Dr Unatkat did her MD in anaesthesiology and was assistant professor at the JJ Hospital for about seven years. What prompted her to switch tracks around 25 years ago was personal experience of the hardship faced by deaf children.

"My daughter was about nine months old and did not respond when we called out to her or made any loud sound. Being in the medical profession, I know that around this time a child turns its head in the direction of noise or looks at you when you talk even though it does not understand what you say," she says.

She does not dwell on her daughter's condition, but says that she had a lot of trouble finding the right line of treatment for her. "It was then that I realised what other parents in my position were facing, and decided to start this organisation to help them," she explains.

Dr Unatkat did her post-graduation in audiology in Australia and then took a BEd in Special Education for the Deaf from Mumbai University. She uses her expertise to select the right kind of hearing aids for deaf children and is also a qualified parent counsellor.

It was way back in 1983 that Dr Unatkat founded the SIHI of which she is director. The organisation works for the treatment and rehabilitation of people with hearing deficiencies, particularly children. It runs a clinic which diagnoses and treats their condition, and is attached to a special school for the deaf.

The doctor gave up her job at JJ Hospital in 1987 when she felt that the clinic required her services full-time. "After all, it is tougher to manage deaf children rather than adults because you have to impart the basics of speech to them. Adults already have a concept of language when they come to us," she says.

Well, that blows the myth that deaf children cannot talk. Dr Unatkat replies immediately, "Oh yes, they do! But a lot depends on whether they are diagnosed and fitted with hearing aids in time. If they receive the instrument in the first year of life, they are very likely to speak clearly enough to be understood. Of course, even children who are fitted with hearing aids before the age of three do well. And that is quite an achievement." It sure is, considering that even normal people have problems with speech. Some speak too fast or slow while others mispronounce words.

"At SIHI, we diagnose the nature of the children's deafness, and determine whether it is mild, severe or profound. We then fit them with suitable hearing aids," Dr Unatkat says. She explains that there are different kinds of hearing aids, digital and analog, which process speech according to the patient's requirement.

SIHI also runs a school which helps small children integrate into normal schools when they are around seven years old. Dr Unatkat admits that around 10 to 20 per cent of children drop out, but she still has a success rate of 80 per cent which is remarkable.

Counselling parents of deaf children occupies an important place on SIHI's agenda. "I understand the anxieties parents face when it is confirmed that their child is deaf. But we explain to them that with the right treatment many of these children can attend normal schools. In fact, some of our students have gone on to become graduates and postgraduates, and are gainfully employed. Some are management experts, one is a dentist and another is an engineer. And before you think they must be partially deaf, let me tell you this is not so. They are people who were born deaf and had minimal residual hearing. They have all overcome their handicap," Dr Unatkat says with well-earned pride.