Deaf Role Models

Mr. V. Gopalakrishnan is a renowned Indian Sign Language Expert and Consultant, he is one of the first teachers of Indian Sign Language (ISL). He is currently serving as the General Secretary (GS) of All India Federation of Deaf (AIFD). Gopalakrishnan was born with profound deafness in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, on 14 December 1940. Due to complications during pregnancy, the doctors had to use forceps, which is suspect of causing this deafness. As is the case with more than 95% of deaf people, his parents were both hearing. His father was the proprietor of a bookstore selling books on medicine and law in Trivandrum, Kerala. His mother was a Carnatic musician and a housewife. He has 4 siblings, one younger brother and three younger sisters, all hearing. His formal education started only when he was seven years old! Since there were no schools for the Deaf in Trivandrum at that time, he was sent to Madras (present day Chennai) for his primary education at the Little Flower C...

Bilal Chinoy is a charismatic, creative and vibrant role model, who has the ability to instantly impress and connect with a cheering crowd of deaf students with his stock of stimulating stories and discussions. Bilal works as the Multimedia Designer in Gallaudet University's Office of Communications and Public Relations and an Adjunct Professor for Web Design. The focus of his job is to make the stories on Gallaudet University's website come alive by designing visuals. With the power of ' chai ' (tea) in his veins and a love of adventure, Mr. Chinoy finds himself recharged by biking, trekking, running and traveling. He is a step closer to achieving his dream of bridging the gap between education and employability of Deaf youth in India by co-founding Young Achievers, an organization that aims to provide quality bilingual Deaf educational services. Bilal was born Deaf in Mumbai, India.  Because his parents and brother were also Deaf, he didn’t see being Deaf as s...

Babloo Kumar, is an enterprising youth leader. He is well known for his abstract metaphors in Indian Sign Language and his strong leadership skills. He is the President of the  Youth Association of the Deaf, India (YADI)  and has formerly worked as a  Mobilization Specialist  for ' Deaf Empowerment ' at the Centum GRO Initiative and ISL Teacher at NISH, Kerala . He actively participates in the conferences at national and International level. He has already traveled to Turkey, Denmark, Singapore and wishes to travel more! Babloo had very humble beginnings. He was born in a small village called 'Hatiya' in Ranchi, Jharkhand. Later, his family moved to Moradabad, UP. His family is all hearing, except his elder brother Dabloo. His father worked at a Government Office in U.P. and mother was a house-wife. He grew up in a society, where sign language had no place. His brother mostly lived apart, so there was limited interaction while growing up. He recounts his ...

Sachin is an enigmatic, industrious and accomplished youth leader. He works as an Instructor, Sign Linguistics at Indian Sign Language Research and Training Center, New Delhi. He is an international deaf youth representative at Disabled People International (DPI), and is also actively involved in various research projects. Sachin was born deaf. He spent most of his life in Lucknow, U.P.  His mother and elder sister are deaf, along with many other relatives from his maternal side like his uncle, aunt and many others. However, none of them knew sign language. They have been managing with gestures and limited speech, which is what Sachin received as his first language input. Despite having so many deaf members in his family, he never received the Sign Language support that was needed. He studied in a mainstream school. He was the only deaf student there. He understood absolutely nothing in his classroom. Year after year, teachers came and delivered lesson after lesson -...

Abigail Beilfuss is a free-spirited traveler , a deaf interpreter , who knows multiple sign languages - Indian Sign Language (ISL), American Sign Language (ASL), British Sign Language (BSL), German Sign Language (DGS), French Sign Language (LSF) and International Sign (IS). She is an independent single mother. She is the General Secretary (Woman), Goa Association of the Deaf and  Vice-President of the newly established National Youth Association of Deaf (NYAD) , India. She is fascinated by the power of sign languages in transforming deaf lives, giving an identity, sense of self-confidence and a way to express the most complex of the ideas and feelings with ease. Abigail was born in Calcutta , India and spent most of her childhood in Delhi, India. She became deaf due to meningitis when she was 6 months old. Initially, she was put for the speech therapy, better known as the ‘ Oralism ’ approach.  But she found it dull, and highly inadequate. She was introduced to the wor...

Radha Kakaria was born deaf to hearing parents in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Her elder brother and elder sister are also deaf, along with one hearing elder brother.  She studied up to 8th in Tamil medium at Little Flower Convent School for Deaf , Chennai. She always used to get first rank in her class.  Later she shifted to hearing school to compete with other hearing students. When she asked for the T.C., the Principal said : " You cannot study in hearing school and pass easily ”. But her parents were adamant and Principal issued T.C. on the condition that she should never come back to this deaf school in case she failed .  With hard work and determination, she completed 10th standard with very good results - 73% overall and 88% in maths, competing with millions of hearing students. Hence, she proved: " DEAF CAN DO" . Then she completed her 12th in English medium and got 72% marks (Maths - 89% and Accountancy - 88%) . To be able to clear, 12th in English med...

Aqil was born and brought up in a deaf family in Mumbai, India. Indian Sign Language (ISL) was his first language, as his parents, his younger brother and many other members in his family were deaf. His grandparents were hearing and strong supporters of oralism. The awareness related to sign language was extremely limited during those years, and most deaf schools in India followed the oral method. He was put in one such oral school in Mumbai, where his teachers warned his parents not to use sign language with him, since there is a common misconception that sign language diminishes speech and lip reading skills (despite the research proving otherwise, sadly the misconception continues to prevail). Aqil was a little bewildered by the extreme focus on the speech, and objection to something that came so naturally to him i.e. Sign Language. He used those years to build a strong foundation in English language. His books became his closest friends. He was often found engrossed in readi...

B. Joyshree Devi (from Manipur) has created history by being the first ever deaf candidate from the entire North East to successfully complete her D.Ed. in Special Education (HI) from Montfort Centre for Education, Tura. While most deaf adults would dread a 2-year regular teacher-training programme, with all hearing batch-mates and teachers, Joyshree has been an exception from the start. She is currently working with Ferrando Centre for Speech and Hearing, Umniuh-Khwan for a project on “Inclusive Education” - RAISE - North East.  Joyshree Devi was born profoundly deaf. But her ambitions have always been extra-ordinary. Remembering her school days at Manipur, she had often shared her disappointment and anger at the teachers there who didn’t know Sign Language and never really could teach much. She confessed that she passed class 10 th from Manipur, without even understanding meanings of basic words which a class 3 student must know. She credits Ferrando Centre which ...

Vishwajit Nair was born in Thane, Mumbai in a deaf family  -  20 members including his parents are deaf in his family . Though he had the sign language access from the beginning - he was still expected to learn speech and lip reading in his deaf school. The concept of sign language as the mother tongue was unheard of. Even his own parents, who were deaf themselves, supported oral education. The teachers in his school were never able to build interest or translate concepts. He was an extremely naughty child, and his parents were actually quite worried for him. But today he is a role model, currently working at Indian Sign Language Research and Training Center,  ISLRTC , New Delhi as Instructor of  Sign Linguistics . As a child, Vishwajit was very fond of arts - he could draw a portrait even at an early age of 10. He was also talented in sports. When he passed class 10th, he was rather confused in life. He joined ' Ishara Foundation ' in Bombay and it was then, t...

Sh. Anuj Jain is the Joint Secretary of National Association of the Deaf, the only truly national and grassroots Disabled People's Organisation that fights for the rights of deaf people in India. He has been a part of many developments of the Indian Deaf community but most recently is the accessible telecast of Republic Day Parade 2017 via ISL interpreter, &  demanded the passing of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill among others on December 2016. He has been working with and for the deaf and hard of hearing sector for over 30 years. He has demanded the Social Welfare Dept., Delhi Govt to vacate the deaf school which they continue its use space for the deaf school was illegal. He also demanded Delhi Govt for providing the driving license for the deaf. He was one of the few selected participants to the World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf, Durban, South Africa in July 2011 and the Grassroots International Advocacy Leadership Training by Gallau...

Priti Shah Soni is the Founder and  General Secretary of " Deaf Can Foundation" (DCF) , Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh and an Executive Member of "National Association of Deaf" (NAD), India. She is well known in the Deaf community for her active work in the empowerment of deaf especially deaf women and her sign language videos for spreading awareness on her YouTube Channel ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC830RiHvLxste0LDCqM5SVA/videos) . She was born and brought up in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. She was raised in a deaf family i.e. both her parents and her sister were deaf.  She completed her education from Indore Deaf Bilingual Academy (IDBA) run by Mook Badhir Sangathan (MKS). She pursued her higher education and post-graduation from Barkatullah University, MP. Then, she went to Deaf Enabled Foundation (DEF) in Hyderabad, India to attend a 3 month training in management. She also worked at the ‘Bhopal Deaf Association’ to understand more about organization structure...

Sh. Attupurth Sreedharan Narayanan has been working with the deaf community in India for the past 25 years. He is the President of National Association of the Deaf, India. He has been actively involved in the setting up and functioning of Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC).  He was instrumental in getting the legislation approved for  issuance of driving licenses for deaf people.  Currently, he is leading the campaign for the recognition of Indian Sign Language as one of the official languages of India, and captioning on TV, among other issues.

Rupmani Chhetri has made India proud by becoming the first UN Volunteer with any kind of disability. She is currently working in Ukraine as an "Advocacy Specialist" on Disability. Rupmani was born in Nepal (Chitwan) to a hearing family. She did her initial schooling in a deaf school in Kalimpong (Darjeeling) where the teachers did not use sign language. Hence, she had to face lot of difficulties in her studies.  Later, she joined the Ghoom Girls Higher Secondary school in Ghoom district of Darjeeling. She was the only deaf girl in that school, so it was incredibly tough for her to understand and learn anything.  Her father had a limited salary and her family faced financial difficulties. She had to work as a manual labour carrying building material and stones to earn money for her school fees, uniform and books. Her father could not even afford to pay for her fees at National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). She got a job in a salon in Darjeeling. The salary was ver...

Dr. Alim Chandani was born in Mumbai, India. He struggled to fit in the mainstream schools and did not have the opportunity to be part of deaf community or learn Sign Language for the next 21 years until one day, he visited  Rochester Institute of Technology . It was at RIT, that the concept of 'Deaf Identity' and 'Deaf Culture' became integral part of his life. Dr. Chandani graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from the RIT, obtained a Master’s degree in Deaf Rehabilitation/Higher Education from New York University, and, ultimately, obtained his Doctorate in Administration and Supervision in Special Education from Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. in 2013. Dr. Chandani’s dissertation focused on the feasibility of managing Deaf programs at higher education institutions in India. Dr. Chandani has been working in the field of international development and social entrepreneurship since 2007, when he founded GRO. His brainchild -  Centum Gro initiative in India ha...

Sh. Sibaji Panda was born in Odisha, India on 17 May 1974. He became deaf at the age of 10, but he found sign language support at home, since his elder brother was also deaf. He was an active but average student in a mainstream school, but he had what all other students didn't have in those years - the fearless confidence to speak up for what's right. Inspired by the stories of Mahatma Gandhi, he once challenged all his teachers, even his Principal about the low quality education system and rampant cheating.  He managed to just pass his Class 10th and 12th exams with a low percentage, because he didn't cheat.  He started working with Delhi Foundation for Deaf Women as a computer trainer. It was there that he was spotted by Ulrike Zeeshan, a German professor who was researching about Indian Sign Language. Both of them collaborated to create the first formal one year ISL training course - Level A, B and C used by Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) and Ali Yavar Jung Nat...

Dr. Madan Vashishta is a legendary figure for the deaf in India.  He pioneered research work in Indian Sign Language (ISL) in 1978, at a time when no-one had any idea that ISL even existed. His research proved that despite all the oppression, stigma and challenges -    Indian Sign Language reverberated in hostels, dining halls, playgrounds and deaf schools in India . He published the first ISL Dictionary in 1981.  He is well known in the deaf community for his two beautiful memoirs:  "Deaf in Delhi" and "Deaf in DC".   With all these credentials, you may think of him as a serious academician, but on the contrary he surprises you with his amazing sense of humour, an outstanding memory, and an ability to charm in a single meeting. Dr. Madan is an admirer of poetry and can read Hindi as well as Urdu.  Dr. Madan M. Vasishta was born in 1941 in northern India, in a village called Gagret, Himachal Pradesh. He became deaf at age 11 from a bout o...