2026 Teens Dream - A better world for deaf pedestrians
My eyesight was very poor as a child since birth. I would not look properly nor react if someone brought something forward or pointed. At that time, many people thought that I might be blind. After taking it to the doctor, it was found that the power of my eye lens is very low. After retinal surgery on both eyes in Chennai, India, at the age of six, I was able to see with glasses. My mother was my greatest strength during these difficult times. She always used to tell me the story of my aunt to give me courage. My aunt’s name is Mili; she was hearing and speech impaired. Although she never attended a formal school, her intellect was very sharp. She could take decisions very sensibly and excelled in studies. She used to teach my mother and her younger siblings to study with the knowledge learned from the elder brothers. But despite having so many qualities, she has to face numerous problems in life only because of hearing and speech impairment. Various obstacles in the society, like not being allowed to go out alone and insecurity, these thoughts and obstacles restricted her life.
Later when I was working on a mechanical project, an idea suddenly came to me. Another cousin of mine is also hearing and speech impaired; in their house a bulb lights up with a calling bell. On the other hand, there is a common project: clapping turns on the home theater. Putting these two ideas together, I started to wonder if we could come up with an effective solution for the hearing and speech impaired. From there I took it as my life’s mission to work for these people.
My dream is to build a society where no one is judged on the basis of birth ability or disability. Rather, a person will be evaluated on the basis of how he or she develops over time, what their mentality is, and what they can contribute to the society. To realize this dream, we must first reduce these inequalities in the society and remove the obstacles in the daily life of disabled people. This is why my dream is directly related to UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and Goal 10 (Reduced Inequalities). It is my dream that we can build an inclusive, humane, and just society by transforming healthcare and ensuring equality through technology.