Judoka Sushila – The Stout Hearted

The drizzles grew into torrents.

The small house in that river town was flooded with the wishes and warmth of people, which the occupants treasured more than the Gold won by their darling daughter. For them, it was India’s victory and not hers alone!

The above lines are not a prologue!

In the coming September, for sure, we will relate the above to Judoka Sushila’s victory, in the upcoming Rio 2016 Paralympics!

“I have only a normal diet. My day starts in the Nehru Stadium and ends in my hostel room, with painstaking practice, to grab the Gold for our India in Paralympics 2016. You can see me competing under B1 category (63 kg)”, says Sushila from Aathur Taluk of Salem District.

Her great respect and profound love for her parents makes VC(Visually Challenged) Sushila travel from Nilachaaral hostel to her native Aathur, sometimes, but certainly during monsoons, for a family re-union. For her, monsoons bring not only rains but also her parents, who stay away and are woodcutters by profession!

“Becoming a Judoka was not a choice, but a happening. I was the least welcomed one to participate in any event during my school days because of my blindness. Surrounded by normal sighted students, I had the only alternative to participate in elocution or dance competitions, though my craving was for sports. And my most cherished desire to participate in sports came true while I was in Queen Mary’s College. And the sport was Judo!”

The visible trajectory that has led Sushila to win Gold in the Common Wealth Games 2016(South Africa), has proved that her mother is the invisible force behind it.

“Do what you like. Don’t pay heed to the discouraging words of others. You can do much better than anyone,even with disabilities. I always stand by you”.

Words that imbued her with solace and robust confidence!

For Valliammal, her daughter Sushila’s personality development from a timid person to a brazen one and her ability to face, sustain and handle challenges are much bigger than the Gold medals won by her. An astounding fact I came to know, when I asked her about the family’s reaction to her Common Wealth victory!

“We have no secrets between us and we mutually share, teach and encourage. Vijayashanthi is my good friend. I am in my second year of B.Ed and we both do B.Ed in SRM University. UmaShankar Sir, our coach means as much to me as to Vijayashanthi. And all my friends are good and they encourage me”. 

“A combined article on the duo would have been a better choice”. My thought, as it read, when Sushila spoke about VijayaShanthi(another Judoka and CommonWealth Gold Medalist) and their friendship, in reply to my question on their association.

Sushila is ready to compromise on ‘Tomato Rice’, her favorite food, but not on Ouchi-gari(foot throwing) her favorite technique she adopts to win over her opponents.

Fear has no place in her dictionary.

“I want to continuously achieve and be an example to others who are like me. People should understand that even persons like us are brave and capable of achieving, instead of being looked down upon.

Further, in many families it is a sad fact that girls are not encouraged and supported to pursue and fulfill their ambition. And I request, the women of our nation, in particular to have enough self-confidence to see them through, despite hurdles on the way. Self confidence will automatically channelize the mind and lead one to the possibilities of winning”.

How beautifully she has conveyed, “Life is all about self-learning”!

“I’m surrounded by good hearted people like our warden RadhaKrishnan Sir and Lit the light group. I entirely owe my Common Wealth journey to them. And can you please highlight that support from the Government at the right time, is most needed for aspirants like us?”

With an assurance to pass on her gratitude to and request, if any, for further support from ‘Lit the Light’, our conversation ended.

And before I close - “Sushila’s father Mani, a woodcutter, should have met the Angel from ‘The Axe and the Wood Cutter’ in the Panchatantra story. And to his surprise, the Angel should have offered Sushila – the stout hearted - as a boon!!”

I think so. Do you?

Article by Anuradha 

Ramesh - The Motivational Cricketer

Almost every Indian guy is crazy about cricket and Ramesh is no exception to that. He was 7 years old when he started practicing in Po0namalle School. Like most of the parents, Ramesh’s family was not along his interest. So, he decided to play without their knowledge and he has been passionately playing for 13 years now. There was not even proper coach and he managed to practice on his own. All that toiling and perseverance made him a part of Indian Blind cricket team in 2003 and he is the “Only player from Tamil Nadu” to represent team India among roughly 150 players.

Blind cricket has three categories namely B1 (100% Blind), B2 (40% Blind), B3 (70% Sight). Ramesh belongs to B3 category and he is an all rounder. So far he has played 2 World cups and test matches representing India. In 2009, he was a part of the team that represented India against Pakistan in England. In world cup 2014 held in South Africa, Ramesh was awarded “Best World fielder”.  

But the sad truth is that there is no proper recognition given to blind cricket unlike the normal one. When Indian Cricket team plays abroad we get so interested to follow the game very closely. But we do not even have any clue when these Indian Blind Cricket matches happened.  This really makes me wonder if we are really being partial between the same game. Does this mean we are rather addicted to the team themselves rather to the Game?

It saddened me further when Ravikant of Lit the Light mentioned that “media was not interested to cover the match and it was only 1 channel that telecasted it and we took a screen shot of  the score every 1 hour and posted in Facebook.” And another heart breaking fact is that these players are not paid for any of their matches.

Apart from cricket, Ramesh is pursuing his Bachelors in History through Correspondence studies simultaneously working as a Clerk in NLC, Neyveli.

People like Ramesh are a ray of inspiration to us. I personally wish him good luck to get the appropriate recognition for his passion and hard work and also on behalf of lit the light to reach greater heights further.  

Article by Sree Mahalakshmi

Vijaya Shanthi – The Visionary

What would any of us do, when our body temperature read more than 100 degrees F, with a frequent need of throwing up alongside a dislocated thumb finger?

Work from home/take few days off, update our Whatsapp and FB with our health ‘Status’, visit the doctor, Google resources on ‘Finger dislocation’, etc etc.. ??

Meet Vijayashanthi, the 2016 CommonWealth (South Africa) Judo Gold Medalist, from Kongarampattu Gram Panchayat, of Kannamangalam Village in Tiruvannamalai District, buckling down, to ensure her Motherland, the next Gold Medal from the upcoming Rio 2016 Olympics!

“My mobile battery is getting drained. I will take up the interview right away as I’m not sure when the power will resume!”

The practicality in her approach and the ground reality of our villages shook me as I heard VijayaShanthi the owner of 1 Bronze and 3 Gold Medals so far, speaking modestly, when I requested her time for a short telephone interview.

Born to poor farmers Ravi and Lakshmi as the last child, VC Vijayashanthi, had an innate love for athletics since childhood. Standing first in the victory stand for many athletic events became habitual to her.

She was in her 12th Standard when she was first introduced to Judo, though she had already befriended Karate. It was then she realized Judo is also a martial art!

“I met UmaShankar sir in Queen Mary’s College who led me to Stadiums and three National meets in Delhi, Goa and Lucknow. And the Gold Medal won in Lucknow took me to CommonWealth 2016”, says VijayaShanthi gleefully as she speaks about her coach who she considers as her mentor and pillar of support.

Her journey to Common Wealth started with handholding.

Yes!, for any VC person, Judo learning starts by ‘touching and hand holding the opponent’ for different techniques followed by rigorous practises that includes initially practising against normal sighted and well experienced opponents and gradually playing against another VC opponent. 

Interestingly, her practice opponent is Sushila, another VC Judoka who also bagged Gold Medal for India, in 2016 CommonWealth Judo(South Africa) Championship!

“As I hear Hajime(start) and when the opponent casts the entire energy or weight on me, that moment instantly I would know exactly what technique to apply to defeat my opponent. It’s all in my inner feeling. And my favourite techniques are Uki Otosho(Floating drop) and Koshi Waza (Hip throw). The shortest time I took was 3 minutes(she laughs)  ”, – These words still resonate in my ears, when I asked her how she judges on the tactics to defeat her opponent! 

2014, South Korea, her third judo Olympic proved to be her turning point and a constant motivating factor.

“I missed the gold medal in a minute difference. That was when I decided I would bag MY GOLD henceforth. Because my master UmaShankaran Sir says, you can do, keep trying. You should practice despite failures and pains! And everytime when someone says you cannot I would take it as I CAN”

Obviously, “What motivates you?” was my question.

Already a B.A, and presently pursuing B.Ed from SRM University, Vijayashanthi wants to become a judo teacher for all those interested in Judo without limiting herself to teaching VC people.

“It’s not enough that I alone learn and achieve. Every woman in whatever walk of life they are involved must be successful for a better India! Though by mere learning of Judo or a martial art a woman can safeguard herself to some extent, it is more in the presence of mind in applying what one has learned. And that doesn’t get limited to martial arts alone”!

“Awesome! What an insight!”-   My heart screamed as she put forth her views on Indian Women in Sports and Violence against women.

To my question on her journey from Kongarampattu to CommonWealth,  describing her feeling she says,  “I really feel proud. Please do convey my heartfelt gratitude to Bharath Anna from Lit the Light! CommonWealth wouldn’t have been possible without him. He arranged my to and for expenses in just a day or two’s time!”

We both said a good bye as she closed her conversation with her voice and heart brimming with utmost gratitude to Lit the light, her coach and her parents for what she is today!

I thought to myself. Her challenge is only sight, not VISION!

Watch out for photos of Felicitation for winners by LTL

Article by Anuradha

Man of Confidence - Kathir

For some, determination is just an adjective but for few people like Kathir, it is a habit or their character itself, whatever you want to call it as. When Ravi told me that he has cleared his NET (National Eligibility Test) Exam at the age of 45, I was puzzled. When I talked to him for the interview, I was clearly able to see his confidence reflecting.

His original name is Kabeer, but he is known as Kathir to everyone. Being a visually challenged person, Kathir got the family responsibility on him since young due to the sad demise of his father. But that did not stop him from dreaming big. He had managed to prepare for NET  simultaneously working for a TV channel and he cracked it. But his dream is even bigger. He is determined to pursue PhD that too from premier institutions like IITs or IIMs. “A man is complete only when he acquires his Doctorate degree” says Kathir. So, Kathir is currently preparing again for NET exam in full swing to enter the IITs or IIMs for his PhD.

 “When you are clear about what to want the universe works in every possible way to make it happen” goes a saying. The same has worked out for Kathir. Many noble hearts has come out of their way to help him achieve this. Shakthivel from lit the light, Mr. Subramanian from Thirunelveli and Mr. Saravanan, an IT employee are few such persons. For competitive exams like NET, timing is one important criterion.  Mr. Subramanian has helped him tap, that aspect of exam. His mentoring has helped him solve all the mathematical questions in 20seconds without the use of calculator, which usually requires 3 minutes with calculator. Mr. Saravanan has aided him with model question and answers in a format friendly to Kathir.

Kathir is a bundle of talent, I would say. In addition to NET he also is capable of cracking GRE (Graduate Record Examination) and TOEFL(Test of English as Foreign Language) exams which are equally competitive as NET . “I am fully confident that I will surely crack these exams that would help me secure a place in premier institutes like Harvard for my Doctorate” says Kathir proudly. He also added, “But unfortunately these universities offer fellowships only from second year onwards and we would have to support ourselves for the first year. I would feel blessed if somebody would come forward to support me for my first year alone. I will prove myself to get the fellowship from second year”. Hearing this from 48 years old person left me dumbfounded.

Talking to person like Kathir transmits positiveness in us too. True passion is what one would aspire to achieve irrespective of their age and limitations. And Kathir is one living inspiration for that. I feel entitled for having got an opportunity talk to him.

I personally and also on behalf of Lit the Light convey my heartiest wishes to Kathir to reach greater heights even beyond his imagination and hope he gets a sponsor for his studies abroad.

Article By  Sree Mahalakshmi