Durban — A Durban fashion designer, model and sign language singer is set to make his mark in New York City.
Adhil Ramnath, 38, left his IT job of 13 years to follow his passion for arts.
Ramnath said that when he left his job he was not satisfied with his salary and felt he had much to offer the arts field.
“I wanted to inspire other people living with disability to see that nothing can stop you from following your dreams,” he said.
Ramnath is deaf and communicates using South African Sign Language, lip reading and spoken language. He matriculated from the VN Naik School for the Deaf and studied information technology at DUT.
He auditioned for the International ARTS Talent Showcase (IATS) and was shortlisted from 600 artists in March this year. He has also had two callbacks for acting and modelling.
He said that after the final rounds of auditions in Sandton in October, he was the only deaf artist out of hundreds chosen to perform overseas at the International Modelling and Talent Association (Imta) conference in New York in July 2024. He also made the Top Ten Mr Africa in the South African category last year.
Ramnath said he was thrilled to perform as part of the Imta because they not only identified local talent, but also developed and nurtured that talent for possible career opportunities locally and internationally.
“At the moment we are attending training on how to perform and preparing us for the Imta. This is shaping me as an artist and I am learning a lot,” he said.
This year’s event alone awarded $1 026 750 worth of scholarships for aspiring talent to study at Amda College for arts in Los Angeles, turning many dreams into reality. For more than 50 years, Amda has launched some of the most successful careers in theatre, film and television.
Ramnath will perform his sign language song and showcase his designs in Times Square in the heart of New York City.
“Sign language is now the 12th official language and I love acting and doing sign language songs; so far I’ve written eight songs already. I’d like to be a role model for the deaf so they can see that anything is possible.”
He received an award from PanSALB for the best music category of South African Sign Language and won second place in the South of the Equator Model Competition 2022 against hearing competitors.
Ramnath has received a certificate in Acting from Oca Acting Studio, and Modelling from Mobile Model Management and completed his barista (coffee) training course from Bike and Bean Co recently.
He is studying to be a fashion designer at Amabhelevun Fashion School for the Deaf.
He said his most memorable career moment was winning the Mr Africa competition and was being given an opportunity to travel to New York.
The energetic model said he planned to open his own coffee shop one day and hire deaf people.
“I can take on everything and I am not nervous of hearing people because we are all human, have the same lives and live in the same world,” he said.
He said the only obstacle now was raising funds for his trip to New York but he relies on his motto to get by.
“My motto is that the road to success is always under construction.”
Independent on Saturday