I was fortunate enough to meet, chat and interact with the brave Deepa Malik Ji at the 81st All India Inter University Athletics Championship who has braved chest-below paralysis and spinal tumour treatment for almost 20 years and achieved some impossible feats.
My conversation with her during her visit to KIIT and KISS had immensely motivated me. She clearly told us that she is on a mission to grow– Ability Beyond Disability. Being an international sportsperson par excellence and recipient of recognized awards such as Padma Shri and the Arjuna Award hadn’t had the slightest effect on her. She is so humble.
Instead of having an ego, she has developed a conscience to help women and people with disability to look beyond their hindrances and move forward in life.
Deepa Malik ji mentioned that she was diagnosed with a spine tumour when she was five, and after three years of treatment and physiotherapy she recovered from it. However, in 1999, her tumour returned at the age of 29 and doctors were left with no other choice but to operate. They made it clear to her that the surgery would have severe consequences. It took 3 surgeries and 183 stitches to eradicate the cancerous tumour off her body. But, it left her paralyzed from the waist down. This incident turned her life upside down but it couldn’t stop her. Tough people last forever!
Deepa Ji began her sporting career at the age of 30 and excelled in not one, but in multiple sports categories including Shotput, Swimming, Javelin throw, Discuss throw, and even Motorcycling. This story made me realise that if a person is willing to start a journey, then age is just a number. Being a woman, undergoing humiliation and pain, she emerged as a winner.
Since then, she has won 23 international and more than 54 national medals in various sporting events. Her list of achievements won’t fit into the size of this blog. She has created history over and over again. Be it by becoming the first-ever Indian female Para-athlete to win an Asian Games medal in athletics or the first-ever female World Championship medal, Deepa ji to me stands as a monument of inspiration.
In conclusion, I would like to mention that, Deepa Ji is an inspiration to women and human beings in general. She had the conviction to win over her disabilities and I am a big believer of people who can turn problems into opportunities. As I am a huge supporter of women’s empowerment, Deepa Ji’s story furthers my belief that women are more than capable to achieve what they want in life.
I quote her, “People should accept and to adapt. Half the times I have seen people live in denial. Most of the time is spent in lamenting. They are so preoccupied by feeling sorry for their disabilities to forget their abilities hidden in them. So what I say is accept. Acceptance leads you in a positive state of mind and adapting means you learn the disability. You learn the alternative things you can do with disability.”
Such an inspiration!
Respected Sir,
Namaskar.
Thanks for sharing one of the best inspirational Story hardly seen exemplifying True Women’s Empowerment, Courage, Never Ever Give Up attitude facing tough challenges in life.
My submission follows::
Sport is an integral part of human life, if one is to think about its characteristics, we all are somewhere and somehow participants who are training ourselves for a better future and a better lifestyle.
We have role models who inspire us to reach for the greatest things with an aim to achieving something.
From our childhood, we participate in different kinds of sports in our schools and colleges not just for our physical fitness, but it also helps us to focus mentally and never give up.
One such super-athlete and a role model for the world is Deepa Malik.
She was diagnosed with a spine tumor when she was 5 and after three years of treatment and physiotherapy she recovered from it, however, her tumor returned at the age of 29 and doctors said that she would not be able to walk after the surgery.
Raised in an Army family and married to an Army officer, she has played every conceivable sport in her life.
Without losing hope in life, she continued to be on her path with an aim to becoming an athlete, and on September 12th, 2016 at the age of 45, Deepa scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to win a medal in the Paralympic games.
She won a silver in Shotput in the 2016 Ripo Olympics.
The winning boosted her confidence and at an age when most of the world athletes consider giving up or retire, she was just getting started.
She began her sporting career at the age of 30 and excelled in not one, but in multiple sports categories including Shot put, Swimming, Javelin throw, Discuss throw, and even Motorcycling.
Overall, she has won 18 international and nearly 54 national medals in various sporting events.
She also won gold in the Javelin event at the para athletic Grand Prix held in Dubai in 2018.
She is currently the world number one in the F-53 category.
She has won recognition for her participation in various adventure sports.
She is associated with the Himalayan Motorsports Association (HMA) and Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI).
She has 4 Limca world records registered in her name.
She became the only Indian woman and para-athlete to win three consecutive Asian Para Games (2010, 2014, 2018).
She is also the first physically challenged individual in the country to receive an official rally license from the Federation Motor Sports Club of India (FMSCI) and become a navigator and driver in the toughest car rallies of the country.
She is a member and participant of various foundations that include sports and physical education under the Ministry of Sports in India.
If this was not enough, Deepa has also received several other awards and recognition.
She was awarded the prestigious Arjuna Award in 2012 and the prestigious Padmashree award in 2017.
She also received the First Ladies award from the Ministry of Women and Child Development and India’s highest sporting honour Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in 2019.
In 2020, Deepa Malik was named the President of the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI).
These are awards and championship medals in her name that only a few in the world may have achieved so far.
A mother of two, Deepa Malik continues to inspire our and future generations.
Deepa Malik Ji is truly an inspiration for humanity. Her determination, perseverance and optimism is a source of motivation for all.
I am sure Sir that through your blog, reading Deepa Ji’s life story, many people would find the courage to face challenges and overcome them. I pray that Deepa Ji’s mission of ‘Ability Beyond Disability’ is a huge success and empowers our specially abled friends.
Warm regards.🙏
Hon’ble Sir, I learnt from you only that nothing can become obstacle against strong will power and god’s grace. What Ms Deepa Malik Ji has achieved, owing to the same ideology only. Also, the clause, “ability beyond disability” denotes a widespread weightage to the dirty society that restricts girl children to grow up in any field.
The Article will definitely be an innovative inspiration towards so many underdeveloped Deepa Jis during the forthcoming days.
O/o DyCoE & O/o Dean
School of Civil Engineering
KIIT University, Bhubaneswar
Exemplary and extraordinary. Exhilarating 👍👍👍