PICTURE SPEAK

SPEAKING VOLUMES: Children "singing" Jana Gana Mana

It is 8.30 a.m. and the school assembly begins in right earnest. The students who have gathered have pride writ large on their faces as they make synchronised gestures with their hands. Unusual as it may seem, it is the National Anthem that is being rendered. Indeed, as the 100-odd students of the Anand School for the Deaf in Indore recreate the magic of Jana Gana Mana in sign language, the gusto with which they do it in 52 seconds flat-the same time as it takes otherwise-is unmistakable.

Standing in front of them is Gyanendra Purohit, the man who has made it possible. He is perhaps the first to have translated the National Anthem into the universal sign language and his unique rendition, the result of a three-year research, is now being circulated in institutions for the hearing impaired across the country. For Gyanendra and his wife Monica, this is just another small way of reaching out to the disadvantaged sections. For years, the couple have been working for their uplift through a non-governmental organisation, Anand Service Society, covering aspects like education, employment and rehabilitation.

Much of the inspiration for the Purohits' work has come from personal experience. "My brother was hearing impaired and I had not learnt the sign language formally till his death in 1997," recalls Purohit who gave up a career in chartered accountancy for a new calling that year. Armed with a degree in social work and having set up an NGO, he visited various countries to study how life for the disadvantaged could be improved. It was then that he realised that national anthems elsewhere were being translated into signs.

The rendition of Jana Gana Mana in sign language is only the latest in a series of innovations that Purohit has attempted. Earlier, he launched the Mook Badhir Police Sahayata Kendra, a facility for the deaf to file complaints. He has also designed jackets that help prevent accidents while the disadvantaged move on streets. Thanks to him, 20 hearing impaired children study in normal schools with an interpreter. That is not all. Purohit has translated the Bollywood hit Sholay too into sign language. Next on the line are Munnabhai MBBS and Vande Mataram in signs. Also in the offing is a plan to get the hearing disadvantaged recruited as teachers in mainstream schools. Now that is what is called true integration.

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