KSRTC Budget Tourism I A Trip with Deaf And Mute people I Munnar I Sign Language I Deaf Talks
Clapping hands and dancing heartily, It was a memorable journey yesterday! Dancing and singing merrily, Like rivers that flow together, We laughed over and over again, Watching the waterfalls burble, Remembering our bitter sorrows plunging like a waterfall, How much did we burst into laughter! Beyond all calmness, It's raining! The noise of laughters are withdrawing slowly, To hide behind the shores of silence, Silence with a voice! Who said that voice needs a language? This is quite different! With those who speak without a voice, With those who got rejected, I can't stop myself from narrating my experience from the journey that I spent with them! Ralia Ali will be translating my words into sign language. Namaste! Today, This is quite a big achievement! Just as our respected Bindu Ma'am said, People who are ignored in our society, Especially the differently abled, To understand the lives and experiences, This is the aptest setting that we have arranged for them. More than merely an excursion, Our sisters...
The KSTRC Budget Tourism Cell, They have certainly provided us with major opportunities to explore! Very quickly, Places where the common men don't have easy access, Within a small budget in two days, We started loving this journey! I'm falling in love with this journey! Along with the Kozhikode District Association of the Deaf, KSRTC Thamarassery Depo organised a trip for these families. Can you imagine a house where no voice is ever heard? From being lonely to a great extend, I would like to extend my gratitude to KSTRC Thamarassery for inviting these families! This is my first experience, With people who feel unknown to sounds, And travelling with them who didn't know how to express words. Honestly, I was anxious, I wondered how will I communicate with them without words? What will I tell them? How will I understand them? But, everything went smoothly and easy! With their innocent smiles, They held me together with the love in their eyes and hand signs! There was 38 families, Mostly, the parents turned out to be deaf. In some families, only one member of the family was deaf, There were lots of children of different age groups, Most of the children could speak and hear, They filled the Thumboormuzhy Park with their vibrance! Maybe, the butterflies in this garden would have stood in awe of these children.
A river becomes a river according to its flow, When the river flows and fills, When the river matches with its depth, The river becomes a river with their depth! When they look at the river with excitement, They can see the river, But, can they hear it? We know that the river may not reach them with their sound, The river may be filling in them with an unknown sound or raag! Is that why they like looking at this river? While walking through the hanging bridge, They are staring at this river for so long, Walking through the drizzles of rain, They kept smiling at the river and the sky! The most beautiful smile without any voice! When the parents are deaf, When the child born in that family is not deaf, We often say, 'That's good!' But, Today, I understood the difficulties in the lives of such children born into deaf families. The social life that their parents are ignored, To an extent, the children are ignored too. The children suffer between the two pillars who try to express themselves. These parents are unable to meet their ends with the outside world in their daily lives, Otherwise, the world is not welcoming these parents properly. These trips turn out to be an amusement for children! I feel happy seeing these children rejoice and be playful! Not just their parents, But, we feel happy too! They prepared food early in the morning, The delicious Kozhikode Dum Biriyani! This is a lesson that we should learn from them, How neatly and systematically they do each thing! Even children follow the same manners.
No unnecessary screaming or shouting! Everything is done perfectly with small steps. In a Sadhya or any buffet, While we tend to normalise the unnecessary rush that we do, At this point, I feel ashamed as well as my respect grows for them! This is the Thamarassey Team that facilitated this journey, Baiju Sir, Shamsudeen and Shinaaz. Shamsudeen and Shinaaz are dedicated drivers of KSRTC Thamarassery Depo, They not only know to drive smartly, They have no hesitance in serving water and food and cleaning the place. Everyone is our close ones! Everywhere is our own place! They have the heart to even learn sign language. Baiju Sir is the captain of this team, When Kozhikode District Association of the Deaf dreamt about this trip, KSRTC needed some extra courage to take up this task, This trip was two days and night long, To Athirappilly, Vazhachal and Munnar, How are they guiding this huge team who can't speak loudly or hear for two days? Bindhu Ma'am and Baiju Sir of KSRTC Budget Tourism Cell took up this mission! With their whole heart! The reason why I took up this task was, I met them for the first time when they came to book tickets, I was tensed about how I will manage this, We fixed a date that both of us could accept, When the date was approaching, I willingly accepted to take up this task to bring them here.
This is riskier than taking normal people because, They can't speak or hear, It's really difficult to take normal people, Even though, they are riskier, We took up this risky task! We are determined to make this trip a success! Usually, common people and the higher sector people choose this trip, But, when these differently-abled people approached us, That is why we were willing to take up this mission. It's our responsibility to take specially-abled people on trips, just like other common people! We took up this mission as this is our responsibility. When there is so much unity, There is no challenge that we can't fulfil! We have seen several times when the KSTRC staff behaved very friendly with us! It's not merely friendship, It's a concern for other humans. Ralia... Ralia...Ralia...Ralia... Ralia must be the most used word by Baiju Sir on this trip.
She is that smart girl, She is extremely skilled in sign language! Ralia Ali is the daughter of Malabar Deaf Association Secretary Abdul Ali, Her father taught her the sign language, Ralia was the soul of this beautiful trip! I noticed something in her, They were eager to click pictures whenever they saw a beautiful place, They wanted group pictures, not single pictures, They kept on clicking pictures again and again, Maybe, only this colourful world stays in their heart forever, As they can't hear or speak their thoughts, That's why they click group pictures like these, It's amusing to see them click such beautiful pictures. Like how a musician conducts a symphony, Without any noise or screams, Bringing everyone together, A 'Chambiko' style group photo! Superb! What else can we comment on this! Thanking all the authorities who granted us free access to Thumboormuzhy, We left for Vazhachal! En route to Vazhachal, Maybe, as it started to rain, Greenery spread over the rocks, Rocks covered with algae, It was extremely beautiful to see these. When we reached Vazhachal, They took very low rates as admission fees. The waterfalls are heavily flowing as rains have approached, We can understand the strength of the flow of waters as we step into it, Because the burble of the waterfall roars into our ears. They were watching the flow of the water with excitement and surprise, They were trying to say something and smiling! And clicked pictures.
They were really happy! I watched them while wondering how a noiseless waterfall will be! Maybe I am wrong, right? We call images as our experience, What if there is no voice! These group photographs are testimony that we all were here once! The sign language through which the elders and children exchange their thoughts, It is not at all hard to learn this language, If we put our minds to this, We can easily grasp and learn this. We can also easily learn the English alphabet, numbers, various gestures and other common words. Their organisation mentions the word 'Deaf' only, Because they are not dumb, It's only that they don't have the voice to speak, They are not dumb, The fact is that they have sign language to communicate with others.
There is almost 1.8 crore deaf people in our nation, There are more deaf people coming in every generation, When their social lives are completely ignored, There are many things left to be done for them. EDucation, knowledge and various skills, The truth is that none of these is available to them in their language! Only through constant support and help, This community will be able to blend into this society. Hospital, school, banking and other necessary services, They are not deaf-friendly to them! It's comforting to know that many experiments are happening at the Government level, Many welfare plans were attempted to help the deaf community, But, due to a lack of proper implementation and vision, Many plans became unsuccessful! If the deaf community can exchange their thoughts with the common people, Most of their problems will find a solution. The only solution to this problem is that, Make common people familiar with the sign language, Allow them an opportunity to learn sign language.
For the welfare of the deaf community, In an era where the Government and society work effortlessly, Communication remains a hindrance to the welfare of the deaf community! There are facilities like wheelchair ramps for the disabled in buildings, Such facilities are provided as a result of their rights, Similarly, sign language which is the right of the deaf community to communicate, Which should be available clearly and systematically, Their primary need is that the Government and the public should focus more on it. Even though, there are special facilities in the education sector for the deaf community, Currently, there are not fully utilised, Teachers are not able to communicate with the students properly, Students are not able to learn the subjects in depth, This is because teachers are unfamiliar with the sign language system. By learning the sign language as fluently as any spoken language, Teachers will be able to teach any subject in depth! Only when new things are taught to children, Then, more knowledge will fill their minds! There will be a huge improvement in the education sector by implementing sign language. All of them are employed, They are way ahead in their workplaces, They have a lot of skills! But, they are unable to find solutions to problems, They are unable to exchange their thoughts with their colleagues properly. They want sign language to expand in such areas.
Even the closest relatives are not able to communicate with the deaf community, If everyone learns to use the sign language efficiently, The family bond grows thicker! No doubt that their lifestyle will improve substantially! To make sign language familiar among the common people, Others can easily learn sign language through the 'Deaf Mobile App', When technology and awareness meet, They will also achieve welfare, They put forward this aim. I'm using an example, A deaf man, Be it a blind or a handicapped, Be it a deaf or dumb, When we see them, We feel that they can't move, When we see them, They use a walking stick to walk, We can understand their struggle by seeing them, We try to find innovations and advancements to make their lives better, A three-wheeler vehicle is provided if they can't walk, All that is good! There are many technological advancements for the blind like neutron detectors, In the case of the deaf and dumb, Their lives are very difficult! When we see them, Everyone thinks that when they go for a tour, Even in their families, When we ask, They finish the talk within a minute that they had conversed with others for so long, We are suffering everywhere because we can't hear anything, But, people think that we are perfect with everything, Because they can't understand that we can't speak or hear, We can only see these tourist places, But, we can't hear anything! The Government should try to provide more facilities for us, The Government should try to distribute phones among us, We can download an app through these phones, The phone will translate our conversations, This is very useful for us, We conducted many marches and protests for this, But, all went in vain! We haven't received anything useful till now! Some people who are experts in drawing and painting, There are engineers, Government officers among us, People are working in the Treasury, clerks, etc. But, the Government is not able to understand their talent, It'll be easier if their talents are discovered and utilized efficiently! Everyone will be eager to know when an accident happens, Similarly, when our phones translate what others spoke, It becomes very helpful for us. Our association toiled very hard to achieve this and approached the Secretariat, But, everything went in vain! Surprisingly, no one was willing to enter the waters, Even though, we tried to explain to them, They liked to watch the waterfall from a distance.
Their inner fears may have pulled them back to the shores from venturing into the water! All the families that can't hear, They don't have much knowledge, This association helped them to gain knowledge and skills, As a part of the association, They came for this tour with their families, There are going for tours for the past 8 years, This is the 8th time! This adds to the growth of the association each time. When everyone mingles with their friends, They may feel happy! When people who can't speak come together, They may be facing several problems, But, they feel relaxed and chilled during the tour, That is why we plan tours! Similarily, When we come for tours, This is the first time that we came for the tour in a KSRTC Bus, KSTRC has supported us a lot! They helped us to travel happily and so on, We are really happy! I would like to extend my gratitude to all the authorities, There are many problems for the hearing community, It's slowly getting resolved, If everyone comes together, Our problems will be get solved too! Look at what they are saying, They have lots to say, They believe that their society will learn the sign language and include the deaf community with them, They are going on speaking to us through their sign language! What we lost or what we never had will always remain as a man's sorrow, For the specially-abled, Hindrances in their lives come in various ways! For the blind, The lost colours are their sorrow! For the handicapped, The lost journey becomes their sorrow! What should we tell them? To dream about the unheard raags which are more beautiful than the existing ones... How can we tell them? The fire within them The heart ache The pain of love Affection When these fade away before turning into words, Only their sign language stays with them. They can see the green colour of the tea leaves, They can feel the chillness of Munnar, We can console this way, All doors don't shut together, Small doors with rays of hope stays behind! The children are enjoying themselves by dancing and singing merrily! With loud music, They enjoyed themselves by dancing and singing merrily! While others watch them. When their children hear this amazing songs, They can't hear with their ears, They may not be able to sing along with either, But, They must be dreaming about their kids filling everywhere with their dance and songs. The hope in their eyes is quite evident! The sounds that they couldn't hear, The words that they couldn't speak, Their dream must be to hear those sounds and words through their kids! This world belongs to their kids to dance and sing as well, Let this world acknowledge this too! Bye, my dear friends! Thank you! Completing a day through some beautiful glimpses!
2022-05-23 04:01
