Delhi: Radio City, India’s leading radio network has always been in the forefront when it comes to addressing the issues faced by the many marginalized communities in the country. With the onset of Covid-19, the hearing impaired community has been facing a hard time communicating since their primary way of communication, lip-reading, is no longer available. To address their plight, Radio City Delhi’s RJ Divya along with Atulyakala, a Delhi based social enterprise that provides platform for the community to design merchandize launched a new campaign called “Signs of Happiness”. Under this campaign, RJ Divya and Smriti Nagpal, Founder of Atulyakalaare highlighting the importance of Indian sign language by talking to several employers, experts and listener during the mid-morning show and conducting tutorials on Radio City’s social media platforms.
The campaign commenced with Radio City posting a heartwarming open-letter video by RJ Divya and Smriti Nagpal to the hearing impaired community. This letter is their way of promising to create better, obstruction-free communication as the duo learn and teach the basics of Indian sign language. The letter that was posted on Radio City’s social media platforms has been highly appreciated by the people from the said community and otherwise. As the next step, RJ Divya on her show 11 se 2 Maa Behen Ka show that airs Monday – Saturday, with the help of Smriti is posting basic Indian sign language tutorials on the radio channel’s social media platforms. These tutorial videos have so far received an overwhelming response with over 10,000 views. The channel team has also earned hundreds of appreciation messages pouring in from people across the country. Also for their on-air segment, the channel has been receiving countless calls from listeners who are keen to learn Indian sign language as well as from people who are willing to provide their expertise in different languages and be a part of the campaign, one of them being French.
Commenting on this, Mr. Kartik Kalla, Chief Creative Officer, Radio City said, “Through the power of radio and with the help of our RJs we are trying our best to raise awareness about issues that need our immediate attention. Everybody is adapting to the new routine of going out with the mask on, but the hearing impaired community is still facing issues adapting to this new normal. With the association with Atulyakala, who have so far trained 40,000 people in Indian sign language, I am confident we will be able to make some difference to the lives of the community. We now request people to join us in our cause and help us teach and learn for the sake of our specially-privileged friends.”
Along with their listeners, Radio City has also seen active participation from some leading corporates, who talked about their inclusivity policies and why it is necessary to promote Indian sign language. To culminate this activity, Radio City has also rejigged its ‘Rag Rag Mein Daude City’ jingle with low frequency beats so that the hearing impaired community can also enjoy the song through vibrations. Ahead of the International Week of the Deaf, the channel plans to create maximum awareness towards understanding the Indian sign language and urges Delhiites to participate in large numbers and show their support to this community.
