Silver Linings Play book

The complete story of Paralympian Deepa Malik who rides bikes, swims across rivers, and is in constant search for room to house her medals

- Dhvani Solani

Look at your heroes from afar, they say. Contact withers them. I sit in my room in Mumbai awaiting a call from silver medalwinning Paralympian Deepa Malik – the first woman ever to win India a medal in these games through her personal best throw in the Women’s Shot Put at the 2016 Rio Paralympics Games. I remember fidgeting nervously, incessantly clicking a retractable pen like I am wont to do in situations I feel uncertain in. Would she reject my sub-consciously rampant use of the word ‘inspiring’, look at it as disdainful rather than appreciative, thinking this sentiment originates in pity? How should I approach the topic of her disability – is it even right to call it disability? I didn’t want to use emotional phrases and take the emphasis away from the sport, but the fact was that the way she had led her life from whatever I had read in newspapers so far, was only putting my own in perspective, making me question how it was that I could not gather half her dedication and honesty to follow my own dreams. Of course I wanted to focus on the Rio Olympics and the journey that led to this, but would it pain her to revisit the time that paralysis hit? So many questions.

The call comes through. And in the place of a salutation, I hear her shriek gleefully about the jewellery our stylist had sourced for this shoot. “I had participated in a beauty pageant when I was younger. It was primarily so that I could get professional hair and make-up done, and wear designer clothing,” she tells the stylist and me simultaneously. “Exactly why I agreed to your shoot.” We all crack up, her melodic laugh sounding the loudest and the clearest. My shoulders relax. And for the next four hours, we talk about our lives, loves, hopes, dreams, ambitions, achievements and frustrations.

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