Strings hold Pakistan’s first concert for deaf people

Pop rock band Strings have never disappointed its fans with their music and they have again won hearts, not with a song but instead by including 300 deaf people in their latest concert.

For the first time in Pakistan, around 300 deaf people got to enjoy a concert held by Strings at Habib University on Thursday. Strings, which is already a popular band, gave another reason to its fans to love them even more as they celebrated 30 years of their album '30' by including deaf people, who were able to enjoy their songs as much as everyone else.

The deaf people not only got to enjoy the concert through sign language but also felt the music that was arranged in such a way for them so that they could feel the bass and fully experience the songs.

Congratulations to @connect_hear for hosting #Pakistan’s interpreted concert! It was my first @stringsonline concert, and I had so much fun! More power to the team behind this amazing startup. pic.twitter.com/vp7JSEU2dN

— ??? ????? ???? (@PatrioticNoodle) April 26, 2018

The concert started off with deaf models from Amir Adnan's ramp walk interpreting the national anthem. The concert was held with the collaboration of Habib University, Strings and startup ConnectHear. The company used the tagline of 'Deaf and Proud' for the concert.

@connect_hear hosts it's first deaf inclusive concert in Pakistan with @HabibUniversity. Sign with us to promote an inclusive society pic.twitter.com/d6w3MzLiKs

— Areej (@areej8998) April 26, 2018

ConnectHear was started in last June, which works to bridge the communication gap between people who are deaf and society. Speaking to Dawn Images, CEO and one of the three co-founders of ConnectHear, Azima Dhanjee, spoke about the appropriate term to use for a person who is hard of hearing. “Deaf is the term that the community worldwide identifies themselves as.” She added that 'hearing impaired' implies a deficit within a person.

Speaking about ConnectHear, Azima shared the various facilities that she, along with CSO Areej al Medinah, CTO Arhum Ishtiaq and sign language interpreter and trainer Muhammad Osama, provided to the deaf people.

The startup company provides sign language interpretation services both in person as well as video based for corporations and events. “We also have an online channel where we post content with a sign language interpreter hosting the video.”

The company is also working on a software that would convert any audio into sign language, Azima revealed. Speaking about the successful concert, Azima said that four interpreters of ConnectHear had worked with Strings for the concert.

On this achievement, Strings tweeted, “We are absolutely humbled and so grateful to ConnectHear and Habib University for giving us this opportunity.”