A Mumbai resident, Swati Indulkar was diagnosed with profound hearing loss at birth and started schooling at the deaf school only when she was six months old. However, they were never taught the Indian Sign Language (ISL).
Indulkar told the Times of India that, the teachers in the schools used to insist them to talk and lip-read so that they could communicate with the hearing people. As a result, even after fifteen years of schooling, her ability to communicate using the techniques taught in school remains rudimentary. However, she is fluent in an informal sign language that is invented by her deaf classmates – which not just enables them to communicate, but they can also express their most complex thoughts through it.
A new Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has also been filed with the Delhi High Courtasking to make ISL the 23rd official language of the country – as that will not limit the next generation of deaf kids from expressing their thought and emotions. Nipun Malhotra, a disability rights activist, who filed the PIL in August, said that, deafness does not diminish the chance of having a fulfilling life, however, the society needs to appreciate their language, reported TOI. The Delhi HC has also agreed to hear the petition this month.
Shailendra, Swati’s husband, who attended the same school as hers, could not study after the 10th standard as the colleges do not have provision for deaf students; and Swati herself gave up after her 12th. They have also been denied promotion in their government jobs because the mandatory skill development programmes that are being conducted – are mostly done without interpreters.
However, if ISL is included in the 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution, the deaf candidates will not just be able to finish their studies, but will also be able to appear for the several competitive exams.
The deaf community has been debating the importance of oral and manual communication for a long time. While many have said that, kids to start learning sign language early in life learn to grasp the written language earlier, others have argued that this language isolates the community from others and invites discrimination.
India, right now, has over 550 schools for the hearing impaired students, all of which emphasise on speech training over signing – this has led to a severe dearth of ISL educators in the schools. But this might soon change, as CBSE has announced about its plan to let the deaf students choose ISL as their official second language.
Another strong proponent of ISL, Alim Chandani, was also born deaf. He studied in schools in both UK and the US and told TOI that they were either made to read lip, speak and compete with other students without any hearing impairment. He had no clue about their own sign language until he was 21. In about a year, he became fluent in ASL, and his confidence soared as he did not have to talk in blurry speech any speech. He told TOI that before learning the language he didn’t have a social life, but now, he is proud of being deaf.
Alim Chandani’s Centum-Gro Initiative, that aims to build “deaf change makers” has inspired a few poems in ISL as well. In one, a person makes the facial expressions and the other do the signing, while beautifully portraying a person’s daily life. India is slowly waking up to its artistry of language through ISL, and thus enabling an entire community to empower themselves with the power of expressing their deepest thoughts and emotions.
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