Theertha Nirmal was confidence personified whenever she wanted to express herself - be it proposing to her classmate and now husband Sanu Chukkri or when invited to helm the startup SignNext or while going on stage of Huddle Kerala to pitch her idea. For Theertha, the CEO of Technopark-based startup SignNext, being deaf and mute is no deterrent.
During the International Week for Deaf, Theertha, 27, spoke to TOI, with the support of an interpreter, about her dream of empowering the deaf.
SignNext, co-founded by Kingsley David and Pravij Kumar, is in the process of developing Signskool, a mobile application that will provide various essential information to the deaf people. The idea pitched by Theertha using sign language during Huddle Kerala, a startup conclave, was shortlisted in the three best ideas. The idea also gave SignNext a place among the top 10 finalists of Global Impact Challenge of Singularity University.
Born in Kozhikode as the second child of Nirmal Kumar N and Sneha Prabha K, Theertha was a normal child till she suffered a fever that left her deaf when she was six months old. Theertha did her schooling at Karuna Speech and Hearing School for Deaf till Class X and Rahmaniya VHSS for Handicapped till Plus Two. Schooling was a failure in empowering her, said Theertha.
“Despite being a school for the deaf, teachers spoke orally to the students. That is the case with all deaf schools in the country. Only a few know sign language. That has a major impact on communication skills of the students. I started developing a better awareness only when I joined NISH for BSc computer science,” said Theertha, who passed out from NISH with 86% marks in 2014.
SignNext was the brainchild of Kingsley David, a former employee of a Technopark firm. Kingsley along with his then colleague Sanu P Chukkri were behind ‘Talking Hands’ an initiative to make Technopark a disabled-friendly place. Theertha was their first choice when they decided to bring in someone who understands the deaf community better to helm their startup.
Sanu and Theertha were classmates at NISH and the couple has a 10-monthold girl. Theertha said she had difficulty communicating with her gynaecologist at the time of her pregnancy. She had to call her mother or husband to convey her messages to the doctor. Theertha wants to add basic health tips for pregnant women, menstrual hygiene-related info, etc. in the app.
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