Shot of self belief

September 28, 2016 09:39 pm | Updated November 01, 2016 09:34 pm IST

Deepa Malik on her knack for finding a silver lining in every dark cloud

CELEBRATING LIFE Deepa Malik with her family in Gurgaon

CELEBRATING LIFE Deepa Malik with her family in Gurgaon

In popular culture, we often talk about Sunny Deol’s filmy grip but here is a lady who has single-handedly thrown stereotypes associated with disabled out of the window. From a physically challenged rider eager to break records in car rallies to becoming the first Indian woman to win a medal at Paralympics, Deepa Malik has come a long way. “It is all about putting mind over matter,” says an elated Deepa eager to celebrate her 46th birthday with her family this Friday. “I have gone through a rigorous training schedule. I have not eaten chapatti and sweets for the last nine months.”

It has been a fortnight since Deepa snared silver medal in shot put in F-53 category. Her brilliant performance has generated interest in para-sports and their technical details. “F-53 is the categorisation of my ability in my discipline. To give the para athletes a fair chance of play, you are made to compete with athletes of equal functionality of muscles and body parts. As per your capability you are categorised. There are separate categories for visually impaired and athletes with cerebral palsy. The wheel-chair categories are marked from F 51 to F 58. The most disabled come in F-51, I am F-53, so I come under a fairly severe disability category.”

With Deepa multitasking is a way of life. She is equally adept at javelin throw as she is confident about shot put. Besides she is an excellent swimmer who can swim in Yamuna as well. It is just that she doesn’t feel any sensation below the chest because of spastic paraplegia that has confined her to a wheel chair since 1999. “To give us a fair chance, this year the Raza Point System was erased and in my category there was only shot put this time. It is a good development because in my category body function is so less that there is no chance of improvement.”

Excellence in multiple disciplines, she says, gives her more opportunities to participate in international events and confidence to cope up with her disability. “If we put our mind to it and we are ready to adapt, we can learn and excel at any age. In each of these disciplines, I have competed at the highest level.” Deepa has been part of a working group formed by the Government of India to formulate policies for physically challenged sportspersons. “The efforts have worked as five participants have achieved their personal best and we have returned with the biggest medal haul. The graph is only going up. The Prime Minister invited us and spoke about us in Mann Ki Baat. The media has been extremely supportive. It seems the nation is ready to cheer for para sports like any other game,” says Deepa on the sidelines of the shooting of the finale episode of MTV’s Angels of Rock in New Delhi .

Unlike her fellow athletes, Deepa broke through when society was not all that supportive and infrastructure was virtually absent. “That is one thing that makes me a role model because I have not waited for things to change and have overcome obstacles by grit and determination. Now we have Sugamaya Bharat Abhiyaan (Accessible India Campaign). It should not remain just a policy. It is time to take action. Everybody needs to take an initiative to make this country a better place for people with any kind of disability. Give us a chance. Whenever I have been given an opportunity I have excelled,” relates Deepa.

She adds that she has never shied away from asking help from friends. “That is the mantra I have followed. I have asked openly for help because I know I need help. My way of battling lack of infrastructure was by creating an infrastructure of friends around me.” Deepa says asking for help should not fill a person with inferiority complex because it also gives the help provider a sense of satisfaction. “It is about celebrating human spirit.”

Talking about her gruelling training schedule, Deepa says when she qualified she was seventh and knew that to make it to the podium she would require something extra. “I refined my approach. I shifted gears from old school training to a more scientific method. Instead of going to an athletics coach, I took the services of a bio mechanics coach, Vaibhav Sirohi, who gave me fitness training and along with it I was under a very strict diet decided by nutritionist Chirag Sethi. The administrative requirements were taken care of by my long time friend and supporter Prateek Gehlot. And the skill coaching was taken over by my husband. These were my four pillars.”

After every training session, she required a long session of physiotherapy. “When I do any exercise, muscles, which have been rendered inactive, contract and get into a spasm and hamper the movement of the active muscles. Sometimes the session lasts from 2 to 3 hours. The diet has to be very closely watched. After every two hours I have to eat something. Because of lack of stomach muscles, my digestion is very poor. It is a huge effort to maintain a protein-oriented diet. I had to cut down on sweets and carbohydrates in a very massive way. That was the craziest part,” she laughs. And to keep her motivation going she took help of Dr. P. Agarwal. “So it was an all round effort. Winning a Paralympic medal is not a joke,” she underlines.

The process is expensive as well. “My wheel chair costs around Rs.3 lakhs and the javelin costs around Rs.75,000 and one is not enough as you have to change it after every three months. The trainer comes for a price. The wheel chair accommodation is more expensive than the regular one. I can’t rent an apartment anywhere. It has to be a proper society with a dedicated parking area. The expenses are high and that is why I trained myself to be a motivational speaker and take projects in corporate houses. I found a solution rather than crying over it. I had to learn it all the way because I was just a housewife when the tumour changed my life. I turned my hobbies into my goals.”

The point is, she elaborates, if you are serious about your work, support does come. “The winner in my event was a hijab sporting woman from Bahrain. Women are making a statement in all walks of life.” Moving ahead, Deepa wants to instil the belief in fellow athletes that if you can put your mind to it, you can do it. “ I want to inculcate self motivation and self esteem and ensure that sports also become a medium of social and financial empowerment. I will continue to root for better facilities and work towards turning the colour of my medal to gold.”

Too much focus can also make you a boring person, isn’t it? Deepa agrees and gives it to her husband and her father’s support in keeping her grounded. “Then my daughters provide great motivation. When I was bed ridden, they learnt to look after each other,” Deepa has a knack for find a silver lining.

So what are those hands made of? “I lift 800 to 1,000 kgs in a day’s practice. That is how our training session is calculated,” she signs off with an impish smile.

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