Emma’s earliest memories are not of spoken words, but of hands in motion. At just three years old, her parents, both Deaf, gifted her a mother tongue unlike any other, sign language. For her, it was not something to be studied in books or memorized in classrooms; it was the heartbeat of her home. It was how her mother said I love you. It was how her father told stories. It was how they laughed, argued, shared meals, and lived life together.
For Emma, sign language was never an “alternative.” It was life itself.
The Bridge Between Two Worlds
At the age of ten, Emma found herself standing at an invisible bridge, the one connecting her parents and the hearing world. A doctor’s visit, a neighbor’s conversation, a school form, she was their interpreter, their voice, their ears. What began as love for her parents soon grew into a lifelong mission: to ensure no Deaf person felt excluded.
By nineteen, she joined Signable, India’s pioneering video relay service. Suddenly, Emma was not just interpreting for her family, she was interpreting for thousands. Whether it was a doctor’s appointment, a job interview, a business meeting, or simply booking a gas cylinder, Emma’s hands carried people across the bridge to opportunity, dignity, and belonging.
A Symphony of Languages
Emma speaks seven spoken languages, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, English, Hindi, and Urdu. But the truth is, she never “studied” them. She picked them up naturally, listening to friends and neighbors, all in her quest to help her parents navigate the hearing world. What she did out of love became the foundation of her career. Today, she dreams of learning even more languages, believing that every new word is another door opened for the Deaf community.
The Lessons of Silence
Through Signable, Emma found not just a profession, but a purpose. She discovered that inclusion is not a gift, it is a responsibility. She learned that sometimes the solution to life’s problems is not hidden in complexity, but in compassion.
“When someone is left out,” Emma reflects, “we can be the one who makes space for them to belong and thrive.”
Her story is not about sound or silence, but about connection. About hands that speak when voices fail. About how love finds a way to communicate even in the quietest of rooms.
A Movement Beyond One Voice
Emma knows she is not alone. With platforms like VOSAP, she has seen a movement rise, a collective call for accessibility, dignity, and equality. It is no longer just about interpreting a call or translating a conversation. It is about reshaping society so that Deaf individuals are not outsiders looking in, but participants shaping the future.
The Final Word
Emma’s story is more than a biography; it is poetry in motion. Her life reminds us that language is not only about words, it is about connection. She shows us that silence is not emptiness but a canvas for expression.
For Emma, sign language is not something she learned. It is something she lived. It is the way she loved, laughed, and belonged. It is the way she gave others a chance to belong too.
And in her hands, the world is not divided by sound or silence.
It is united—gesture by gesture, word by word, soul by soul.
