They have brought accolades to the country by breaking barriers in life and overcoming obstacles as they push themselves beyond human capacity. Shalini Saksena catches up with these high performers to bring you their inspiring stories of mental, physical and emotional endurance to defeat defeat in its rawest form

Nothing is going to stop him

Born in a small village in Jalandhar district of Punjab, Rajinder Singh Rahelu is a polio victim since when he was just 8 months old. A boy who would use his hands to crawl from place to place, went on to win a Bronze medal in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in the 56 kg category of power weight lifting. He represented India in the 2008 and 2012 Summer Paralympic Championships. He has a Commonwealth Silver medal in the Men’s Heavyweight category. In all, he has 12-14 international medals and 20 Gold medals at the national level. Not only this, he has five records to his credit.

To begin with, he got a job with the Punjab Sports Department as an Arjun Awardee. He coached power lifters. A new Sports Authority of India initiative brought in Grade A coaching jobs for Paralympic winners for which he applied in 2015.

Today, Rajinder Singh Rahelu is a weightlifting coach at the National Sports Academy, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Talking about his journey where his mother would carry him every where till he was 10, to winning medals for India, the 45-year-old coach tells you that it all began for him with power lifting options in the disabled category.

“After completing my Class XII, I couldn’t study further due to distance issues. This was in 1992-93. I was wheelchair bound and couldn’t go to college. But I decided to go for distance education. After that I tried to look for means to earn a living. I tried my hand at several jobs. I tried to train with a local doctor after I learnt typing. I thought I would open a clinic. But nothing worked. I come from an economically weak family. My father was a bandmaster and my grandfather a weight lifter,” Rahelu recounts.

“He was a champion from Punjab. I knew he was into power weightlifting but didn’t know that one needed to train on a regular basis. I was intrigued. He was leaving for training but he sat down and explained all about power weightlifting. He said there were three events — bench press, deadlift and squat.

“The way he explained each event, I realised I could do bench press. But he told me that this was not possible as before one could lift weight on the chest, one had to put the feet firmly on the ground. This would lead to an imbalance. As he was leaving, he looked at me and asked me to come for training. I was 22 back then. I reached before he did. On day one, I lifted 70kg. “My grandfather told me if I could lift this weight with no training, I could do much better with it. He said if I worked hard, I could go places. That changed my life,” says Rahelu. He continues to work hard and is eligible for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.

While he managed to lift 70kg that day, training was tough. As he operated a hand-operated tricycle, his upper body and hands were powerful.

“The problem was that my village was small. The nearest gym was four-five km away. I would go there everyday. Sometimes, it would be closed. We had a youth welfare centre. When the local youth saw me training for bench press, they got the required equipment for me. I won my first two medals while training at that gym. The third time, I was already associated with Punjab Sport,” Rahelu recalls.

Though his parents didn’t have the means, they always encouraged him to study as much as he wanted. His mother took him to all the doctors — be it Ayurveda or allopathy.

“It’s my parents efforts that have brought me where I am today. They were illiterate but they pushed me to study. When I won my first Paralympic medal they were thrilled.

“I was greeted with band-baja when I reached my village. My father was with me when I was conferred with the Arjun Award. My mother passed away just a few months back. Initially, I was posted in Jalandhar. But after I associated with the Sports Authority of India, I decided to move to Gandhinagar,” Rahelu tells you. He is married and has two daughters. His 10-year-old has already won the State-level swimming championship.

Since the time Rahelu started in 1992 to the time he won his first medal at the Paralympic Greece Games in 2004, a lot changed. “Since then, it has become organised. Athletes now go as a team. There is prize money, certificates and great training facilities.

In 2004, there were only two medals. Back then, we would spend our own money to participate. Today, there are hundreds of athletes who have the ability to win so many more medals for India. The recognition has given confidence to the differently-abled. They know they are no less. People don’t give us that bechara nazar anymore,” Rahelu says.

Not fragile despite the most impossible odds

This 28-year-old, with his left side paralysed, is a marathon runner and pushed himself to the edge and back with the support of his trainer Rustom and his family. Nihad Panju, from Mumbai, spent a major part of his life doing physiotherapy. But he managed to live a normal life, complete his schooling and went to college and graduated in Interactive Multimedia Design.

He was also a part of a programme — Holistic Neurological Reorganisation And Simulation — for four years. This is when the real changes started taking place. “The four years on the programme taught me the importance of being physically fit. I was so tired doing normal therapy. My trainer was encouraging a group of  people to run the marathon back in 2012. I told him I, too, wanted to run. Since then, I have run seven half marathons,” says Panju, who had a brain injury due to TB meningitis when he was five months old, leading to his disability.

However, he hates to be treated differently and likes to be pushed when it comes to his training. He tells you that may be there is five to 10 minutes of awkwardness when he meets people but it soon disappears.

“I have always lived a normal life. My entire family and friends have played an integral role in pushing and motivating me. I would not be here if it wasn’t for them,” Panju says. He has a younger sister, a businessman father and a mother who is a homemaker. His association with The Titan Games on Zee Cafe happened due to a film by Sachin Pillai— Not Fragile (a Homegrown original film).

He says he pushed himself so relentlessly because people said he couldn’t run a marathon and that motivated him to prove to himself that he could. He had also gotten tired of the physiotherapy. His trainer has now become more of a friend rather than an instructor. But this doesn’t mean that when they are training, Rustom treats him any differently.

“There are a lot of positive vibes around me and that spill over when I am training. I suppose my trainer takes my positive disposition to encourage me further,” Panju says.

This special performer is now trying his hand at different things since he is still young and can experiment with an active life.

Mumbai’s ninja turtle

Giles D’Souza is a name familiar with those who know anything and everything that is related to Parkour. He is as most people call him, the ninja turtle from Mumbai. His mission is to teach how one can overcome any obstacles that come in the way. He believes that one needs to push one’s body and that the philosophy to life by climbing the city walls thorough mind and body coordination. Giles is not only a certified Parkour trainer but also a cross-trainer who gives coaching classes.

He tells you that he was a chubby kid and used to play  video games. But then one day he saw a documentary on TV — Jump London. “I was 16 when I saw this documentary. I was amazed at what these people were doing. It literally changed my life. It was based on the yamakazi, the first people who started doing parkour in France. These people were doing what my characters in the games or on TV were doing. I decided then and there that I wanted to do this. I took my fat body and started training. But there was not a single thing that I could do — no push-ups and no pull-ups,” Giles recalls.

This took him to training with a few people. But after two years of training the group broke up. So he started training on his own. He tells you that he is self-taught. But he decided to do a certification in Parkour. That took him to Singapore. “I was 24 where I started trying myself in different aspects like cross-functional training, animal movements and Parkour training. Fitness is just one aspect of training. Our body is capable of so much more. People go to the gym to do just one thing. But to push ourselves we need go back to crawling once again. To convince adults to crawl again is tough. So I tell them that they need to go back to the basics before they can learn to walk when it comes to training,” Giles says.

He tells you that people do have unrealistic expectations when it comes to their bodies. More so in the tinsel town when’re everyone wants to loom like a model. This is due to how body building has impacted the fitness industry.

“If you go to a gym or faintness expo, they will have body builders who will be at the helm. People have to understand that body building and fitness are two different things. Fitness is what everybody needs. Earlier, we were fit, because we used to do a lot physical activities. Body building is about a certain kind of look. If you are a model body building works. But if you want to be fit, one has to first learn how to move,” Giles explains.

When people come to him to train, he asks a few basic questions — check their health history and any injuries. But he tells you that he pushes his clients. “I put them through very gruelling first session. My friends have a joke for me — that people who wan to end up in their own sweat and puke they need to come to me for training. However, their is not true. I push them the first time because I want to show them what their body is capable of. I train with them. I tell them that if I, a fat person, can go from there to where I am today, they too can do so,” Giles tells you.

He says that most people are unaware of what they want. “Just the other day a person had come to me who wanted to learn how to do a back flip and be fit. I asked him what a back flip had to do with fitness. I told him that he wanted to learn  how to do a back flip, he needed to get in touch with a gymnast. People need to be educated how fitness,” Giles says and insists that people don’t need a personal trainer but education.

His own personal journey involves a lot of conditioning which involves climbing walls, jumping from one tree to another. In general being a ninja. “I have done all that. I have basic Parkour foundation. Climbing, crawling and jumping comes naturally. One can learn the techniques. What is needed is to continue to keep moving the body while doing the techniques safely. A lot of people can climb a 10 feet wall and jump off it but can the body take that impact? What is required is to condition the body and make it strong. I do more conditioning’” the 29-year-old tells you and says that mental training is just as important.

In order to ensure that the body keeps moving, he pushes his trainers and reminds them why they began training to being with. He tells you that one needs to keep at it. “The minute you leave training, you go back to where you began. One needs to make training a habit,” Giles says whose association with The Titan Games, inspired and produced by Dwayne Johnson happened when he learnt that there were people who were looking for persons with extraordinary endurance and make a programme for Zee Cafe.

Strongman woman

She is the first woman to represent India at the World Powerlifting Competition, in the under the 90-plus category, in Russia. In May 2018, she was declared the ‘Strongest Woman in India’ as part of the Strongman India League competition, held in Goa. Meet 32-year-old Suhani Gandhi from Bengaluru.

She started weightlifting four-five years back at the State level and went on to win for Karnataka. After winning a few medals, she had the opportunity to go for a competition for power lifting. “Her strength was appreciated. But she decided to approach this event through a different federation — Russian — World Powerlifting Congress.

“ I didn’t approach the Indian federation. I was 27 when I started weightlifting. Power lifting came only last year,” Gandhi tells you and says that she was very young when she started going to the gym.

“I was always a heavy baby. When I was 16 I decided to keep fit and loose weight as well. I did weights and cardio training. I played tennis and played at the national level but never won any matches. I had lost weight but was still heavy. I gave up this game because I didn’t want to push myself to the extent where I would injury myself. I pondered and decided to use my weight to my advantage. I was at home for six months and started to push myself and see how much I could push myself. Then the next two years were tough, I was under stress, my weight weighed heavily on my mind. I started weightlifting This was a turning point for me the minute I started winning medals” Gandhi recalls who has studied Bachelor of Business Management.

Last May, when she got the chance to be part of Strongman India League in Goa. “There were all kinds of open categories and so many women. I won and got my world ranking in top 100. I know stand at 56 and am a world qualifier. Since then I have been part of all competitions, whether in Delhi, Bengaluru or even Ghaziabad. I work hard everyday,” Gandhi tells you and says that there is no stopping her.

Though she has won so many competitions, it doesn’t stop people from taking a dig at her weight. The sad part, she tells you is that these come from people within the industry. “Comments like you are not fit since I weight over 100 kg. It is not as if I am lazying at home. I work and train hard. But now that I have won, people’s perception has changed. They better not make any comments about my weight since I have wins behind me.” Gandhi tells you. She says that she had to train long hours to switch from weightlifting to powerlifting.

“Powerlifting has different technique. I am proud to say that I am not on steroids. Hence I have to train hard. I will be competing for Strongman Woman outside of India too,” Gandhi says. She is concentrating on positivity.

She tells you that Strongman India League is a sport where men and women compete. “Last year, women were not allowed to represent India and go to Finland. Hence I decided to approach another federation. The fact that I have been chosen has given me confidence. If I win, it will be great. My goal is to bring me closer to getting an Arnold Pro Card — a professional card for being in top 10 — as a strong woman,” Gandhi says and tells you that the league has different games.

“These are all about endurance. You have deadlift and stone throwing where one has to throw 40 kg, 50 kg and 100 kg. There are other events as well,” Gandhi tells you, adding that to improve her world ranking she has to push to lift over 250 kg.

Suhani proves that women can be stronger than men.