On Sign Language Day, an interpreter recalls a moment on stage with the President

When President Droupadi Murmu delivered her address at the first convocation of the Central Tribal University of Andhra Pradesh in Visakhapatnam in June, Ms. K.V.L. Suchitra Balakrishna stood beside her on the dais, rendering the Hindi-language speech into sign language as it was spoken. “Within a fraction of a second, I was able to translate it,” she said, recalling the moment the Governor, the State’s Education Minister and the Union Education Minister were also present.

Ms. Suchitra, says she signs fluently in five languages, Telugu, Hindi, English, Odia and Bengali, believes that range was why officials chose her for the assignment.