{
  "id": 9179185,
  "title": "International Day Of Sign Languages Celebrates Four Inspiring Achievers From Bhopal",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/22/international-day-of-sign-languages-celebrates-four-inspiring",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-22T18:31:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Press Journal",
    "slug": "free-press-journal",
    "url": "https://www.freepressjournal.in/bhopal/international-day-of-sign-languages-celebrates-four-inspiring-achievers-from-bhopal"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On International Day of Sign Languages, Free Press highlights four remarkable Bhopal residents who overcame hearing and speech impairments to achieve success. Kanishka Sharma, 18, is a taekwondo athlete who represented India at multiple international competitions, including the Tokyo Deaflympics 2025 and the 10th Asia Pacific Deaf Games in Malaysia (2024). Her father, Kapil Sharma, quit his photography business to support her sports career and is currently learning sign language to communicate better with his daughter.\n\nGauranshi Sharma, 19, is a badminton player who won multiple gold medals at Deaflympics and World Youth Deaf Badminton Championship. Trained by Indonesian coach Agus Dwi Samtoso at Gopichand Badminton Academy, she will represent India in the Asia Pacific Deaf Championships 2026 in Malaysia. Gauranshi's mother, Preeti Sharma, is proud of her daughter's accomplishments despite their shared disability.\n\nPriti Soni, 28, is a deaf woman who founded Deaf Can Foundation to promote deaf awareness, accessibility, women's rights, and sign language rights. She has spoken at various organizations and NGOs across India and at the Pre-Conference on Gender Equality in Nairobi, Kenya. Her own life has been marked by the challenges of living with a hearing impairment, having been raised by a single mother who worked in the railway system.\n\nMadhu Devi Lakhera, 36, is a deaf and speech-impaired woman who has dedicated her life to teaching at Asha Niketan for 15 years. She teaches art and craft, finding satisfaction in contributing to the education of divyang children. Madhu has expressed concern over the lack of trained sign language teachers in the state, stating that the ideal teacher-to-student ratio should be 1:10, but in Madhya Pradesh, it is only 1:20.",
  "summary": "Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): To mark the International Day of Sign Languages, Free Press brings the inspiring stories of four extraordinary individuals from Bhopal who refused to let hearing and speech impairment define their boundaries. Through grit, family support and relentless dedication, they have represented India in international sports and created educational avenues for special-needs…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}