It is said love has no language. Growing up with an older sibling who is hearing impaired was no less than a challenge. But this did not stop the two of us from communicating and sharing our feelings like in any other family. I took it upon myself to learn the sign language to be the voice of my sibling.
India has the most significant populace of hard of hearing and quiet individuals on the planet, but there is no mindfulness about hard of hearing society. It is evaluated that the quantity of hard-of-hearing individuals could differ from 5 million to 18 million. Henceforth, it ends up noticeably stunning to reveal that instructors at great schools for hard of hearing don’t comprehend what Sign Language is. Hard of a hearing group still confronts separation as the correspondence boundary is combined with specific taboos.
A hard of hearing type can’t get a similar sort of social immersion or instruction at home and school, as there is nobody to show them, in a dialect, they would get it. Anukrama aims to satisfy this need by giving free-of-cost instruction to hard-of-hearing and quiet understudies in Indian Sign Language. Anukrama offers ISL classes for hearing individuals instructed by a hard-of-hearing instructor to spread mindfulness about ISL. Aside from giving classes, they also attempt to conquer any hindrance amongst hearing and hard of hearing groups by connecting with occasions and workshops.
Anukrama Foundation
Anukrama was idealized in 2015 when I (Geeta Bhatia) got a Skype call from Kuwait seeking her suggestions to help her deaf sister in India get her Immigration visa to the USA. After a conversation with her, I thought about how powerful social media connects people all over. It left me in deep thought to brainstorm on how to empower the deaf society of our country.
My main plan behind starting Anukrama was to bridge the hearing impaired and the hearing society. Looking at the scenario in our country, we need more trained interpreters. Not only this, but the family of the deaf should be supportive and let them achieve what they need.
Before Anukrama came into existence, I clearly remember it was 8th March 2010 when I accompanied my elder sister to the International Women’s Day seminar at the Indian Habitat Centre, New Delhi. It was the first time when I was introduced to Sign Language outside my comfort zone. Initially, it was just communicating with my sister, but I was surrounded by inspirations around me that day. That was the first time I signed in front of hundreds of hard-of-hearing students, teachers, professionals, not only this but also Sign Language Interpreters.
That day I just felt something different. Something had changed in me. I had the urge to learn the language and be more fluent in my signs. With all this in mind during my school days, I took time to learn new signs from my sister and to which she was happy and supportive.
My sister is my most giant supportive pillar to get Anukrama into existence, all that I try to do all day at work or my sign language projects just because she has my back. All that I do today at Anukrama is what my sister would want me to do.
Anukrama intends to engage India’s 18 million hearing complex and mute individuals by creating employment, educating, and spreading mindfulness about Indian Sign Language.
I witnessed my sibling dealing with these issues, and when I turned 16, I volunteered at the DeafWay Association.
It was my way of giving back to society. After some years while I was enrolled in my Bachelor of Business Administration, I got a call to learn Sign Language under Mr. Arun C. Rao and Jennifer Smith from the Association of Sign Language Interpreter (ASLI). They were inspiring new-age interpreters to learn sign language and help society. So while I was studying, I became a part of this association and got hands-on experience from the professionals.
A journey that started with passion is now my life; it’s been nine years of continuous learning and growth. Even though I have spent my entire life with hard-of-hearing people, I live a great learning experience. “I have known them for very long, but I was not working with them. They were friends and people to hang out with. Now my point of view is different.
Working with them, I understood that they have endless potential, but they are not confident. That is because of the mainstream attitude towards the disabled.
People should understand they are not a minority. They are part of the world that cannot exclude,” “Moreover, now I’m much more patient and less frustrated than before. They need someone to bridge the gap.”
Having siblings with any form of disability certainly requires extra care and effort, but calling them a burden would be completely wrong. The relationship is similar to any sibling relationship (disabled or not). To make it work, you have to include love, care, and time.
Anukrama is a very young startup that started to empower the deaf community and has an evident vision for the future. “I want to have Anukrama as a social enterprise that sells products made entirely by deaf people.
To do this in the best way possible, we need to create a strong brand, but obviously, it is not just about the brand but about the artists behind it. Moreover, we want to continue the sensitization campaign we are running and the collaborations with mainstream artists. This community can’t feel left out anymore”. The idea was to break stereotypes about the hearing impaired and prove they are as good as so-called ordinary people.
Sign Language has come to be seen as the fulcrum in my life. Whosoever comes to meet me for work or other purposes makes it a point to learn some fundamental aspects of Sign Language to communicate. Gradually, even conversations begin to resonate with the essence of Sign Language in today’s fast-paced world, where we hardly know how to use silence.
One can see colors of silence making their way into your hearts, with the colors black and white also making a raging statement. There is more to this place, for not even words can do justice to this one of its kind settings. The vibe that greets us straight from the door is double the vibes we go back with. Anukrama has opened the mind, heart, and soul in more ways than one, and one can only visualize what besotted this place has turned out to be not just by sight but virtually too.
What sets this place apart is as one enters inside, the hubbub of activity is centered on signs that speak the language of love, friendship, and acceptance. An air of eerie silence pervades the room. At the same time, the place is teeming with people, primarily young bunch of creativity, many of who show the knack of learning the common language spoken here. One can see all the elements of an office-type setting with ample working space making their way in the center of the room with a large rectangular table strewn with laptops. Enough chairs and sofas to make you comfortable, and on some tedious days, these sofas serve as resting beds.
Our main endeavor is to employ the deaf youth in mainstream jobs. It is hence our responsibility to provide them with productive and committed deaf youth. It requires skill development, pre-employment training, interviews, on-the-job training, regular feedback sessions, and refresher training to advance skills within the job profile.
They are holding regular sessions with the parents and their deaf children. It helps bridge the gap due to lack of communication and understanding of their needs and exclusion from the family.
“As a social entrepreneur, I am very attached to my foundation’s social cause. I can’t go completely commercial,” this is the reason I am still working on the process of developing and streamlining the business model.
Nevertheless, the journey of including the deaf community in a business ecosystem has been challenging. “I did not want this to be a charitable organization. I wanted to create a self-sustaining business model capable of functioning on its merit. I started as a bootstrap, and today I can raise investments for Anukrama.
“We are a multilingual nation, and we need to look at the deaf community as a linguistic minority.” Indian Sign Language (ISL) needs to be accepted as another Indian language, and the effect of that recognition would percolate to schools, universities, and parents.”
There are only about 250 certified sign language interpreters in India, translating for a deaf population of between 1.8 million and 7 million. (The wide range in population estimates exists because the Indian census doesn’t track the number of deaf people — instead, it documents an aggregate number of people with disabilities)
With Anukrama into existence, my main motive will be to encourage hearing people learn sign language to communicate with the deaf and learn it as any other language.
The next step to expand Anukrama is in process. I am working on starting a clothing and lifestyle brand with the help of my elder sister, which will not just create employment for the community but will also empower and inspire millions of hearing-impaired to come forward and explore opportunities available for them. Just like my sister, I have deaf friends who are helpful in my plans and are ready to give their inputs in the process.
My words to young change-makers: “Never give up on your dreams. I’m a dreamer. People our age need to dream and follow our hearts. That’s the only thing that can move us forward. We have to give something back to the community. It will give you so much happiness that you cannot imagine. To do that, you don’t have to be a social entrepreneur. You can do small things for people and society every day.”
Not only this, but our main focus is also to help and empower underprivileged children. We intend that a wholesome and hygienic meal goes a long way for the students attending non-stop training at Anukrama from morning to morning-evening. These students travel long distances to access training here, and it becomes critical for us to support them with a decent meal. Scholarships are given to needy students who stay away from home, and the family is not economically sound to support them.
My encounter with an NGO/ Foundation a year back made me realize that the deaf community is seeking empowerment and the underprivileged kids who are willing to study and want to improve their lives. Giving profound thought to this, I planned to help the kids with necessities like food and clothes.
Later on, while serving food to one kid, she said, “Didi kya aap hume padhana bhi sikhaoge?” Kya aap hume school le ke jaoge? (Will you help us in studying as well?) (Will you take us to school?) I was so astonished by her conversation with me that I started teaching them numbers and alphabets there only. To my surprise, they were so good at understanding and responded to the teachings positively.
Looking at them, the ladies were also inspired and sat with them to learn. I am collaborating with schools that can help us use their infrastructure and surroundings for a couple of hours to get more enthusiasm to learn and grow.
I think social work is inherent to me. I have always seen my parents helping the needy, definitely not with money but with basic requirements. I still remember my Dad’s words crystal clear in my head that “Do good, and you will get good always.” With this spirit in mind and the zeal to change the world in my manner and give back to society, I am working daily to improve our society, changing people’s viewpoints towards people with disabilities.
I see my mother teaching kids of our house helpers and giving her a bit of what she has learned. After her shift to Australia, my younger sister volunteers for an NGO in Delhi; she is helping the needy there. With a family like this, I guess it had to be done. We are proud of having Anukrama as our baby project and making it a huge success. It makes me extremely happy and proud to see people signing and learning.
With passing time, Anukrama seeks to be one of the best foundations helping the deaf society of our country along with empowering underprivileged kids in education and necessities. With this vision and its people, we will surely change the world and make it a better place.
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