Vision of Umpteen Fearless Contributions to Society: NIRMAAN by Alankrita

Sangeeta Sambhi, Keekli Intern

“I believe that science proved to be my window into getting inclined towards studying literature.”

Alankrita Malhotra a class 12 student of Sanskriti School, New Delhi, studying physics, chemistry, English, economics and mathematics has big dreams. As an individual, she is driven to do something for the society, especially through language, as she is fond of exploring its various genres. Not only this, she is also an excellent chess player, having played in nationals (under 20 category). Other than this, she is fond of public speaking, and is enthusiastic to teach and learn. Her passion and vision led to the establishment an NGO, NIRMAAN, a free to access website with videos teaching creative writing and story-telling modules in Indian Sign Language for the hearing-impaired community in India.

Keekli: What is your perception on the status of deaf or the especially-abled people?

Alankrita: As per the Indian Constitution, only 22 languages are considered as officially acceptable. Unfortunately, sign language is not one of them. There is an isolated community of 63 million people, with hearing disability, which is flourishing in ignorance of not being included. I had the misperception of believing in the fact, that the applicability of sign language was same pan globe. Whereas, it ain’t so, rather, every nation has unique rules and regulations to follow the sign language.

Ignoring the importance of recognising sign language, as an official language to communicate, has left the community at the misery of thinking that they are either mentally challenged, or has inclined hesitation in communicating.

Keekli: How did you come up with the idea of starting an organisation? And with how many members?

Alankrita: As a child, my grandparents used to narrate tales of Panchatantra, ‘Heir and the Tortoise’, was one of my favourites. There was a charm in those stories, which played a fundamental role during my growing years, hence, making me curious and eager to know more about literature. That was it! As a teenager, I was soon reading a lot of novels and exploring different elements of literature.

Hence, whenever I wanted to express myself, I did so by writing a short story or through my journal. Thus, creative writing played an integral role in motivating me to do something for the community. A year and a half ago, I realised that there exists a community, which has been isolated by the only means of connecting communities, i.e., language. And this community never had the privilege of accessing pleasurable sources of literature and expression. This made me think, that I wanted to do something, which eases the process of learning for the hearing-impaired community.

But the next challenge was, that in order to help them, I myself had to know about the basics of the sign language, hence, I enrolled myself into a basic course provided by the Deaf Enabled Foundation. I did not stop at this, I further went on to learn about the advanced concepts of sign language, attaining a score of 95% in both. Then I realised that a simple search on YouTube, will not quench your thirst to learn more about the hearing-impaired people. Rather, something specific needs to be designed, which customises their need and understands the patterns.

Henceforth, I came up with the idea of establishing NIRMAAN, which is a free to access website, having modules based upon creative writing, literature and short stories. Also, at present, only I am working on the website, but I am looking at potential partners/members, who could join me in this cause to spread awareness regarding the importance of sign language.

Keekli: What motivated you to get an insight about the Indian Sign Language (ISL)?

Alankrita: In summers, during an internship at a school in Dhalli (locality in Mashobra Tehsil, Shimla District), a student came up to me and started stomping his foot. In the span of those five minutes, I tried to match his signs. But unfortunately, to my great surprise, I was astonished to know that the child wanted to go to the bathroom, and I could not understand his need of being from a different community. It was at that moment, when I decided to work for these people. For them to be inclusive of the dynamic world, we are a part of. It was only possible, when I had a deeper insight into their ways of communicating.

I was enthralled to know more about the Indian Sign Language (ISL). My instructor, who was also impaired, told me about the various ways in which the days of a week are exemplified. And for example, how the month September, nationally known as the month of Ganesh Chaturthi, is shown. It is indicated by the letter ‘S’, in the Indian Sign Language, and then with a vertical hand, extended downwards, symbolising the trunk of Lord Ganesh. Not only this, I also got to know about the fact, that the sign language of India, is similar to the that of Britain, due to the colonial rule, which was prevalent during the late 1850s.

Keekli: At what age did you start learning the Indian Sign Language (ISL)?

Alankrita: I was about 14 years, when I was keen and determined to learn the ISL officially. So, I enrolled myself into a basic course at first, and then, into an advanced course. During this period I learnt that in India itself, there are only 250 official interpreters of ISL, in comparison to a massive population of 63 million that exists.

Keekli: What was interesting thing about the course you took?

Alankrita: The course offered by Deaf Enabled Foundation, an NGO based in Hyderabad, offers both virtual and physical courses. The added benefit of being enrolled in this course is that, they tell you about the culture of the hearing-impaired people, and also about the vibrant nature of the community. One can always delve into the panorama of research topics available on various sites on the internet itself.

Keekli: What is your earliest memory of getting acquainted with creative writing?

Alankrita: I think I was in grade two, when my English teacher said that the class had to write a short story. And my story, was about how my shadow was a detective, who was trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. Even though I had only written around fifty words, I felt very proud of myself, as it gave a green signal on the fact, that I had an idea, and I knew how to put it on paper. That memory still happens to be my driving force. In fact, it happens to be one of the reasons, why NIRMAAN has a sub-category of creative writing module.

Keekli: Why did you specifically name your organization as NIRMAAN?

Alankrita: NIRMAAN is the Sanskrit word for creation, and it logo is a lotus. It is a long-known fact that lotuses rise from mud, and with this, we also know that in India, even the teacher training process for the hearing-impaired faces a lot of backwardness and loopholes, but still, the community has done wonders for itself, as it continues to flourish.

For example, while I was teaching in Dhalli, there was a grade one student, who was struggling to trace the letters with a pen on paper. Henceforth, in order to introduce an unconventional way of teaching, I made signs of some letters, in a tray with the help of shaving foam. This innovative approach made a little comfortable in understanding the patterns of the letters.

Through NIRMAAN, I want to propagate the idea that we all are creating together, as a community, as my moto is Creativity-Communication-Connection.

Keekli: What are the various disciplines that your organization caters to?

Alankrita: We have a module-based system, which is divided into two parts. First consists of the literature section and second is the creative writing module. Furthermore, the content is also divided according to the age group. For example: stories like Heir and the Tortoise and Two Geese and the Tortoise, are better suited to the younger audience. Whereas stories like Tenali Rama cater to an elder crowd. Nonetheless, currently I am working on translating few poems as well.

My understanding is that creative writing cannot be done until a certain age and pertaining to certain amount of basic knowledge of the same. Thus, I have a diary writing module scheduled by providing the starting points, in order to get them acquainted with the patterns. Not only this, I also give practice worksheets at the end of each module so that students can bolster the learnings and values of the course.

Keekli: Creativity, Communication and Connection are the three pillars of your organisation. What do they exemplify?

Alankrita: Creativity is the basic of my foundation as it provides space for growth and self-realization. Creativity is the lens through which the world can be perceived.

Communication signifies that humans have an innate desire to connect. If people are not given access to any of the official languages, they will create one. I think that is how it works. And a community of 63 million were stripped off from the need to communicate comfortably.

Connection is pretty much self-explanatory. At present, the world is not connected, it is not an equitable one. Hence, choosing it as a pillar of creation was important as it paves the path for a community operating in isolation to connect openly with the community, which resides other than the impaired ones.

Keekli: How do you manage to fund your organisation?

Alankrita: At present, I bear the expenses from my personal finances, as and when required. I also try through crowd-funding. Financial support is needed only for travel per se, but other than that there is no major monetary requirement.

Keekli: Tell us about your three weeks teaching experience in Shimla?

Alankrita: This experience quite elating. During the summer of 2022, I interned at the School for Hearing Impaired and Visually Impaired Children, operated by the Himachal Pradesh Council for Children Welfare. I submitted my credentials as a language expert, followed by an interview by the head master, and thus got the approval to teach.

I remember, when I entered the classroom on the very first day, the students were staring at me, with gleaming eyes, as they did not expect a random person to enter their classroom on one fine morning. But eventually I got along with them.

Keekli: What role do you play at Hindustan Times Future Issue?

Alankrita: I was selected as one of the editors of future for Hindustan Times School, which is a sub-group of Hindustan Times (HT). I was recommended on behalf of my school along with that 50 other students were selected from all over India. Our role was to lead social media campaigns, and also, to create worthy content for the Hindustan Times School platform, which relates to people involved in the education sector, like students, teachers, principals, etc. I was responsible for writing articles and poems, and as a team, we were liable for hosting certain events and shooting valid videos for the social media campaigns.

Keekli: You have also mentioned about your keen interest in chess? Since when have you been playing?

Alankrita: I started learning how to play chess when I was six years old or probably younger. I wasn’t a regular player, but as I turned ten, I put in that extra effort to be good. I started playing in my school team since the fifth grade, and now it has been almost eight years. I have enjoyed playing chess, as I feel that the 64 boxes of the battlefield are symbolic of life itself. It is a strategy-based game, but at the same time, it also requires a great deal of patience, dedication and physical strength. I played at Himachal State Level in 2021 and came first. Not only this, I also played the Nationals under 20, in which I grabbed a rank below 65. I have also won the best girl chess player award, at school, for three years, consecutively.

Keekli: What are some of the other organisations you have partnered with in relation to research and development?

Alankrita: I worked on two different research projects. The first one, I did on public policy and government fellowship, from the H21 Organization. It was an online fellowship for two weeks and it gave me a lot of insight into public policy formulating regime. By the end of my tenure, I wrote a research paper on Gender Biasness Propagated through Indian Education System, along with a group of five peers. The reason behind why I wrote it was the disheartening fact that the door of female washroom was pink whereas the door of the Male facility was blue. This happens to be one of the many incidents, females during the contemporary times face. It also poses a question of, what really do our text books teach us? Do they actually teach us something good? Or do they contribute towards creating gender biases? Not only this, under this programme, we also did an in-depth study of New Education Policy (NEP) 2021, and compared it with the ideal gender-based education model of Iceland.

The second research project that I did, was with Lumiere, wherein I had a one-on-one interaction with a PhD candidate. I studied about the fallacies lying in the reducing female labour force participation. In a country like India, which has such well-built programme of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, such a miserably low rate of participation is flabbergasting to be acquainted with. But nonetheless, I found out the niche in my research topic, the causal relationship between the female labour force participation and marriage. Not only this, but I also did regression analysis of the same.

Keekli: How do you maintain a healthy balance between switching the hat of a teacher and student?

Alankrita: I believe that at some point of time teachers also used to be students and that there is a hint of role reversal always. Each day, brings something new to explore and learn, for both the teachers and the students. I don’t really think, that there is something different in the thinking process since both work on similar patterns.

Keekli: Why did you choose only literature as a medium of inclusivity being a science student?

Alankrita: In my understanding, the Indian education system views subjects as mutually exclusive. But I do not think, that it is true. When I read poetry or when I read plays written by Shakespeare, I find a lot of scientific wisdom in them. Similarly, when I read my subjects of science in school, I find more English in it than in my English textbooks. I believe that science proved to be my window in getting inclined towards studying literature, in general. In fact, I even plan to study English at college, along with having double majors in data science, plus mathematics. I think that the combination of these subjects, is what we need, to think more clearly, and to also think beyond what we have been traditionally told.

Keekli: What future plans do you have for yourself and your organization?

Alankrita: For my organization, I am currently looking for people who would like to volunteer in ISL language and are also willing to take this organization forward with me. I may not be able to dedicate sufficient amount of time, once I get enrolled in a college.

And as far as my personal goals are concerned, I would be pursuing a degree in English, along with Data Sciences, from USA. I will always promote the idea that youth have the power to bring about a change in this world, and in order to bring about change, language along with policy implementation is the way. Therefore, my short-term goal is obviously, to study and know more about language, but my long-term goals consist of me, giving policy measures in order to create a more equitable world.

Keekli: What message would you like to give to your audience?

Alankrita: Never underestimate yourself. Every single person on the planet has the capability of unleashing her/his talent and doing so much. I also believe in the fact that goals seem to be really small, while one daydreams, but when one invests actionable input into it, the output is always beneficial by manifolds.