I was crossing the road once at a signal, and two women sitting in an auto stopped and gave me money, assuming I was a beggar.I’m a para athlete, who has won medals for India, but still when people look at me, there is pity in their eyes. But it was not always like this…
I was the most active kid in my village Rathaus in Bihar. Padhai me thik thak tha, but sports always brought a smile on my face. But ghar ki halat financially theek nahi thi. Tab halat aise the, ki paise kamane ke liye, I had to move to Mumbai in 2000. I was just 14. There I worked in a brother’s leather factory in Dharavi. I remember running through the tight lanes of Dharavi, to sell leather goods on streets, railway stations, markets yelling “belt lelo, wallet lelo”. Leather ka saman bech ke jo paise milte, usse main, Karate sikhta tha. My passion for Karate was always there since I was a kid, and kept me going.
And my dreams were finally taking a flight, when 10 years later, I got selected in the National Karate Team. I was representing India in China. But just before we had to leave, I couldn’t walk. I thought, ‘It might be the practise strain,’ but when the MRI showed a tumor, meri puri duniya hil gayi thi. I thought all will be fine after the first surgery. But that time, tumour nahi nikala gaya. In the second surgery, a few months later, the doctor saved me, but he couldn’t save my legs. It was too late!
Thinking about that time still gives me goosebumps. I would spend nights crying. And wake up wetting the bed. felt helpless and weak. I always needed someone to take me to the washroom. I had to manage getting out of bed alone, going to the washroom alone, and get used to people looking at me like I was someone different. I would often think, ‘WHY…WHY ME?’ I was broken mentally. But that’s when Maa said, ‘Today, you cannot walk. But a day will come when you will fly.’ That became my strength!
I thought, ‘Ek chance toh dena padega zindagi ko.’ So, I began my counselling. I went through therapy sessions and aquatherapy for physical rehab. I was improving, but one day, my therapist said, ‘You are happiest in water, did you learn swimming earlier.’ I just laughed and said, ‘Humare gaon me bahut badh aati thi, so I learnt to swim.’ But what he said next, changed my life. He said, ‘‘Why don’t you participate in para-athletic competitions?’ I didn’t even know something like that existed!
So, I began this new journey of mine…but initially, when I stepped into a public pool, people looked at me as if I was an alien. I would overhear people saying, ‘Ab yeh bhi swimming karega?’ it was difficult. But I knew, my goal was bigger than their taunts.
And finally, my mother’s words came true. I ‘fly’ around the globe representing India. I won the gold medal in the National Swimming Championship and broke a national record of 200 individual medley swimming in March 2024, I heard the crowd say, ‘You are the best Shams!’ In front of the cheers of the crowd and the flashes of the media, I could see my future shining brighter than ever.
When people said, ‘This is the end of your chapter,’ I decided to rewrite my story… And trust me when I say this, my story will have a happy ending, I know it and I will make it happen!
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