World Deaf Day 2020: A conversation with Dr. Tashi Nautiyal
Endowed with multiple natural attractions, Roorkee, Uttarakhand is the home to the land of technological innovations via its famous Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee (IITR). Amidst these blessings, is an institute committed to the development of children with deep eagerness to explore their learning abilities, namely, ‘Anushruti Academy for the Deaf (AAD).’
“The consistent support of IIT Roorkee is like an umbrella for the school.”
- Dr. Tashi Nautiyal, Professor at Physics Department & alumnus of IIT Roorkee, Faculty Coordinator & Manager at ‘Anushruti Academy for the Deaf’
This humble social initiative of the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee aims to deliver quality education to differently-abled children with speech and hearing impairments catering to children living in and around Roorkee, Uttarakhand. From a modest start, it has now grown into a full-fledged school for the education of these special children and has been an inspiration for many since then.
On the occasion of ‘World Deaf Day 2020’, to promote the positive aspects of deafness, social inclusion, & raise awareness while kindling empathy among all our readers, we got a chance to interact with Dr. Tashi Nautiyal, Professor at the Physics Department of IIT Roorkee, our esteemed alumnus, and serving the Academy as the Faculty-Coordinator & Manager.
The stage is all yours, Ma’am!
1. ‘Anushruti Academy’ marks 31 years of its existence and has risen to be one of the finest initiatives of IIT Roorkee. How has been your experience so far serving for it as the faculty advisor?
It’s a wonderful experience to be associated with ‘Anushruti.’ The children are very expressive and enthusiastic. They greet you with much love and vigor. The school is based on a Community-supported model and does not receive a grant from any government agency. Hence, contributions from individuals as well as organizations play a very important role in running the school.
2. Education has suffered the hardest blow during the times of this pandemic where the conventional methods have been defeated. While each institution is trying its best to embrace online education, how far has ‘Anushruti Academy’ been successful at it?
It has been a difficult situation for these children with special needs to start the new session after the annual examinations in March. However, sitting idle was not a solution. IIT Roorkee as well as other schools had started the online classes. Ours being hearing-impaired students, it was a real challenge to make such classes useful & effective. The Management Committee conducted meetings with the school teachers and discussed the pros and cons, the probable strategies and procedures to conduct online classes. The most essential part of such classes was the compulsory participation of a family member, along with the AAD student, to help the child in understanding the material/ lectures. Of course, all the students were advised to wear hearing aids during the classes. To help in the assimilation of what was being taught, only two subject classes are engaged per day within the 11 AM to 1 PM slot, presuming that the parents may not be able to sit for the classes with the child in the early morning.
The Principal of the school created 15 WhatsApp groups through which the teachers conduct classes from Monday to Saturday. The students’ parents are also encouraged to keep in regular touch with the teachers through online Parent-Teacher meetings. It’s worth mentioning that our students were overjoyed when these classes started, for they felt they too are as important as students of any other school. Furthermore, the online classes during the lockdown allowed the parents to relate better to their child and his/her studies. Consequently, they appreciated the efforts put by AAD teachers. Considering all these positive outcomes, I don’t hesitate to say that the online classes have been bliss for the students in these times.
The school Management Committee tried to ensure that no student is deprived of access to online classes due to financial difficulties. For this, the Committee arranged, through donations, smartphones for those parents who did not have one and could not afford to buy; along with the recharge facility. Teachers keep in regular touch and from time to time bring to our notice such cases that need help.
3. What steps according to you can NSS IIT Roorkee take in contributing its bit towards this laurel of the institution while serving its motto — ‘Not me, but for the nation’?
NSS IIT Roorkee can contribute in many ways, particularly in the usual times when the school functions in a normal manner, e.g. by
1) Conducting remedial classes & career counseling for the AAD students
2) NSS students can involve the AAD students in their activities to boost their confidence that they can also contribute to society
3) NSS students can impart general awareness over the plantation, government schemes, etc.
4) NSS can help in the preparation of competitive exams
4. As the finest ‘Institute of Technology’, how do you think design & technological-based interventions by IIT Roorkee have helped in the evolution of ‘Anushruti Academy’?
Starting from 1989 till today, this is the only school for disabled children that exists on the campus of a High-Tech institute like IIT Roorkee. The mission of establishing such a school on the campus was not only to educate the deaf children but the main motto was also that this school and its children will serve as a Live Workshop to motivate the faculty and students of the University of Roorkee (now IIT Roorkee) to undertake research activities in the area of disability under the National Policy on Education released in 1986.
One of the objectives of AAD, as approved by the Board of Governors (BoG), IIT Roorkee, is “To research over the development of products, knowledge, technology and learning environments to help the hearing impaired students, especially with the help of the IIT Roorkee students, faculty and others”. There have been 4 PhDs, five M.Es, and one M.Tech degree awarded in the past from 1995 to 2008 through AAD. However, presently the momentum is lacking. The AAD Management Committee keenly wants to fulfill this objective, and through this platform, I solicit the support of the IIT Roorkee faculty and students to pursue research in the area of Hearing Impairment related designs & technological interventions be it- Software/ Hardware/ assistive devices. The school would always be helpful to provide any information and assistance as would be needed.
5. Have you ever spoken to an alumnus of the Academy? Any memory of the same you would like to share?
The most well-known example of an alumnus of AAD is Mr. Vivek Handa, a very charming, intelligent, and active employee of State Bank of India, IIT Roorkee branch. He is a candid and sincere person, very efficient in his work & quite easy to interact with. You may plan a meeting with him where you may also invite Prof. Handa, Vivek’s father, who is the founder of AAD. Prof. Handa, who retired from Civil Engineering Department, IIT Roorkee, has been bestowed with the Distinguished Alumnus Award 2020 (Excellence in Service to the Society) of IIT Roorkee (http://awards.iitr.ac.in/alumni/daa-2020.php ).
6. Do you think we require bondage between the campus inmates & the students of the ‘Anushruti Academy’ and how can we achieve that?
Of course, such bonding is most welcome to motivate the students of AAD. They feel elated when they get a chance to learn from students of our prestigious institute IIT Roorkee. The Department of Management Studies organizes an event BHOR every year where they invite the AAD students and hold interesting workshops for them. AAD looks forward to such events and hopes these would be conducted more often.
Last year, IIT Roorkee’s Fine Arts section students also held a few workshops on crafts and creating art for the AAD students which they enjoyed thoroughly.
It would be good to have a meeting with the Principal and teachers of AAD to exchange ideas and plan more such events.
Also, every year AAD students perform on the lawns of the James Thomason Building on the Independence Day & Republic Day celebrations.
7. What have been your key takeaways from this journey so far? What do you envision for the Academy & its progress?
Interesting to sit down & ponder over this point. I learned many things:
These special kids of AAD are very sweet and affectionate and shower you with their love once they connect to you. They are also as happy-go-lucky as are other kids of their age. These also want to do better and have aspirations.
It’s amazing to see these kids, small ones, reaching school around 7:30 AM even from far away places like Muzzafarnagar, Deoband, Rishikesh, Haridwar, etc. The escorts/ guardians/ parents also sacrifice more than half a day daily to enable these kids to attend school. It’s marvelous to see how many parents have made many sacrifices and undergone the inconvenience to shift to a new place i.e. Roorkee, just to enable their special child to attend this school.
The foremost important thing that I learned is from an alumnus of the 1968 batch when the Thomsonian gentleman visited ‘Anushruti Academy for the Deaf’ in November 2018 during his Golden Jubilee, with many other good Samaritans of that batch. When he came to know I am the Manager for AAD, he gave me one very clear advice, “NEVER HESITATE to seek donations for AAD; you are not asking for yourself, but for this very special school. So never shy from making even repeated requests to those who are capable”. This advice made my funda clear (:
I learned that there are many faculty members and non-teaching staff members of IITR who have happily joined hands in supporting this special school. There are many of our young students and research scholars, and many alumni who contributed generously once they came to know of AAD’s hardships. There are also those who contribute regularly; whereas there are also those who are capable but just overlook such requests, or maybe would come forward in future.
There are even those wonderful people who, even without having been requested to, come forward on their own (having heard about AAD from some nth person).
There are even such benevolent alumni, who even if not able to support AAD under CSR activity, have made personal contributions for AAD :)
The list of takeaways is endless! Above all, I have learned to be more understanding and more tolerant :)
As far as vision is concerned, there are many important points, but the most important is “Help each H.I. kid hear and speak”, so that these kids may join the mainstream. For this, H.I. kids must join AAD as early as possible, well before they are 5 years of age since there are best chances of cultivating their hearing and speech before they are 5 yr old. “Early induction and early intervention” is the target!
8. 27th September marks the ‘World Deaf Day’ this year, to draw the attention of the commoners towards the achievements & challenges faced by people with hearing impairments. How did ‘Anushruti Academy’ pursue the same?
It’s a matter of contentment that 27 September 2020 is earmarked as ‘World Deaf Day’. It’s a challenge to communicate and impart education to H.I. children since they do lack the most effective medium (the ability to hear); they rely on ‘Total Communication’, which includes lip reading and gestures also, to understand what is being said.
As a part of Deaf Awareness Week, NSS, IIT Roorkee, in collaboration with iGEM IIT Roorkee, conducted a workshop followed by a quiz competition for the AAD students on the subject of ‘Antibiotic resistance’ on September 21, 2020, where the winners were awarded cash prizes as well.
For 27th September specifically, the teachers shared nice videos with their students and parents and discussed important information that H.I. students need to know.
The words were simple, yet touched all of our hearts. Sincere thanks to Dr. Tashi for helping us in this small initiative.
“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.” - George Eliot
It is with these little things NSS IIT Roorkee aims at greater consequences. We conclude the conversation with a firm belief of taking the ‘Anushruti Academy for the Deaf’, the pride of IIT Roorkee to even greater & unimaginable heights and transform all our visions to the realities for those children.
‘Anushruti Academy for the Deaf’ is working and running successfully due to generous people and various donors. It is with the help of such people, these physically handicapped students are able to get an education of the top-most quality.
You can also play your role in shaping the future of these bright students, by contributing to the ‘Anushruti Academy for the Deaf’ here: https://www.iitr.ac.in/anushruti/donations.html
Adieu!
Additional resources for our readers on Indian Sign Languages:
World Silent Deaf Day 2020 in India https://youtu.be/arU_al5smDg
Alphabets in Indian Sign Language https://youtu.be/TafPtRPHM-0
Indian Sign Language for Beginners amid COVID-19 pandemic https://youtu.be/mpCZ0suz_RQ
Zainab Ismail (a musical) https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10217920965920243&id=1367070475&sfnsn=wiwspwa&extid=DRAnBfdDtZFQ2KYg
100 basic words https://youtu.be/FArg-G1IsRw
1st Sign Language dictionary (BBC Hindi) https://youtu.be/Dtf2b9Gohr4
“MUTE” a short film (2017) Directed by Mahesh Darsi https://youtu.be/VAc90Oh5cXc
How to treat a deaf child https://youtu.be/ObV0I3llsbA
Hearing Loss in children: Strategies for better communication: Boston Children’s Hospital https://youtu.be/bUFibBxAkGQ
