. So, I will refrain from that.
Sound of Silence | ROUTES
Learning TO HEAR HEAL
- MARK LEEKOFF
“He will probably never talk or communicate with hearing people,” the audiologist grimly told my parents when
I was eighteen months old. After anguishing over my diagnosis, however, they were determined to give me
every opportunity to learn, speak and participate fully in the hearing world. To this day, I am indebted to my
parents for finding physicians whose knowledge and expertise have been invaluable to me. I have been
surrounded by a team of professionals who have helped ensure that I would grow up to be a self-sufficient
adult. Thus, my own aspiration was to attend medical school and become a physician, dedicated to caring for
people and helping them overcome such obstacles in their lives.
My hearing loss has also given me a different perspective of the field of medicine. First hand, I have
experienced the success of modern medicine and the technological advancements that enable me to benefit
from a cochlear implant. Since, I was born with a hearing loss, I was unfamiliar with sounds. Even though I was
only two years old when my device was turned on, I can still remember the fear I felt as the audiologist
activated my implant. I cried and ran into my mother's arms, wanting her to make it stop. On that day, the
audiologist told my parents that it was as if I was a newborn, hearing sounds for the first time. I knew that
something was different and that I had to learn how to interpret these new sounds. Each day was a new
adventure, filled with the sounds that others take for granted.
Today, my mode of communication is enhanced by my lip reading skills, amplification, and my ability to speak
orally. Sign language also allows me to communicate with the deaf population. As a result, I have a greater
ability to alleviate frustrations for patients who might not otherwise be understood, allowing me to greatly
assist those undergoing life-threatening illnesses. I am certain that these characteristics will only deepen the
compassion I already have for my patients through a greater sense of empathy.
Due to my background, I am interested in the field of otology, and have been doing research in this area,
working in the Laboratory of Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition at the Georgetown University School of
Medicine. In the summer of 2006, I worked on research that involved examining the effects of tinnitus on the
rearrangement of frequencies in the auditory cortex. In the summer of 2007, I assisted in developing research,
exploring a possible causality between recipients of cochlear implants and the occurrence of tinnitus, which
often affects people with a profound hearing loss. Although I have experienced it myself, wearing my implant
alleviates the symptoms. I hope that my work will help researchers address this issue, as advancements are
made in the technological capabilities of the implant. This past summer, I worked in conjunction with Dr. Diego
Preciado who is an Otolaryngologist at Children's National Medical Center, Washington D.C.I observed various
surgeries, including cochlear implants and counselled families prior to their child's implant surgery.
Presently, I am finishing a two-year MPH programme at Drexel University School of Public Health, besides
working on an internship at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia working with Louise Montoya evaluating an early
intervention support programme for the deaf and hard of hearing. As ever, it is my goal to become a physician
and continue working in a field dedicated to the health and well being of others. I will be attending medical
school this fall and I hope to achieve my dream of becoming an Otolaryngologist.
Sound of Silence | PEOPLE
Sky is the Limit
- VALSALA MENON
“If you reach for the stars you'll hit the trees, if you reach for the trees you'll hit the ground,” goes a maxim.
Vidharthe is a star in her own right. The sky is the limit, as far as Vidharthe is concerned and nothing has
deterred her from making that ascent, all the while remaining firmly anchored by her dream of artistic
excellence.
When I walked into Vidharthe Naga's house I received a wonderful welcome—every wall of the room was
bedecked with here lovely paintings. I was convinced right away that this meeting was going to be special.
PEOPLE
Vidharthe is a 4th year BFA student of the Government College of Fine Arts in Chennai. Uma Maheshwari,
Vidharthe's mother recounted the experiences of a now remote past when she brought her daughter into the
world alone after losing her husband even while she was still pregnant and when she first realised that her
daughter could hear no sound, not even the resounding clap of thunder. Through her retelling, we travelled
back with her to Vidharthe's childhood and journeyed with her across the years, leading up to the present.
Although life has not been a bed of roses for Vidharthe, the fighter that she is, she sought to excel in all that she
undertook. Having had to rely solely on lip reading to understand all that she had been taught in school, she
took copious notes and went back home to diligently work on them. After a short stint at a special school, she
moved to a regular school. This was a huge and daunting challenge. Her peers looked at her curiously; she,
however, made some really good friends who have remained her true friends over the years. Vidharthe
remembers a teacher at the senior school who persecuted her repeatedly and was dead against her sitting for
the final board exams on the pretext that it was no use teaching a deaf girl and that her marks, or lack of it,
would affect the results of the school! But thanks to her school principal who remained firm and offered
Vidharthe all the support and help she needed, Vidharthe passed out with flying colours.
All of Vidharthe's spare time was devoted to honing her talent in painting. Even now, on holidays, Vidharthe
takes her canvas and easel, or just a sketch book, to capture the people and places, that she makes a point to
observe, through her beautifully rendered depictions.
Vidharthe is not just a talented artist but a budding entrepreneur too. In recompense for the years her mother
spent nurturing her and her special gift and to take some of the burden off her mother's shoulders Vidharthe
decided to strike out on her own with an entrepreneurial venture. Thus was born Anicham Events, her own
event management start-up. With a few friends to support her, she organises birthday parties and plans all
aspects of the event from theme-based decorations to entertainment. Her exhaustive repertoire of event
planning for parties includes organising magic shows, game shows, stall games, ball pools, besides her specialty,
art-themed entertainment—which includes tattooing and face painting, balloon sculpting, caricaturing and
portraiture, nail art, and name on rice. Her interests also lie in photography and videography, which she is
PEOPLE
also quite adept at.
Vidharthe proudly handed us her visiting card with her name etched on it. This young and talented artist is a
recipient of the National Award for Art in the creative individual category. The honour was bestowed on her
when she was in standard 12. A certificate and cash prize of Rs50,000 was awarded to her by none other than
the then President of India Dr. Abdul Kalam at Delhi. On this momentous occasion, Vidharthe presented
Dr.Kalam a portrait of him, which he graciously accepted.
Vidharthe is a Commonwealth Award winner too. Youth empowerment was the topic assigned to the young
contestants, for which she rendered eight paintings. She won the Asia title and was ranked second in the World
title.
To build on her skills and hone them further, she attended the All India Artists Camp at Ooty (on the advice of
Mr. Surjit Singh Barnala), where she was the youngest participant. She unleashes her expertise and passion
during her free time by conducting drawing classes at her home for talented children, focusing on art
innovation.
Today, Vidharthe's paintings are sought far and wide, and walls of several corporate offices are adorned with
her paintings. Oracle Software Solutions (iflex) has bought a number of paintings from this young artist and the
lobby of the Ascendas corporate office in Chennai is adorned with a seven feet abstract painting created for
them by Vidharthe. Eight of her paintings, personally selected by Mr. Barnala, hang in Raj Bhavan,. She was also
among the artists who participated in a competition organised by the Union Finance Ministry.to design a
currency symbol for the Indian rupee.
Her life, achievements and numerous accolades was the inspiration for Jyothika, to enact the celluloid
character of the deaf-mute girl in the acclaimed Tamil movie “Mozhi.” Actress Jyotika, who played her character,
spent time with Vidharthe to understand her character better and essay the role accurately.
She intends to form a trust in the name of her dear departed father Mr. Nagarajan, to cater to the welfare of
mentally challenged children. Vidharthe also plans to pursue her graduate studies in the UK. Uma, meanwhile,
is determined to set up a studio for Vidharthe, to showcase all her work.
Uma and Vidharthe are true personifications of the undying human spirit that thrives on hope and a positive
attitude. “Vidharthe winning the Golden Globe Award would be my ultimate aim,” says her doting mother,
brimming with pride.
SAVERA MINAR RESTRAUNT
RESTAURANT @ LEVEL 12
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Sound of Silence | HIGHER EDUCATION
INNOVATION IN DEAF EDUCATION
IGNOU-UCLAN
A dual award programme by Indira Gandhi National Open University,
India & University of Central Lancashire, UK
-
SIBAJI PANDA, M.A. & SHENAZ SAMANTRA, PhD
Of the 5 million deaf people in India, it is believed that approximately only 1.5 million live in urban or semiurbanised areas and have access to both sign language and formal education. There are around 52 high schools
for deaf across India, and an average of 700 deaf students leave these high schools every year. Nearly 500 other
schools offer education at primary and upper primary level. However, for those deaf students who wish to
pursue higher education however, there are very few opportunities in India, and this lack of opportunities is
similar in many other developing countries around the world.
To provide the opportunities, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has launched its very first
Bachelor's Programme, in collaboration with the University of Central Lancashire, exclusively for deaf students
who are seeking higher education. This is following an agreement signed by the Prime Ministers of both
countries for a UK-India Educational Research Initiative (UKIERI). Both universities have been awarded the
project of educating and training deaf students in India. The BAASLS-BA (Hons) Applied Sign Language Studies
programme is holistic in nature so that the graduating students will be able to work in different fields and
capacities.
The principle coordinators of the project are Professor P.R. Ramanujam, Director of Staff Training and Research
at the Institute of Distance Education (STRIDE) at IGNOU, and Professor Ulrike Zeshan of UCLan, Director of the
International Institute for Sign Languages and Deaf Studies. As Professor Zeshan puts it- “Our vision is for deaf
students in developing countries to gain professional qualifications at a university level. Deaf communities will
then be able to speak with a voice of authority on matters that concern them, empowering the entire deaf
community.”
The programme is a bi-lingual, bi-cultural programme
HIGHER EDUCATION
designed to suit sign language users of the deaf community. The mode of delivery is sign language, and it is
mostly Indian Sign Language that is used in the classroom. If a communication problem occurs then either
international sign, or an interpreter is used. The prime consideration is that communication is not a barrier
for the deaf students, which makes the classroom and the learning environment unique.
The programme is taught by qualified professionals in the field of sign language and applied sign language
studies and the quality assurance is provided by IGNOU, as well as UCLan's Academic Quality and
Assurance Unit. Teaching, learning and assessments take place in an inclusive environment to suit deaf
students.
At the end of this dual-award programme, the successful students are awarded a degree from both IGNOU and
UCLan. This creates a unique opportunity for students to obtain a dual degree from two reputable universities.
There is a Bridge Programme (Year 0) which is a one year full-time programme for deaf students who have
English as a second language, and who lack educational qualifications and the prerequisite capacity to enter
education at university level. At IGNOU, this programme is called the Bachelor Preparatory Programme for Deaf
Students (BPPDS) and Certificate of Achievements; at UCLan it is called Applied Sign Language Studies. One of
these programmes is taken prior to the BAASLS.
The BA (Hons) Applied Sign Language Studies course is the first of its kind internationally. It is a full time threeyear dual degree programme leading to a BA degree in Applied Sign Language Studies. Elements from
disciplines such as applied linguistics, deaf studies and English for Speakers of Other Languages are included in
the curriculum. The course as a whole is designed with a particular vision in mind – providing students with
comprehensive range of skills in a new field of study which itself sits in a dynamic and rapidly changing subject
area.
This course is situated at the crossroads of applied linguistics and the study of sign languages and deaf
communities. It aims to enable students to work as professionals in language and literacy teaching, policy
planning, service provision and management with respect to the needs of sign language users and sign
language learners.
In the first year, the programme teaches introductory topics such as general pedagogy, deaf communities,
language and sign language, and sign language teaching. Topics included in the second year include first and
second language acquisition, bilingualism, language and literacy teaching, sign linguistics and sign language
interpreting. In the final year, the programme guides students towards more independent study and research
skills, while addressing topics of an international nature such as the structure of foreign sign languages and the
international politics of sign language and deafness.
This course has a strong focus on applying the knowledge that students have in real work situations; therefore
students have two work placements in each of the first two years. Students also develop and field-test their
own teaching materials and lesson units that they develop during their study.
Scholarship opportunities for deserving deaf students are also offered by The Deaf Empowerment Foundation
and the Ishara Foundation.
For more details, interested parties may mail signcourse@gmail.com
Sound of Silence | JOURNEY
MUSINGS of a PROUD MOTHER
- GEETA SHANDILYA
My daughter, Avani, is excited about our upcoming summer vacation. She cannot wait to go to India; she hasn't
been back since we left for the United States almost eight years ago. Avani is my second born and she is seven
years old. She is a bright, lively, smart young girl who has a mind of her own. She is also deaf. Although she has
a good command of American English, Avani does not speak any of the Indian languages. But I have no doubt
that she will quickly learn whatever she needs to.
Avani was six months old when we came to the United States. When she was about a year old, she was
diagnosed as profoundly deaf. Coming from a multi-linguistic background, it was imperative for us that she
learn to listen and communicate orally. We happened to be at the right place at the right time. With early
intervention, she was able to get a cochlear implant when she was 17 months old. She received services from
excellent professionals like speech language therapists and teachers trained to teach deaf children spoken
language. It helps that Avani is an industrious individual, and it makes me very proud to watch her grow from a
baby who could never be soothed by the sound of my voice to a seven-year old who loves recording her voice
on her dad's iPhone.
When we first started on our journey with Avani's development of speech and language, there was never a
question of whether she would acquire spoken language. Yet, it fills me with awe, amazement, and gratitude
when I experience her crystal- clear voice quality, language skills and prfect social skills. Avani is reading above
her grade level. She understands conversational language, language of the text books, and also figurative
language. I think that this is a huge achievement for a deaf child.
I learned English as a student in India. Apart from the difference in accents, there are significant differences in
Indian English and American English. I think that the greatest proof of her speech teachers' success is when
Avani can come home, identify my error in using a speech sound and show me how to use the correct speech
sound. It is no wonder that her ambition is to be a speech language therapist!
When I ask Avani what it means to be deaf, she responds “A deaf person is someone who can't hear.” So I ask
her is if she knows anyone who is deaf. To which she responds, “I am deaf, but I have cochlear implants and so I
can hear.” Then I say “Okay, you can hear with your cochlear implants. So how can you be deaf?” She thinks for
a few moments and says, “Hmmm, I am deaf only when I don't have my processors on.” And that is the truth.
At times when she does not have her processors on, such as when she is sleeping, or having a shower, she's
truly deaf. But while she has her processors on, she is a part of my world. Avani has a disability, but she is
certainly not disabled!
Sound of Silence | TAIL PIECE
A DOGGY Tale
There is absolute silence as Marie gives commands to her three month old black and white springer spaniel,
Alice. Marie does not shout out her commands but only gestures it with her hand and Alice follows. No words
spoken. This is not a training for an event. It is just that both Alice and her owners, Marie and Mark are deaf
and they communicate only through sign language!
Life was tough for Alice, a black and white springer spaniel. She was just eight weeks old when her breeder in
Ireland dumped her when he realised that she was deaf. Alice was then brought to Blue Cross, the animal
charity at Oxfordshire. The staff knew that this pup needed special training and care as she would not
understand commands like the other dogs would.
That is when Marie and Mark entered her life and gave Alice the perfect home that she was longing for. The
couple was planning on getting a dog and they knew the minute they looked at this adorable canine, that Alice
would perfectly fit into their lives and home as they too were deaf. Both were overcome with emotion as they
bonded with the dog right from the time they laid eyes on her. Alice too was ecstatic.
Now, about a month later, Alice has learned sign language for commands like sit up, sit down, come and roll
over. Marie's three sons- Liam, Lewis and Owen too are pitching in and doing their bit to train her. Now, this is
one big, happy family!
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