Rappers give a push to sign language campaign

Mumbai: Recently, when rapper Enkore aka Ankur Johar thanked a delivery executive who arrived at his door with a parcel, the latter gestured that he was Deaf. Without missing a beat, Enkore touched his own chin with his right hand and then extended it halfway towards the stranger with a smile. "I was happy I could convey my gratitude to him in sign language," said the rapper, recalling the wordless exchange that was an unexpected side-effect of his participation in the inclusivity campaign ‘The Right Signs'.
As part of this initiative, aimed at normalising the use of Indian Sign Language (ISL) in mainstream culture, four rappers—Indeep Bakshi, V-Town Chronicles, Enkore and Y-ASH 1HUNNED—learned 40 words in ISL, ranging from ‘brother' to ‘mother', and later, re-released their music videos— ‘Alone', ‘Flex', ‘Dhalta Chand', and ‘Jo Dekha Wo Likha'—replacing typical gang signs with ISL signs. "Earlier, I would have signaled ‘game over' like this," said Astarif of the Vikhroli-based four-member band V-Town Chronicles, slicing the air in front of his neck with his right thumb. "Now, I do this," he added, turning his hands into what look like two vibrating phones before swiping his right palm over his left.

The campaign, launched by Verse Innovation, a local language tech platform, and the Indian Signing Hands Foundation (SHF), a channel for the Deaf, aims to bridge the communication gap between India's Deaf community and the rest of the population by promoting the use of ISL in mainstream culture.
"India is home to around 20% of the global Deaf population," said Alok Kejriwal, founder of SHF at an event announcing the campaign on Tuesday. "Despite this massive number, awareness, inclusion and accessibility for the community in India remain alarmingly low," he said.
Kejriwal, who studied in the US where he saw American Sign Language (ASL) widely taught and used in schools, public services and media, highlighted that only 0.05% of Indians are proficient in ISL. "This means most Deaf people have no way to fully communicate with others around them, even within their own families, leading to loneliness and isolation," added Kejriwal, who believes the campaign will break down walls by empowering the hearing community to embrace ISL.
The idea for the campaign stemmed from the realisation that homegrown rappers often "use gang hand signs that have no relevance in India, while sign language, which also uses signs, is not widely known". "That's why we chose rap," said Amit Akali of Wondrlab, a martech platform responsible for the campaign's creative execution, in collaboration with Lucifer Music.
During sessions with ISL instructors like Harish Bhatia, Enkore said they realised "it's not rocket science".
Samir Vora, chief marketing officer of Verse Innovation, cited Coldplay's inclusion of an interpreter at their gigs in India and accessible spaces for differently-abled concertgoers during their Mumbai concert.
"This initiative encourages other artistes and creators to incorporate sign language in their performances," said Vora. The campaign released a tutorial featuring 40 essential phrases by the rappers.