The recent Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow was an eye-opener for Indian sports enthusiasts and the media. It was the first time that the regular Games events were held alongside the Paralympics events; usually, they always followed the actual Games, a separate set of championships that drew fewer media, less sponsorship and just a smattering of spectators.
For Indian journalists who have covered the Olympics in the past, the Paralympics may have held similar importance, but the media organisations that sent those journalists to cover these major events evidently had no funds for the coverage of para-sports. Para events stayed low on the Indian media horizon, till the indomitable spirits of the Deepa Maliks and the Devendra Jhajharias yanked the nation’s conscience out of its slumber.
Boria Majumdar’s book is not just important for its empirics; it is a result of, as he puts it, “Empathy, Respect and Inclusion”. Boria may have earned his early epaulettes from the cricket field, but he has also been in the forefront while covering Olympic disciplines. A book on Paralympics isn’t a digression; it is an important assertion of how the human spirit can fight and overcome stereotype judgements and systemic hurdles. It reminds us that a successful Paralympics athlete has overcome two battles: the first to overcome the deficit that had reduced his/her life to mere existence, and then the other that waits in the arena.
The book, justifiably, examines the system that has allowed Indian Paralympics athletes to outshine many from developed worlds. Interviews with coaches and people close to the entire ecosystem that has kept this structure alive add to the credibility of the reportage.
The interesting part of this book is its language. It is straightforward, simple and in a hue of journalese that keeps information primary in presentation.
There have been books successful para-athletes have written about their own struggles through life and the sporting arena — such as Deepa Malik’s Bring It On: The Incredible Story of My Life, a highly motivational essay of a life recreated after a disaster — but there was the need for an overall perspective on how the attitude of the country towards para-athletes changed from uncaring to awe.
It is necessary to believe in the reality of the misfortunes that strike ordinary humans. And when sheer grit and an indomitable spirit transform those hapless souls to world beaters, the metamorphosis leaves the rest in awe. A simple comparison of recent international successes of Indian para-athletes to their able-bodied counterparts will throw up many more heroes to follow. While India celebrates the successes of the Neeraj Chopras or the Abhinav Bindras, Indian Paralympics heroes come in more shapes and sizes, their stories capable of motivating all.
That is also how sponsorship has grown, and the competition roster has sharpened.
This places the book in a special category, a collector’s item, worth all the effort that Boria and his team has put in to make.
India’s Paralympic Revolution: Empathy, Respect and Inclusion
By Boria Majumdar, Trisha Ghosal and Soumyajit Das Chowdhury
Simon & Schuster India
pp. 304; Rs 699
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