the deafening silence...

Sunday...again time for a trip to a chosen institution with the Aashayein foundation. today, the venue for Sunday breakfast serving was Model school for the deaf.

we knew that this trip is going different from all other regular orphanages/organizations we visit...all the inmates today were deaf (and hence speech impaired) kids...human's ability to speak is very tightly coupled with the ability to hear...for those who are deaf since birth, don't know how words sound and hence are not able to reproduce them...almost all the conversation today was happening in sign language...there was a genuine effort from both sides to try and get the message across...one of the volunteers of the foundation actually did some homework and learnt some basic signs which did help get things going...the kids were too eager to 'talk' to us...the absence of a vocal channel between us was hardly a hurdle...they were beautifully painting letters in the air with their tiny fingers and we were making an earnest effort to guess what they are trying to say...we decoded the names of almost all the kids - not bad at all...they told us in which class they study, who cooks for them, who dances very well among them along with a lot of other significant and insignificant things about them...

the dancer took over and he put up a cool show for us...the only difference was - there was no music...or shall I say, the music as we know it...his each step and each move of the hand was cheerfully greeted with all his friends clapping...the sound of which, got lost somewhere in the transition...I wonder why they were clapping - neither the person for whom it was intended nor the kids who were clapping can hear the magical sound that two hands can create when they come together...

though the place was meant for deaf, it was not silent at all...there was chuckle here, a laughter there, a grunt around the corner somewhere and lots of ummmhs and aaahs trying to draw our attention towards them...I, with the camera, generally dont have too much trouble breaking the ice at such places...in other organizations we visit, the local language generally comes in the way for me...but today, it was not the case...just click a few photos and show it to them...and they will never leave me for even a minute for the entire time I am there...

two more that came too close for today's blip...
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hope you have a great sunday ahead!