Sign Language

Things are looking up for my project on deaf people in India, though I still don't have any word from the government research clearance people. To make matters worse, I think Fulbright has completely abandoned me. This is turning into the toughest $600 a month I've (n)ever earned. I think I would have been better off getting a job teaching English at a call center.

Anyhow, last week I went to the Sign Language Department at the Institute of Speech and Hearing. It's a funny place, because there is a school for deaf children that is completely oral, meaning no sign language is used, and then there's a little office and a classroom devoted to the study and teaching of Indian Sign Langauge. There I met Ramakrishna, a deaf instructor, and Ida, who completed an interpreter training program at the school. There are hardly any interpreters for deaf people in India, compared to thousands in the US. I was just commenting the other day that I thought it was funny that there were only two or three programs for foreign language interpreting in the US, whereas there are dozens of sign langauge interpreting programs. Here it's the opposite.

I even met a deaf guru, who is affiliated with the Hare Krishna branch of Hinduism. He runs spiritual education seminars for deaf people and encourages them not to eat meat, smoke, drink, etc. He looked a little like Jeff Goldblum.

Anyway, these various people are willing to help me with my project, and even told me about another two deaf villages in India. One is in Kashmir, which presents logistical problems, and the other is here in the south. My only problem is that I located the one in Kashmir through CNN transcripts, but the other one is still without a name and location. Still, this is somewhat encouraging, as it means the idea of the village is not that far-fetched!

Saturday morning Ramakrishna contacted me through his mobile phone and asked me to interpret for him at a hearing school. He visits schools and teaches the children about sign language and the deaf. He arrived at the bus station half an hour late, and then we missed our stop. I was happy to see that autorickshaw drivers try to cheat even deaf Indian people, as I watched them negotiate by writing numbers on their hands. Finally we reached the school. They had never heard of us, but we forced our way into a classroom of 50 smiling 13-year-olds in white uniforms. The girls and boys sat in different sections, of course. They were very polite and enthusiastic and learned the sign language alphabet with little effort. They seemed to enjoy the visit from two "aliens" as well.

It turns out we were supposed to meet the woman who arranged the visit before we went to the school - I think my colleague was just a little spacy. So we went to her house afterwards. She is an elderly woman who started learning sign language after the death of her husband. She was obviously quite lonely. She fed us lots of rice, dal, and eggplants and kept heaping things onto my plate. Then she brought out fruits, desserts, and anything else she could find. I succeeded in eating the entire meal with my hands, though I found it difficult to use sign language at the same time.

The big event of Sunday was the purchase of 63 plants for our terrace and our living room, including 10 large palm trees. We now have shade and a nice breeze on our terrace, which we will proudly display to guests at our first party this Saturday.