Voice Within Silence

 🌟 When Diwali Spoke to Me There are many festivals I enjoy Pongal, Navaratri, Ayudha Pooja, Saraswati Pooja, Vijayadasami… each one has its own beauty, traditions, and joy. But Diwali feels different. It feels special, the one festival where I don’t just watch the celebration, I hear it, feel it, and live it fully. This year, I joined my brother to burst crackers. For safety, I removed my sound processor. Holding an incense stick, I touched it to the mouth of the first cracker, then ran just as it started to light up. The Bijili and Lakshmi cracked and popped sharply on the ground and I could hear every spark, every vibration, clearly, even without my processor. Then came the rockets and shots , soaring into the sky and blasting above us. I felt the echoes roll across the air. Finally, the 1000-wala crackled and roared, stretching its sound into a long, rolling wave. In that moment, something strange happened in my ears a little blocked-ear sensation , like the feeling...

 We Hear Differently, But We Still Do Everything People often see my cochlear implant and say, “Oh, so now you can hear just like everyone else!” I usually smile. I want to say, “Not exactly.” But it is not a sad thing. It is just different. Hearing for me comes through a small device, a sound processor and an implant. Together, they send signals to my brain so I can listen, understand, and connect. It is not the same as natural hearing. Sometimes my brain has to work extra hard, especially in noisy places, to make sense of what is happening around me. Listening can take a little longer. But I do it. And I do it well. Back in school, I sat in the same classroom, wrote the same question papers, and did the same exams as everyone else. No special treatment. No extra help. I participated in competitions, stood on stage, danced, spoke, and even sang. Teachers never treated me differently and I did not want them to. I just wanted to be part of everything. College was the same. Seminars,...

When Silence Feels Like a Missing Piece People often tell me, “You’re lucky, you can just turn it off.” They mean my cochlear implant. To them, it is a magic button, something that lets me escape noise, avoid chaos, and enjoy silence whenever I wish. They imagine silence as peace. But for me, silence feels like something missing, like part of my world suddenly fades away. When I remove my processor, the world does not just go quiet, it disappears. The walls still stand, but they no longer speak. The air feels still, too still, as if life itself pauses. Even if I sit in a calm room, my mind does not rest. It searches for sound, a hint of wind brushing the leaves, the hum of a fan, the soft rhythm of footsteps, the comfort of knowing I am still part of this world that makes noise. People say noise distracts them. For me, sound keeps me grounded. Without it, my focus drifts; my thoughts float in an invisible fog. I crave even the tiniest sound, a bird’s chirp, a door creak, or my o...

  When Sharing Experiences Becomes a Step Toward Inclusion Sometimes, when we share our challenges or experiences, people react in ways that hurt more than help. Words like “you’re overthinking” , “you want attention” , or “that’s your problem, not ours” are common. Most of the time, we stay quiet,  not because we don’t care, but because speaking up feels exhausting. Yet, every experience shared is an opportunity. When someone speaks honestly about their struggles, it’s not to complain or seek sympathy, it’s to help others see gaps, spark innovation, and create a world that’s truly inclusive and accessible. Even when sharing challenges, it’s possible to do it constructively focusing on solutions, suggestions, or ways to improve. This not only protects the integrity of products or services but also helps companies design better, more accessible solutions that reach and benefit more people. Inclusion isn’t just ramps, captions, or technology. It begins with listening, truly...

  🎙️ Wired for Sound: Voices from the Cochlear Implant Wellness Collective I’m so excited to share the launch of our new podcast series, created together with my founder Dr. Vie . This space brings together science, lived experiences, and real stories from the cochlear implant and hearing loss community. 💡 In Episode 1: From Silence to Signal, I share my own journey: growing up in silence in Coimbatore, studying in an Oral School for the Hearing Impaired, and receiving my cochlear implant at the age of 5. It was the beginning of finding my voice between two worlds. This is just the first of many voices we will be sharing from parents, professionals, and cochlear implant users around the world. 💙 Grateful to Dr. Vie for co-creating this platform with me, and to everyone who supports this mission of awareness and inclusion. 🎧 If you’d like to listen, here’s the link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0TM4ILlBD5N4qyULA6A97H?si=xRSUz3KxRU2WtkDdCAGfHA 💙 We’d love for you to join u...

  Beyond Normal: A Candle or a Laser Beam Sometimes, I catch myself comparing.   I look at people around me, the ones who hear without even thinking about it. They were born with sound. They wake up in the morning and the world already speaks to them. And then I look at myself. My hearing didn’t come easily. It wasn’t a gift handed to me at birth. It was something I had to fight for, with surgeries, therapy, practice, mistakes, and countless moments of doubt. There were days when I asked,  Why me? Why can’t I just be “normal”? But over time, I realized something important: comparing myself to someone who was born with hearing is like comparing a candle to a laser beam. A candle burns because it was meant to. A laser beam shines because it was engineered to cut through the dark with incredible power. Both give light, but in very different ways. That’s how I see myself now. Not as “less than normal.” Not as someone always trying to catch up. But as someone whose journey cr...