How Sports Transformed My Life: The Story of a Blind Champion

In our family of six members, three are blind, including me, my younger brother and my father. I’m entirely blind by birth. Maybe I’ve got my blindness genetically from my father. We belong to West Champaran, Bihar. Our financial conditions were not that good. Somehow, my father managed to make ends meet by farming. I shifted to Delhi for my education. And from an early age, my only goal was to study hard to be financially independent and support my family. 

While I was studying at the ‘Institution for The Blind’, Amar Singh, a coach, came to select the National Kabaddi Team for the Blinds. I was selected in the trials, and we won the cup by winning all six matches in 2013. Additionally, I got ₹ 62,000 as prize money from the Delhi government. As someone whose only goal was stabilizing the family’s financial condition, the prize money meant a considerable boost. So, I decided to focus on sports. 

I talked to Amar sir about it, and he suggested training under his coach, Dr Satyapal sir, at Nehru Place. I followed his advice, and within one and a half years, I went on to win two Silver, one Bronze and one Gold medal at the EPSA National tournament as an athlete. 

Later, in 2019, the Delhi government awarded me the ‘Best Athlete’ award. The award also included around 15-16 lakh rupees. And with that money, I could help my family a lot. I was also selected to represent India as an International athlete. But unfortunately, due to COVID-19, we couldn’t go to Australia for the tournament. Luckily, before COVID-19, I had a stable job. So, the pandemic didn’t affect me financially. 

Managing an athlete career and a full-time job got more challenging. So, I switched to cricket at the suggestion of a friend. I adapted to cricket smoothly and soon made my way to the national and international teams of blind cricketers. 

CABI has been a savior in supporting the blind cricketers. They are giving it all to churn out the best from the blind cricketers. Recently, they have made the blind girls play cricket. In a country like India, where an ordinary girl still struggles to live her life on her terms, it feels great to see CABI support disabled girls. And the best thing about playing the sport is that it helps us off the field, too! We can better cope with the other challenges through constant practice as we become physically and mentally fit.

Of course, challenges are still there. We still have to hire people to support us on the ground. If we get a little support from the government and the apex body of cricket, we will perform much better. For now, my focus is on the upcoming World Cup in Pakistan. 

We’re glad to partner with Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) and share stories "From Darkness to Glory"

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