1 week Ago By Annesha Ghosh
Sheetal Devi is in uncharted territory. She has just realised that she has never asked her mother about her childhood and the dreams tucked within it. “It’s strange to think that Mumma was once just a little girl like me,” says the 17-year-old who became India’s youngest Paralympic medallist when she bagged a bronze in the mixed compound archery team event at the Paralympic Games in Paris this year.
“I’ve never thought about the fact that she too was a daughter to a mother who may have done her hair like Mumma often does for me.” A click of the tongue. A shake of the head.
Pursed lips. And a fleeting descent into an indiscernible stream-of-consciousness whisper—the markers of self-admonishment are obvious over Zoom. But as Sheetal continues to dwell on this oversight, her mother , Shakti, places a tender arm around the teen to bail her out of her guilt.
“As far as dreams went, all I wanted to do was go to school,” the 47-year-old murmurs in Kishtwari, a language spoken in their hometown of Kishtwar in Jammu and Kashmir. “I never ended up seeing the inside of one.” Back then, there wasn’t much Shakti could do about dreams deferred or goals unrealised.
Less so, as the second youngest of four girls born in a rural family with limited means. “It feels like I am vicariously living my dreams through Sheetal, watching her go to school , compete and excel at tournaments all around the world,” she smiles, her eyes shining with pride. For anyone who frequented the Paralympic Village, home to the athletes and delegations during the Games, the sight of Sheetal and Shakti striding together purposefully was a familiar one.
As the primary on-tour caregiver of the armless archer, who was born with phocomelia, a rare congenital condition that arrests the development of limbs, Shakti also shadowed her daughter at training sessions and competition venues. At first, she was worried that the pressure of performing at the world’s biggest sporting event would overwhelm Sheetal, but being surrounded by upwards of 4,000 athletes with disabilities made her realise that her young daughter was not alone on her journey. “When I look at Sheetal, I can’t help but think of her life in isolation, given her condition and because she is a woman,” says Shakti.
“But to come across hundreds of others with such a wide range of disabilities during the Paris Paralympics...
it was unlike anything I had seen before. It gave me hope for my daughter’s future on and off the field.” Moseying around the French capital with her daughter during the Paralympics was a far cry from the world Shakti inhabits with her family in Loidhar, a small village in Kishtwar.
“It’s a traditional rural Indian set-up. Life goes by at a slow pace, unlike what I saw in Paris,” says Shakti. For as long as she can remember, her days in the past mostly revolved around helping her husband on the farm and looking after their home.
Things changed with the birth of Sheetal Devi, their first daughter and the only one with functional needs in a brood of three. As someone who hadn’t come across persons with disabilities before, Shakti felt at sea. “I had to start from scratch.
It was akin to being born anew—as a mother, a woman and a human being—because hardly anyone speaks about these things where we come from.” Disability has historically dwelt on the margins of social discourse, awareness and policymaking in India, the most populous country in the world . According to the Indian government’s Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, the country’s last census, conducted in 2011, calculated the number of persons with disabilities to be 2.
68 crore, which is 2.21 per cent of the total population. Despite this, our infrastructure has miles to go before it can reach optimum accessibility levels.
More so, the stigma of people with disabilities being a ‘burden’ to families, the workforce and society continues to be deeply entrenched in the country’s collective psyche, especially among rural folk who have limited opportunities to begin with. Shakti detested the pitiful and condescending expressions that came over the faces of those who learnt that her daughter had been born without arms. “When your family or the locals suddenly see a human being amidst them who doesn’t look entirely like them, you’re bound to become the object of fascination, mostly in a not-so-good way,” she says.
Still, the predominant sentiment around welcoming and bringing up Sheetal was joy . “I always hoped to have a daughter; now I have two. No matter how people look at Sheetal, she has been nothing but a blessing to me.
” “That’s why I keep telling everyone, ‘Meri mumma jaisi world mein koi nahi hai,’” quips Sheetal, bumping Shakti’s shoulder in jest. The duo share a light moment over something they mutter in Kishtwari and peals of laughter emanate from the other side of the Zoom screen. “But I won’t translate this,” says Sheetal, jokingly anointing herself ‘Shakti Devi’s official translator’ during the hour-long call.
“Mumma and I have done so many interviews since I won in Paris. I’m sure she’ll become a pro in Hindi in no time.” Sheetal’s mercurial rise in archery foretells a trailblazing career ahead.
Introduced to the sport only as recently as 2021, and coached by Kuldeep Vedwan and Abhilasha Chaudhary, she has already medalled at multiple big-ticket international events. Seated on a chair, holding the bow with her right leg, pulling the string with her right shoulder and releasing the arrow with a small instrument held in her mouth, the 17-year-old has been a sight to behold as she tucked podium finish after podium finish at the Asian Championships, World Para Archery Championships and the Asian Para Games under her belt. “It’s been quite the ride,” says Sheetal, grinning confidently.
“The Paralympics experience topped it for me so far. Mumma and I both wept when I got the bronze. She had only started accompanying me on my international tours earlier this year and I played with a lot of joy because she was with me in Paris.
” As the Zoom call nears its end, I ask mother and daughter to describe each other in one word and they respond with the synonyms ‘calm’ and ‘sorted’. But when asked to name one trait they could imbibe from the other, their answers diverge. “Her determination.
It will take her a long way,” says Shakti. “I wish I could have a heart as pure as hers,” replies Sheetal. “Despite all the ridicule and the sacrifices she’s endured to raise me, she has never wished anyone ill.
” At the top of Sheetal’s wish list in the next four-year cycle are an upgrade from bronze in the mixed event and winning a women’s individual gold at the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. When she does it, as she is sure she will, she wants the world to remember: “Mumma helped me get here.” Bookings Editor: Aliza Fatma Location courtesy: Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board Sports Complex This story appears in Vogue India’s November-December 2024 issue, now on stands.
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