“Sign language is sort of my mother tongue as I talk more with my hands than my mouth,” avers dynamic and passionate Smriti Nagpal, founder of Atulyakala, a social enterprise that empowers deaf artists through design partnership and creative collaborations. Her journey began when she was born into a family where both her elder siblings suffered from hearing impediments. “I have two older siblings, a brother and a sister, who are 10 years older than me and are deaf and mute by birth. But that didn’t stop me from communicating and exchanging my feelings, thoughts and emotions with them just like it happens in any other family. When I wanted to talk to them, my hands automatically started moving and soon these signs became an integral part of my life.”
Love, it is said, has no language and Smriti avows that her siblings are her biggest strength. “I love them a lot and it is only because of them that I am who I am today. I was never afraid or ashamed to introduce them to my friends when I was in school as they were my pillars.”
It is estimated that perhaps out of every five hearing impaired in the world, one lives in India, making it the country with the largest number of people with this disability. Despite the numbers, there are numerous problems faced by the community and Smriti who was witness to all of this especially through her siblings, at the age of 16 started volunteering at the National Association of Deaf, NAD and other NGOs as sign language interpreter to help people with special needs. Her passion grew even stronger from thereon and she earned a stint at the Hearing Impaired Morning Bulletin in the Doordarshan Network. Later she met her inspiration when she came across a deaf man doing manual work in an NGO who in actuality was a senior artist with a master’s degree in arts. “Unfortunately, he was working in an NGO doing manual work because people won’t employ him because of his impediment. I got upset after listening to his story as his talent was completely wasted.
I came back home and did some research and decided that I had to do something about helping artists who had hearing impediments. Hence, I decided to start Atulyakala,” recalls Smriti.
“Under the banner, we provide the deaf artists with a platform to express themselves, illustrate their skills and create a socially responsible brand that utilises their passion, as well as fosters interesting collaborations and garners awareness about the Indian Sign Language. We work on three parallels out of which one covers the commercial aspect wherein we work with several deaf and mute people who have bachelor’s and master’s degrees in arts design several products that are sold through our enterprise. Secondly, we work on several awareness campaigns where we vigorously work towards developing new forms of typography, gestures in the sign language arena along with finding ways to sensitise issues regarding people with disabilities through campaigns in collaborations with mainstream artists in India. We also organise events and workshops in major schools and colleges to bridge the gap between communities.
Thirdly, since we are a small enterprise and can’t employ large number of people to work for us so to empower people who are not our employees we have formed a community/forum and update several artists about the latest news from the market. Also, when Changelooms came into play in terms of providing us with help with funds as well as guidance, we understood the real value of marketing ideas.”
Besides receiving recognition for her work, Smriti had the chance to interpret the Republic Day Parade this year in sign language on national television for India’s deaf community. This was the first such broadcast in 64 years. Lastly she shares, “I am a hardcore dreamer and I’d like to tell everyone that we only get one life so live it to the fullest. So don’t stop believing and dreaming.”
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