Fifteen-year-old Arwa Imtiyaz is a voice of sportspeople who can neither hear or speak.
She was not trained at a special school but is now training about 300 differentially abled sportpersons.
Many in her family including her mother can’t speak or hear.. She says growing up in such an atmosphere, understanding their voices came natural to her.
She often gives up classes to accompany J&K teams to tournaments across the country,. She takes calls from worried families, liaise with organisers and officials. It hasn’t been easy, she admits, especially convincing parents of such children to let go.
She became a translator at the age of 11 after she joined her maternal uncle who runs an association for differently-abled sportspersons. Her uncle is also hearing-impaired.
Her mother and maternal uncle were badminton players and won many medals at state and national level. They couldn’t make it big probably there was no one around them like Arwa, who felt their pain even at her tender age.
