The term ‘disability’ or ‘differently abled’ is more confusing for us nowadays, than it has ever been before. We spoke to the versatile Divyanshu Ganatra, the psychologist who became India’s first solo blind paraglider. The adventure sports entrepreneur started an initiative called ‘Adventures Beyond Barriers’ under which people with disabilities and the able-bodied participated in various activities together, with the disabled often beating the able-bodied at what some might call, their own game. We also profiled some of India’s most inspiring athletes who overcame their physical disabilities to earn laurels. But India’s recent wins at Special Olympics should shatter all our ingrained stereotypes about ‘disability,’ both as a physical expression and a concept.
The Special Olympics, meant for people with intellectual disabilities, concluded at Los Angeles on 2nd August after a week of events. The final tally of medals puts India third overall with 173 medals won by her athletes, behind only USA and China. If this seems like an amazing feat in itself, given our country’s deplorable and apathetic attitude towards sports and disability sports in general, the medal tally is more than India’s tally at the last Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and The Olympics combined.
An estimated 6,500 athletes took part in the events, which ranged from weightlifting, athletics to football and golf. The Indian contingent of 275 athletes and coaches in 14 disciplines won 47 gold, 54 silver and 72 bronze medals with the roller skaters winning an impressive 39 of them including 10 gold medals.
14-year-old Ranveer Singh Saini was one of the winners, winning a gold in golf. Ranveer was diagnosed with autism when he was 2 years old and took up golf as a therapeutic tool, becoming the first Indian golfer to win two gold medals at the Asia Pacific World Games. Golfer Jeev Milkha Singh was truly ecstatic with Ranveer’s achievement, “All the children are special to us. His performance shows that parents must allow their kids to follow their dream.” Milkha went on to further highlight the importance of working hard by saying,”we as human beings can learn a lot from this achievement of Ranveer. We can learn that nothing is impossible and that hard work will give you positive results.”
If the athletes participating in these events did not face enough challenges due to their disabilities, their hurdles are aggravated by the ostracization our society provides. 17-year-old Phoolan Devi for example, who won one gold and three bronze medals, was abandoned on the streets of Delhi when she was 16. Ten athletes, including Phoolan, came from the Delhi Government run Asha Kiran Home, with seven of them winning medals.
India had previously won 156 medals in the last edition of the Special Olympics, which happened in Athens, Greece in 2011, making one question India’s inconsistency in creating opportunities for the differently abled to be a part of the larger mainstream. As Dr. Ganatra had told us, India believes in a charity model over a rights-based model for the differently abled, and this might actually be hindering their progress more than it is helping them. We can only hope that the impressive tally of medals might catalyse some change, and see our government and civil society joining hands to give the differently abled their rights, and start treating them as equals.