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 Convent Higher Secondary School for the Deaf. The school had both English and Tamil Medium of instruction. His family chose Tamil medium as his whole family was Tamil speaking.
Though the school had a very strict no-signing policy, he enjoyed studying with deaf peers and being able to sign to them in secrecy. When he was thirteen years old, he felt for the first time, the need to learn English, as his younger sister was studying in a Convent and learning English. He took it as a challenge to learn English and took help of the school teachers and the Principal, whenever they had time. In 1958, he completed his schooling topping his class in the final 8th standard examination (in those days, schools provided education only till the 8th standard). He dreamt of studying further but there were no higher education opportunities for the deaf available in India. Due to lack of opportunity for further school education, his father got him admitted in a school of arts in Trivandrum. After completing a year, he went back to Chennai to complete an advanced Diploma in Fine Arts from the Govt. College of Arts and Crafts. In 1964, he got a respectable job as a draughtsman in the English Electric Company of India Ltd (renamed later as GEC Alsthom Pvt. Ltd. Co.) in Chennai.
His fast bowling and batting skills, from his street-cricket days, won him a place in the coveted English Electric Company’s cricket team. He was the only deaf in the all-hearing cricket team. He was elected as the Captain for the South Zone Deaf Cricket Championship. In 1965, he represented India in a nine-member team at the 10th World Games for the Deaf (now Deaflympics) in Washington D.C. This was the first ever deaf contingent from India participating in the World Games. In 1966, he applied for admission and was selected for an entrance test at the Gallaudet University, USA. But he did not attend the test as he was not confident of his self-taught English skills.
Gopalakrishnan is a very popular figure among the Deaf in India. He was the co-founder of the Madras Association of the Deaf in 1968, formed by the merger of two associations – the Madras Deaf-mutes Association and the Young Men’s Deaf Association (the latter was the second deaf association setup in India in 1944, after the Calcutta Deaf and Dumb Association in 1926). He was also instrumental in setting up the Tamil Nadu State Federation of the Deaf in 1984. In 1998, after retiring from 35 years of service in GEC Alsthom, he joined Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya's International Human Resource Centre for the Disabled in Coimbatore. He worked there for 5 years where he illustrated the first comprehensive Indian Sign Language Dictionary, and subsequently became the first deaf instructor of the Diploma course on Indian Sign Language Interpreting. He later continued his work with the Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped for 7 years.
At present, he is a member in executive committees of national associations, namely the Indian Sign Language Interpreters Association (ISLIA) and the Indian Sign Language Teachers Association. He is one of the recognized Indian deaf leaders at the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre. He presently does a lot of freelance work such as illustrations for sign language projects, and continues to give lectures on Indian Sign Language and deaf empowerment.
He is happily married to Lekha Gopalakrishnan, who is also profoundly deaf, for the past 40 years. They have two children – Amaresh, who runs his own start-up called SIGNEX, and Nita, who works as the Technical Advisor at Deaf Child Worldwide.
His friendly happy-to-go nature has made him a favourite in all circles of all age groups. His positive attitude, handling of difficult situations, and to emerging stronger, has inspired many especially the younger generation. His passion for working for the welfare of the Indian deaf community spanning more than 55 years, continues even at this (as he likes to put it) ‘young’ age of 76.
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 Convent Higher Secondary School for the Deaf. The school had both English and Tamil Medium of instruction. His family chose Tamil medium as his whole family was Tamil speaking.
Though the school had a very strict no-signing policy, he enjoyed studying with deaf peers and being able to sign to them in secrecy. When he was thirteen years old, he felt for the first time, the need to learn English, as his younger sister was studying in a Convent and learning English. He took it as a challenge to learn English and took help of the school teachers and the Principal, whenever they had time. In 1958, he completed his schooling topping his class in the final 8th standard examination (in those days, schools provided education only till the 8th standard). He dreamt of studying further but there were no higher education opportunities for the deaf available in India. Due to lack of opportunity for further school education, his father got him admitted in a school of arts in Trivandrum. After completing a year, he went back to Chennai to complete an advanced Diploma in Fine Arts from the Govt. College of Arts and Crafts. In 1964, he got a respectable job as a draughtsman in the English Electric Company of India Ltd (renamed later as GEC Alsthom Pvt. Ltd. Co.) in Chennai.
His fast bowling and batting skills, from his street-cricket days, won him a place in the coveted English Electric Company’s cricket team. He was the only deaf in the all-hearing cricket team. He was elected as the Captain for the South Zone Deaf Cricket Championship. In 1965, he represented India in a nine-member team at the 10th World Games for the Deaf (now Deaflympics) in Washington D.C. This was the first ever deaf contingent from India participating in the World Games. In 1966, he applied for admission and was selected for an entrance test at the Gallaudet University, USA. But he did not attend the test as he was not confident of his self-taught English skills.
Gopalakrishnan is a very popular figure among the Deaf in India. He was the co-founder of the Madras Association of the Deaf in 1968, formed by the merger of two associations – the Madras Deaf-mutes Association and the Young Men’s Deaf Association (the latter was the second deaf association setup in India in 1944, after the Calcutta Deaf and Dumb Association in 1926). He was also instrumental in setting up the Tamil Nadu State Federation of the Deaf in 1984. In 1998, after retiring from 35 years of service in GEC Alsthom, he joined Sri Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya's International Human Resource Centre for the Disabled in Coimbatore. He worked there for 5 years where he illustrated the first comprehensive Indian Sign Language Dictionary, and subsequently became the first deaf instructor of the Diploma course on Indian Sign Language Interpreting. He later continued his work with the Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped for 7 years.
At present, he is a member in executive committees of national associations, namely the Indian Sign Language Interpreters Association (ISLIA) and the Indian Sign Language Teachers Association. He is one of the recognized Indian deaf leaders at the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre. He presently does a lot of freelance work such as illustrations for sign language projects, and continues to give lectures on Indian Sign Language and deaf empowerment.
He is happily married to Lekha Gopalakrishnan, who is also profoundly deaf, for the past 40 years. They have two children – Amaresh, who runs his own start-up called SIGNEX, and Nita, who works as the Technical Advisor at Deaf Child Worldwide.
His friendly happy-to-go nature has made him a favourite in all circles of all age groups. His positive attitude, handling of difficult situations, and to emerging stronger, has inspired many especially the younger generation. His passion for working for the welfare of the Indian deaf community spanning more than 55 years, continues even at this (as he likes to put it) ‘young’ age of 76.
Congratulations and a big God bless dear Gopu from your sister Shiela's friend MaryTeresa
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ReplyDeleteRip sir
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