Sign Master

(Sumanth in conversation with his colleagues Tommy and Renuka)

What does disability mean to you?

Disability D I S A B I L I T Y is a label.

So people tend to be ashamed of that label but as a deaf person, I travel, I do everything on my own.

I go to the bank, I take care of the transactions.

I am married to a deaf person, I raise my own family and everything is going fine.

I may have challenges but I do everything because all my faculties are working well.

I manage my travels and everything else independently and I’m not ashamed to be deaf, I have my confidence, as an identity,

Yes I do face some challenges in communication but I overcome that.

Hearing is the only thing that I cannot do and that’s about it.

I have confidence to do everything else.

I work independently and I sign and communicate with my children as well.

Could you share with us, challenges faced by deaf people in their everyday life?

Deaf people face challenges because there are no interpreters.

We need that accessibility and there needs to be understanding among uh in the, in the government sector that interpreters are needed in uh every area such as police stations and hospitals and there are so many challenges that come mainly because there’s no accessibility.

And we see that there are not very many interpreters and uh due to that also there’s so many challenges that we face.

So for deaf people’s development, interpreters support and uh, working together with interpreters is very key and also uh you know the funding for interpreters courses and for interpreters, to pay for the interpreters is something that the government can do and lack of that also uh, you know, has results in fewer number of interpreters.

So, it is crucial for the development of the deaf community.

So, in other countries, we have interpreters, even in the parliament and uh, in the courts and in every place, so that is something that’s lacking here in India, right?

And we really need to see that happening here to reduce the number of challenges that we face.

When you go out, the way people see you or perceive you as a deaf person, the attitudes that you face, what are your thoughts on that? Will you share your feelings?

Well, yes, when I’m signing, people look at me very strangely, like you know, what is this?

This person is flailing his hands, or some, you know, look at me like, you know, not sure, and some also mock, you know, they, they just make fun of me, you know, they laugh, you know, or giggle and I get very upset at that time.

And I tell them that, you know, I am very strong, you know, I have a strong mind, you know, and you should not be uh making fun or giggling at me like that.

And when I go to any shop to purchase also, there also when people laugh or think that, you know, I’m not capable of anything, then I start writing.

I use uh, you know, the writing mode to communicate.

And then I explain to them that, you know, then they understand and then some of them even apologize to me.