Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 18: A 17 year-old Kashmiri teenage girl, Arwa Imtiyaz has become the voice of voiceless Kashmiri sportspersons as she plays the role of a translator for around 350 deaf and dumb sportspersons who are registered with Jammu and Kashmir Sports Association.
It is said that charity begins at home and rightly so as Arwa, a resident of Nowgam derives her passion for assisting people with needs from her home as four of her family members suffer from the same problem.
It all started five years ago when she started accompanying deaf and dumb sportspersons with special needs.
“My maternal uncle (Mamu) took me with him and made me interact with deaf and dumb people. This is my fifth year with all these people and I understand everything they say through sign language, later I translate that to other normal persons,” Arwa said.
She stated the thought came to her mind looking at her mother how she used to interact with deaf and dumb persons. “I didn’t take any classes in sign language; I learned this from my mother.”
“My mother, my ‘massi’ and my ‘mami’ all are deaf and dumb. Watching their struggle to interact with people made me more focussed and committed to help deaf and dumb,” Arwa said.
Arwa came into limelight couple of years back when she helped a group of hearing and speech impaired badminton players by becoming their voice.
She is usually seen at tournaments along with these sportspersons and travels with them across the country.
“I had developed that sense of how to deal with hearing and speech impaired persons. Looking at their struggle to communicate with other people, I promised myself that I would try and become their voices as I wasn’t able to see their struggle of sharing their feelings with others.”
At the moment, Arwa deals with sportspersons only. Her uncle accompanies her as he takes care of all the events that are to be organized and Arwa mentors these specially-abled sportspersons, what they say or feel.
“They share their problems with me, take me to their homes and ask me to address people there and make them understand what they feel or what they want to convey,” Arwa said.
As they say nothing comes so easy, Arwa also had to face major challenges in her life including her financial deprivation in the family. Her father is an auto rickshaw driver, mother a housewife, elder brother is also an auto rickshaw driver and her youngest brother is a 5th class student.
“We have suffered economically a great deal as my father’s earning is as low as Rs 200 per day. When I am travelling for the job my uncle pays the bills. I always think that one day I will become successful and make them happy and will fulfil their every dream.
Arwa believes disability is an important issue. The society lacks conviction in appreciating the struggles of the specially-abled.
“I have seen my mother being made fun of because of her disability and people teasing her for her condition, it’s an everyday struggle,” she said.
However, Arwa expressed her dismay over the persistent shutdown that lasted over five months. She asserted that the communication blockade post-August 5, 2019 sent these specially-abled persons into isolation.
“They used to talk or chat through messages on their mobile phones. Since everything was shut after the abrogation of Article 370, things completely changed as none of these persons interacted or talked to anyone during these months.
All the national and international events got cancelled in the process because they weren’t in touch with anyone that brought huge loss.
During these five years Arwa has trained around 300 people and wishes to train more and more.
“My message to everyone out there is I am here and always available for people. If anyone wants some assistance I will try my level best to help needy people.”
Arwa is becoming an inspiration for many people and want them to follow her footsteps.
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