Paralympic lighthouse - Bhavina Patel

- Distance - Raksha Shukla

Memories,

Like in Ashwattha

Wandering.

Awakening of Ahlek in the hills

Smoking his name

Alakhna Otle leaning her head

Wanting her well

Chanting his name

Waking up again

Wandering twice as fast

To the heart by its tapasi power

Shaking

His memories are like Ashwatthama

Ajramar kept wandering

In the hope of liberation in his tea.

-Suchita Kapoor

We run away from small problems in life, pushing ourselves into such a pit of despair that negativity dominates the mind-heart. Lemon-bouncing pains are found 'Man says that God has not given anything. But if a person thinks deeply, he realizes that God has given this body in the form of a man, that is the great grace that man can do with it. Umashankar Joshi wrote that ...

'Three Wana Mujne met,

Haiyu, head, hands,

Bahu dai didhu nath!

Go, don't ask for a fourth '.

When a man feels gratitude for the unceasing grace and wonderful gift of the Most Gracious Madhav, he bows down and says with gratitude and pride that 'Mukum karoti vachalam, pangu langhayate girim, yatkrupa tamaham vandam par. There are many people in the world who live a life of courage even after losing a body part that amazes even a mature man. Stunning examples of the passion, skill, courage of the Paralympic athletes keep coming to us again and again.

Bhavina Patel was the first Indian table tennis player to qualify for the Tokyo Paralympic Games, 2021. Bhavina Patel is a resident of Sundhiya village in Mehsana district of Gujarat. He opened the account of India's victory with a silver medal in Tokyo. After that, the Indian athletes broke the expectations of the sportspersons by winning 12 medals, including four golds, and gave everyone a fun excuse to celebrate the victory. Some of these medals have been won by players who were participating in the game for the first time.

P.M. Narendra Modi called Bhavina to congratulate and bless her and said that "para-athletes have changed the way people look at her through her 'austerities, manliness and prowess'." The then Chief Minister Vijay Rupani paid a courtesy call on Bhavina Patel. Bhavina Patel, a Gujju girl, has made history by reaching the final of the Paralympics. To date, no Indian woman has won a gold medal in the Olympics or Paralympic Games. Bhavina had the opportunity to become India's first Golden Girl. However, in the final of the Tokyo Paralympics table tennis women's singles class-4, China's Zhou Ying defeated Bhavina, a strong contender for the gold medal, 3-0.

"I didn't get any gold but I tried my best," Bhavina said in an interview. When I go to play, I don't think about which country or who the player in front is from. Just focus on my game. What is the weak point of the opposing player, what is his strength? I decide my game plan based on that. " "I was able to win my quarter-final match because of the support of the people of India," she said after thanking the Indian fans after the quarter-final match. Bhavina's parents said, "By sacrificing so much, by working hard, he has won a medal and he has also won a silver medal by playing against China. It is a gold medal for him." This is a great achievement. ' P.V. at the Rio Olympics in 2012. Sindhu and Deepa Malik also won silver medals in the Paralympics.

Bhavina started having difficulty walking due to polio at the young age of one year. Her parents also performed Bhavina's operation in Visakhapatnam which failed. Even in all these difficult situations, Bhavina kept her winning positivity and passion alive. He first started playing table tennis from a wheelchair as an art lover and later decided to make it his career. He had digested Winston Chachle's line that 'a beam of light awaits us at the end of the hell of conflict.' Bhavina Patel has been playing table tennis in the Blind People's Association for years.

Bhavina had previously played for Timepass but decided to play table tennis professionally after participating in the National Championships and winning a bronze medal. The future family raised in the village has no sports background. He also did not see or hear of anyone going to play at the national level in the villages. So I didn't know anything special about sports. Initially with the job she was practicing TT. In the future State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) in Ahmedabad. The head is the clerk. Initially, she was tired because of leg problems and had never worked so hard. His parents, seeing his plight, sent him to T.T. Refused to play. But she was adamant so lying on the phone.

Gradually he started playing para-table tennis at the national level and then at the international level. Succeeded in this and scored a goal to reach the Olympics. Successful parents and husbands began to feel proud of their future. If a person is handicapped or normal, confident in himself and works hard to move forward in his favorite field, no one can stop him from reaching the goal. "Willpower is her biggest strength," said Nikul Patel, Bhavina's coach-cum-husband. Bhavina set up a TT table at home and practiced regularly so that she would not miss practice in Lakdown during Corona's testing period. He can give the best performance in the Olympics, so he practiced for 2 hours a day. She followed the diet chart provided by the personal coach and dietitian. The expert also had physiotherapy.

To date, he has played 3 matches. At the same time, it has made India proud all over the world by winning 3 gold, 12 silver and 3 bronze medals at the international level. The Gujarat government has announced a prize of Rs 3 crore for Bhavina Patel. Apart from this, the state government also wants to give better government jobs to Bhavina. After Bhavina's victory, now it is raining prizes on them.

Earlier, Dushyant Chautala, president of Table Tennis of India and deputy chief minister of Haryana, announced a Rs 21 lakh award for Bhavina Patel for winning a silver medal at the Tokyo Paralympics. Many would ask him, 'What did table tennis give you?' To them this shining achievement of the future and the rewards is a sizzling answer.

Bhavina Patel said, "My day starts at 9 am and I try very hard to bring mental concentration through meditation and yoga. Many times during the match we make mistakes very quickly and lose points but I have kept my emotions under control. I thank my coach. Who taught me wonderful techniques. It was because of them that I was able to get here. I would like to thank the Sports Authority of India, Tops, PCI, Government, OGQ, Andhajan Sangh, my family all. '

There are 11 categories in para-table tennis. Players in 1st to 2nd category play in wheelchairs. Class 8 to 10 players can play standing up. Class 11 players are mentally unwell. Future is a class-3 para-athlete. Players included in the Class-3 series can use their hands. When his lower back is weakened due to injury or cerebral palsy and does not work.

Ibrahim Hamdatou, a 6-year-old Egyptian paralympian table tennis player who lost both his hands in a train accident at the age of 10, at the 2021 Paralympic Games. Ibrahim plays table tennis with a bat in his mouth. "I used to try to catch the racket from the bottom of the arm," he says. Then I adopted other methods. But it didn't work out very well. In the end I decided to use the mouth '. Ibrahim or other Paralympic athletes teach us through their adventure and achievement that man should embrace sorrow and pain and use it as a fuel in the journey of life and use it as a driving force and move forward and develop himself.

"We have the can-do factor, and we are doing what we do to inspire people to just try to be a little bit harder, whether they are able, bodied or disabled. Sport is not just a means of entertainment or a leisure activity. From all perspectives, sports play a very important role in life. The spirit of unity is at the core of it which plays an important role in building a strong nation.