My first acquaintance with sign language goes back to my schooldays when I happened to see deaf and mute students "talking" to each other in a bus. They were talkative to the extent that transforming their signs into sounds would have created a lot of noise.
Earlier as a kid, I had seen this Indian movie called Koshish (Effort) which was an adaptation of a foreign movie. It dealt with the emotions and challenges of a deaf and mute couple without being "loud" and it was liked by the viewers.
It's hard to remember exactly when the thought of learning sign language lurked in my mind but I missed a couple of opportunities ever since. One was when an NGO offered a ten-day free training of sign language in our city. I didn't have time then. Another time, it was an advertisement seeking for candidates to serve as sign language interpreter to somebody. I applied for it but didn't get a response. A year later, this advertisement reappeared and I re-applied and this time got a call from them. After interview, I was shortlisted for the sign language training before final selection.
We were trained one-hour a day for a month. We were taught signing alphabets and words of daily use like hello, sorry, please, relatives etc. I found counting most difficult. There were funny incidents when any one of us misread sign spellings and it turned out to be a totally different word than what was assumed. For us it was pretty much like "dumb charades." A disadvantage of sign language, I feel, is that you cannot erase once you have signed a wrong alphabet or word. You have to start signing it all again for better understanding.
There were moments to behave mischievously like the one when I "innocently" asked our trainer if she was signing something while she, lost in her thoughts, was busy rubbing the bridge of her nose. She couldn't suppress her laugh then.
Six of us candidates, two girls and four boys, became like classmates. One of the guys, an engineer, was the son of deaf and mute father. He already knew Indian sign language. He seemed to be a nice man and responsible son too.
Our trainer used to say girls have this privilege over boys that they can "talk" better through eyes plus their wrists and fingers are more flexible than that of boys. Not to forget their expressions too. Needless to say, both the girls were selected finally. I consider myself the least qualified amongst the chosen few so I don't regret losing that job. Perhaps it only meant to serve my purpose of learning sign language.
My prospective employer, a hotelier, was a born deaf and mute guy, son of an industrialist and married with two cute sons. He got his education in America and that's why I ended up learning ASL instead of ISL. My interview with him after learning ASL is worth mentioning. Of the questions he asked me, one was "What is your goal?" I signed "Your service." This made him laugh and he signed, "You are buttering me." I replied I gave an honest answer. Given the opportunity I could have been a sincere worker for him. I am a literature graduate and howsoever proud it sounds I would say I could have translated his signs in better words than anybody else amongst us but this didn't seem to be his only requirement.
I would like to conclude now saying that people who can hear and speak too must resort to selective deafness and muteness to save themselves from being hurt and hurting someone. Whoever said, has said it true that silence is gold.
Earlier as a kid, I had seen this Indian movie called Koshish (Effort) which was an adaptation of a foreign movie. It dealt with the emotions and challenges of a deaf and mute couple without being "loud" and it was liked by the viewers.
It's hard to remember exactly when the thought of learning sign language lurked in my mind but I missed a couple of opportunities ever since. One was when an NGO offered a ten-day free training of sign language in our city. I didn't have time then. Another time, it was an advertisement seeking for candidates to serve as sign language interpreter to somebody. I applied for it but didn't get a response. A year later, this advertisement reappeared and I re-applied and this time got a call from them. After interview, I was shortlisted for the sign language training before final selection.
We were trained one-hour a day for a month. We were taught signing alphabets and words of daily use like hello, sorry, please, relatives etc. I found counting most difficult. There were funny incidents when any one of us misread sign spellings and it turned out to be a totally different word than what was assumed. For us it was pretty much like "dumb charades." A disadvantage of sign language, I feel, is that you cannot erase once you have signed a wrong alphabet or word. You have to start signing it all again for better understanding.
There were moments to behave mischievously like the one when I "innocently" asked our trainer if she was signing something while she, lost in her thoughts, was busy rubbing the bridge of her nose. She couldn't suppress her laugh then.
Six of us candidates, two girls and four boys, became like classmates. One of the guys, an engineer, was the son of deaf and mute father. He already knew Indian sign language. He seemed to be a nice man and responsible son too.
Our trainer used to say girls have this privilege over boys that they can "talk" better through eyes plus their wrists and fingers are more flexible than that of boys. Not to forget their expressions too. Needless to say, both the girls were selected finally. I consider myself the least qualified amongst the chosen few so I don't regret losing that job. Perhaps it only meant to serve my purpose of learning sign language.
My prospective employer, a hotelier, was a born deaf and mute guy, son of an industrialist and married with two cute sons. He got his education in America and that's why I ended up learning ASL instead of ISL. My interview with him after learning ASL is worth mentioning. Of the questions he asked me, one was "What is your goal?" I signed "Your service." This made him laugh and he signed, "You are buttering me." I replied I gave an honest answer. Given the opportunity I could have been a sincere worker for him. I am a literature graduate and howsoever proud it sounds I would say I could have translated his signs in better words than anybody else amongst us but this didn't seem to be his only requirement.
I would like to conclude now saying that people who can hear and speak too must resort to selective deafness and muteness to save themselves from being hurt and hurting someone. Whoever said, has said it true that silence is gold.