Can't hear, can't speak, but he can do it all

GURGAON: He can neither hear nor speak. But that has not prevented Suresh Vats from setting up and running a successful picture framing business for the last 27 years. And he has even gifted a vocation to three of his brothers and settled them well in the trade.

Down the steps of one of the alleys off the main Sikanderpur market lies a photo-framing shop where he practises his craft. Suresh has been a deaf-mute since birth. He was born the third son of a small farmer in Lohagarh village near Mathura. When he was 15, a relative brought him to Delhi's Hauz Khas village to work in a tailoring shop where all employees and even the owner and his wife were hearing-impaired and speech-impaired. Because of his innate intelligence he soon became the team leader of that group.

Close to this shop there was a picture framing outfit. The craft fascinated Suresh. Merely by observing he learnt the trade and set up a small operation within the tailoring shop. Later in 1986, he started his own business. Two years down the line he called his brother, Om Prakash, over from the village to join him. Having someone who could speak was a major gain for the enterprise.

In 1992 yet another sibling, Mahesh was called to join the operation in Hauz Khas. Three years later they decided to branch out. And Suresh and Om Prakash moved to their present location in Gurgaon. A few years later the youngest brother, Subhash, was also given the opportunity to learn and join the business. He later set up shop in Sukhrali.

Because of Suresh's disability, Om Prakash and his wife Laxmi are the front people in the Sikanderpur shop. But on the upper floor of the same building where he has his workshop, the founder of the operation is busy mounting paintings and photographs and putting them in frames. As with all such shops, they have a large variety of frames to choose from. Whenever Suresh is in the 'front office' and gets to interact with customers, he can counsel them about the aesthetics of picture framing with suitable gestures. The choice of an inappropriate frame invites a grimace from him. If the customer selects an apt one, his eyes light up. Apart from the new customers, they have a steady lot of old ones who have been patronizing the business for years.

Suresh was married to Babita in 1992, a match arranged through a friend. They live in Mehrauli and have a college-going daughter, Vidushi. The mother and daughter have no physical handicap. So, now both at work and at home he has his family to help him overcome his congenital challenges. And the brothers are ever so grateful to him. "Whatever we are today is all because of him," says Om Prakash.

Suresh never went to school. But in Hauz Khas village he had among his colleagues people who were literate. From them he picked up basic Hindi and arithmetic. That makes written communication possible. Used selectively, it can be an advantage. He can quote his price on a piece of paper and then switch off!