If we could reel off some adjectives to begin with, they would be: inspiring, enlightening, and unforgettable. That summed up Fit Aware Strong Talented (FAST) Rani’s leadership talk with Paralympic silver medallist Bhavina Patel, at a Worli building recently. Patel, who won a silver medal in women’s table tennis at the Paralympics in Tokyo in 2020, addressed school girls from three public schools — the KK Marg Hindi 2 Secondary School; Worli Seaface Mumbai English Secondary School; and NM Joshi Secondary School — on her life journey.
Empower avenue
Patel, a Gujarat-based athlete, was in the city on an invite from FAST Rani, started by Mumbai-based national-level swimmers Rabhya Singh and Tarini Mazumder.
The 17-year-old duo founded ‘FAST Rani’ to empower girls through sport. They have partnered with BMC schools and collaborated with organisations like Nanhi Kali to advocate for girls in sport.
The audience is engrossed at the talk
Podium finish
Bhavinaben Patel, who is wheelchair-bound, said after a short introduction that she was afflicted with polio as a one-year-old. “I was born in a small place in Gujarat, where there was blind belief, superstition. Though I had polio, a family member stopped my parents from seeking further treatment. My polio progressed. I used to be carried to school by my parents; my father would lift me on his shoulders to school. I would always strive for the first, second, or third rank in school. Those years, too, it was a podium finish for me; fourth place was not for me,” she said as the room exploded in applause.
Taunt tirades
While physical challenges were everywhere, “India is still getting there when it comes to inclusivity. Even some of the new buildings do not have ramps,” she said, adding, it was the verbal slights that stung. Patel recalled, “I recall neighbours saying things like, ‘Oh, you are disabled; what will you do in life? Who will look after you after your parents are no more?’ I thought to myself: Why do people talk like this? Am I not a human being? If I do not have legs, do I not have a right to live?”
Bhavina Patel, Paralympic silver medallist
In love
Patel said, “I moved to a city for college education, and a friend of mine used to play table tennis. That is when I started playing for fun. Just like that, I started falling in love with the game. My table tennis journey had begun. After graduation, I worked as a clerk in a government hospital, continuing to play the game.” The athlete earned huge applause as she spoke about winning National Championships in table tennis, finally winning a silver medal internationally in 2011 in Thailand.
Silver lining
Patel, whose address was spiked with uplifting messages and humour — an account of cutting a college class to buy a chaniya choli had her audience laughing — came to her high-water mark: a silver medal at the Tokyo Summer Paralympics in 2020.
Patel is a ‘win’spiration for so many
She recalled, “COVID clouds had gathered over the global skies. I qualified for the Paralympics in Tokyo. I had my nearly COVID moment, too, in Tokyo, when I was isolated in a room in the Japanese capital a day or two before my match, as I had a high fever. I felt rock-solid support of my husband — I got married in 2017 — and my family as I fought through that lonely day. Finally, the doctor arrived, my COVID test was clear, and I was out of isolation. The next day, I was playing and eventually landed a silver medal. That day, I knew I could not use my legs, but I always had wings and could fly,” she said.
Today, this Swami Vivekananda follower and Sachin Tendulkar fan, who would have been a singer if she had not chosen sport, said she has her lens trained on the Paralympics in Los Angeles 2028.
“Do you want to fly?” Patel, who has a Central government job and is based in Ahmedabad, asked excitedly, concluding her stirring, hour-long talk. The girls who were running up to the wheelchair-bound spunky medallist, who has made molehills of the mountains in her way, sent their caps whirling in the air at that question, signalling the positive, uplifting impact Bhavinaben Patel’s life story had on them.
2011
Year Bhavina Patel won silver medal in Thailand
