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Dadkhai, Jammu and Kashmir, India – Dressed of their best shalwar-kameez and sporting well-trimmed moustaches, a gaggle of males are discussing dowry phrases, whereas the ladies are within the adjoining kitchen getting ready halwa together with dried fruits and pots of conventional, salty Kashmiri tea. Getting ready.
At Muhammad Sharif's modest house in Dadhkai, a small neighborhood nestled within the Himalayan mountains, the 2 households have gathered to plan the upcoming marriage ceremony of 19-year-old Reshma Sharif and 22-year-old Mukhtar Ahmed.
The bride's father, Muhammad Sharif, 40, waits patiently as the lads proceed their dialogue. They ultimately agreed on a dowry of $1,200 in money and a few gold jewelry. As quickly as sweets are introduced from the kitchen, the elders murmur prayers. The home's tough wood ceiling, earthen flooring and vibrant partitions painted in pink and inexperienced are echoing with the sounds of celebration.
However whereas each households have adopted all the normal guidelines of marriage, this marriage ceremony will likely be removed from bizarre: each the bride and groom, like dozens of others of their village, are deaf and mute.
The situation has unfold throughout generations of Dadhkai for the reason that first case was recorded greater than a century in the past. At any time when a marriage takes place, ideas inevitably flip to the day when the brand new couple could have kids. Even when the mother and father are usually not deaf and dumb, there may be nonetheless a concern that their kids will likely be deaf and dumb.
“We face this concern with unwavering religion, bravely pushing it again into the shadows,” says village head Muhammad Hanif, who attends the festivities within the Sharif household.
Throughout the whole celebration, the bride-to-be stays within the kitchen, following the normal conservative values of her Gujjar ethnic group. Her fiancé caters to the visitors, serving to to serve the meals whereas members of the family provide greetings.
Exterior within the courtyard, villager Alam Hussain, an aged man with a white beard, deep wrinkles and a skinny physique, is quietly tending a herd of cattle. At 63, he’s among the many oldest deaf-mute individuals within the village, and the one one in his household to undergo from the situation.
“I don't keep in mind what number of deaf individuals there have been in my childhood; Reminiscence betrays me in outdated age,'' Hussain says, pointing an index in the direction of his head and waving his different hand within the air, expressing his battle with reminiscence loss.
He communicates by means of an indication language interpreter: his neighbor, Shah Muhammad, who treats Hussein with respect and deference, pointing to the excessive respect for elders on this neighborhood.
However Hussain, who’s single, spends most of his time alone. The one work he will get is in the summertime, when he takes the cattle out for grazing. He says that previously, it was notably difficult for deaf villagers to seek out companions. Because the variety of individuals unable to listen to or communicate has elevated through the years, the social panorama has modified dramatically.