Anuradha Paudwal donated more than 250 hearing aids to hearing impaired children on World Hearing Day March 3 in Bhubaneswar. The singer is now looking forward to gift hearing aids to hearing impaired children of municipal schools on a pan-India level. The Free Press Journal caught up with her for an exclusive chat.
An event called Gift Of Sound is set to be kickstarted today by Hon’ble Nitin Gadkari. It aims to restore hearing capacities among schoolchildren from BMC-run schools in the city She says, “We are going to flag off the screening for children from municipal schools and government schools pan India at the hands of Gadkariji. We will be giving them the hearing aid. We have screened about 2,000 children and about 175 children need hearing aids. These children are in class six or seven. Children can’t hear properly and don’t fit well but parents and teachers feel they don’t pay attention in studies.”
Paudwal’s 25 days old daughter passed away in 1983. She started social work in 1984 and that is the time when she realised premature children had to be kept in neonate and they cannot be kept in the regular ICU. Thus she donated a neonate, which was first-of-its-kind. She is creating awareness for hearing impaired children. Anuradha decided to initiate this cause by screening and testing hearing impaired children. She started first from Bhubaneswar when she got the opportunity to meet the president of India Droupadi Murmu. She then distributed hearing aids in her constituency Rairangpur.
Explaining about helping hearing impaired children across the country, Paudwal explains, “Firstly, we are working hard to create the buzz through our social welfare initiative Suryodaya foundation and also providing hearing instruments to hearing impaired children. Government schemes also help such children but there you need an Aadhar Card and certificates if economically backward. If they don’t have these certificates and all the other essentials, it becomes difficult for them to avail it. There are 75 per cent who need to avail the hearing instruments, so they can avail it from Suryodaya foundation.”
She adds, “If hearing impaired children are not treated, they develop deafness syndrome. So we are trying to help young children recover. Being an ambassador it’s a great responsibility. I have taken it up as a cause, by the grace of god people are coming to me and wish to make this initiative successful.”
Paudwal still takes time out to focus on her singing. “Yes, I have been very busy creating awareness for this cause but now I have realised that I am also a singer so I went to the studious and recorded song,” she shares.
When asked if she is interested in pursuing a singing career now, she states, “Whatever comes to me and if I like it, I take it up. Also, I am stamped as a devotional singer. Even if I go to any award functions people will say, ‘Aapki awaaz se hamara din shuru hota hai’. If I get something new, I will take it up. Nowadays, the genre of music has changed and everything is male-dominated. The 1990s melodies have changed. When you have sung the best, only if you come across any different composition only then you will be keen on taking it up.”
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