Surmounting Human Limitations

The challenges that the athletes had to overcome at the Paralympics in Rio were tremendous. YET, THEY WERE VERY INSPIRING.

- Deepthi Bopaiah

I began as a state-level tennis player, and aspired to be a champion in my sport for a short while. But somewhere along the way, I transitioned from a failed athlete to an MBA student, and ultimately into a reasonably successful banker. Having followed my heart and answered my calling, somehow, today, I find myself as the Executive Director of an organisation that implements the visions of Indian sporting legends like Rahul Dravid, Abhinav Bindra and Pullela Gopichand. What an unbelievably privileged position to be in!

I was sick of hearing from everyone around how India would never shine at the Olympics. One of the things we speak of a lot at the foundation is “sport for all” and to that end, we have always supported able-bodied and paraathletes, recognising no distinction between the achievements of both. A year ago, we began a unique initiative in response to an increasingly evident requirement, the Para Champions Programme, to seek to address the challenges faced by para-athletes in our ecosystem.

And so, I found myself in Rio at the Paralympics — the “parallel” Olympics that takes place two weeks after the Olympics at the same venues — with 11 members of the Indian contingent contributed by our own Programme! India has had medallists at the Paralympics in the past; the exploits of the reclusive Murlikant Petkar should be the stuff of lore back home. Why they are relatively unknown is a discussion for an- other day… I was also there to understand what a long way we had to go.