What does it take to be a sign language interpreter?

Sign language interpreters in Kerala make events inclusive

In November when the play In the Blue Houses Dream The Mountains was performed at the School of Drama in Thrissur, Livin C Lonakutty’s nimble fingers and expressions were capturing the action on stage for over 20 hearing-impaired (HI) people in the audience. With that, Livin, a sign language interpreter (SLI), made it an inclusive experience for the audience.

For Vinayachandran BS, another SLI, it was a memorable occasion when he did a commentary in sign language at the finals of the second National Test Cricket championship for the HI held in Thiruvananthapuram last year. He was also in the news for making videos for the World Health Organisation in Indian Sign Language (ISL) during the pandemic.

Thanks to the sign language interpreters, many organisers are able to make their events inclusive. International Day of Sign Languages is observed on September 23, along with International Week of the Deaf.

“When I started my career as an interpreter around eight years ago, opportunities in Kerala were few. Things have changed a lot in the last three years,” says Thrissur-native Livin. On his tryst with theatre he says, “I trained with them for over two weeks. I had to act out everything, including the background score, for the audience.” He has also trained actor Aditi Rao Hydari for her role in Sufiyum Sujatayum.

Sign Language Interpreters have become familiar faces, thanks to news bulletins for the HI on Malayalam news channels. Half-an-hour daily bulletins on Asianet, Mathrubhumi, Manorama News, Kairali TV, and 24 News have given them visibility.

However, things did not start on a positive note in the newsrooms, says S Vyshnevi Maya. “People used to post nasty comments about our expressions and actions or called up the channel’s office to complain. It was disheartening. We wondered how people could be so ignorant about what we are doing,” says Vyshnevi, who helped out an artist in Mammootty’s CBI 5 and was in the reality show Bigg Boss [on Asianet] to interpret for actor Abhinaya who is HI.

Vinayachandran explains that many have no idea that sign language interpretation involves 40% expression in addition to signs. “When landslides hit Wayanad, one of the straplines was Hridayam potti Wayanad (Heartbroken Wayanad). We have to show the grief and pain on our faces. Otherwise, we are mere translators,” he adds. The veteran has worked in a music video featuring Sunidhi Chauhan’s voice.