She is an accomplished swimmer,
adventure sports player, international athlete, biker, and entrepreneur. And
this Limca Book record holder has done all of this while being confined to a
wheelchair. Meet 45-year-old Deepa Malik, who refuses to let her disability
come in the way of her dreams.
An ‘army kid,’ Deepa’s life
had been full of thrills and adventures growing up. “I was always an outdoor
person. I would do unconventional things ever since I was a child. Other
children used to sit on the swing and I would stand on it and hang on to the
ropes. I loved bikes and even got married because my husband supported my
passion for biking. You can say I got convinced to get married at the early age
of 20 just for a bike,” Deepa laugh
But her
life took a twist when a spinal tumour confined her to a wheelchair 15 years
ago. After three tumour surgeries and 183 stitches between her shoulder blades,
Deepa became paraplegic (paralysed from waist down).
This was a
very difficult phase in Deepa’s life as her husband was fighting in the Kargil
war and both her daughters were young. In fact, her elder daughter Devika
required special care since she was a case of congenital hemiplegia, a
unilateral motor disability that made some parts of her body non-functional.
“It was a
tough time indeed. But being from an army background, we are raised to handle
such situations. We are prepared for our husbands not being around. That time, being
alone gave me more strength to fight with the situation because my husband was
fighting in a war. And it was important for at least one of us to be alive for
our daughters. I had no other choice but to accept it and get over it,” says
Deepa.
The family
won both wars. Her husband returned safe from Kargil and Deepa got rid of her
tumours, although she now had to be in a wheelchair all her life. It took her
three years to accept the fact that her condition was permanent but she was
finally able to do so with her family’s support.
Not willing
to spend the rest of her life in a closed room, this fighter decided to chase
her dreams despite her condition.
Deepa began
to pursue her first love, biking, earnestly. She joined the Himalayan
Motorsports Association (H.M.A.) and Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India
(F.M.S.C.I.). She biked 1,700 km in eight days in sub-zero temperatures,
sustaining herself in extreme climates with oxygen shortage at an altitude of
18,000 feet.
Though
Deepa went on to achieve many extraordinary things, success did not come easy
to her. To follow her passion for biking, Deepa needed an all-terrain vehicle
(ATV), also known as a quad bike. Deepa could not afford an ATV due to its high
price but she wasn’t one to give up easily. She found a sponsor through a
newspaper appeal and had the bike modified to suit her condition.
Deepa got
her motorsport licence only after her doctor had certified her health. She also
did many test drives on off-road circuits to check her reflexes and her
vehicle’s mechanics.
Already
excelling in the field of biking, Deepa started swimming to strengthen her
shoulders so that she could perform better in biking. Hardly did she know that
one day she would be breaking records in this sport.
She became
the first female athlete to represent India at the Paralympics, since the
country’s debut at the Games in 1968. Deepa won the Arjuna Award in 2012 for
her performance in swimming. She has 54 national gold medals and 13
international medals in various sports including swimming, javelin throw and
shot put.
In fact, she
has registered her name four times in the Limca Book of Records for her
sporting achievements. This includes crossing a 1 km stretch of the Yamuna
river against the current in 2008, covering 58 kms by riding a special bike in 2009,
doing the longest (Chennai-Delhi 3,278 kms) pan-India drive by a paraplegic
women in 2013, and driving across nine high altitude passes in nine days on
Ladakh’s highest motorable roads. She was the first woman in the world with her
disability to attempt a journey like this in 2011.
But
gradually, with her impressive performances, Deepa did not just win the
nation’s heart but also played a crucial role in conveying the needs of
paraplegic athletes to the authorities.
Deepa has
her eyes set on participating in the Rio Paralympics in 2016. She follows a
strict schedule of practice four times a week. This is followed by her biking
adventures on weekends.
She stays
in Gurgaon alone since she has to practice on a regular basis, which is not
possible in Ahmednagar where her family stays. She visits them often and is
living an independent and successful life.
“One thing
that has kept me going is my will to go out. When I first found out about my
condition I knew that this was not me – I cannot be on a bed all my life. I had
to go out and I did,” says Deepa.
Source : thebetterindia.com
