Prakash
 Prakash's parents belong to a small village near Srivaikundam, in
Tirunelveli district. As they could not make their fortune in their native place, they left for
Mumbai some 40 years ago. Before they could settle down in life, they got a severe blow when their son lost his senses in both legs and became a
handicapped child.
They were depressed over their son's condition. They started a provision shop in
Mumbai, but that was not giving them enough returns. They found it difficult to make both ends meet as the expense of meeting the daily needs, the medical expenses of Prakash and investing on provisions went beyond their means.
They faced a great loss in it. The handicapped boy went crawling to a nearby school till class-6. The
parents could not carry him too far to school. Though he could not continue his
education, Prakash had an urge to achieve something in life in spite of his disability.
Though he discontinued his studies, he continued his
friendship with his classmates which gave him some happiness and association with his age group. As the seashore was close to his house, he used to join his friends there and watch them
swimming. Though he wanted to learn swimming, he was teased by some of his friends when he expressed his desire.
How could a lame boy swim? It is humanly possible? Everybody questioned him about it. But he did not lose heart. Without anybody's help he decided to learn the
art. So he took with him a long rope and tying one end of it with big stones on the seashore and the other end over his stomach, he jumped into the
sea and swam.
Slowly he picked up swimming well and decided to practise in swimming pools. With the help of the coaches, he learnt swimming perfectly. He started participating in swimming competitions at the district and state levels. He came to know about the special competitions being held for the physically handicapped persons not only in swimming but in shot-put, discus, javelin, wheelchair cycling, lifting heavyweight, etc.
He practised very hard in all these sports and participated in all the events at many levels. He never returned home without a prize and medals. He was awarded gold medals for his achievements. Gradually, he reached the national level in swimming and made his permanent mark as a winner.
 He was invited to participate at the international-level swimming events. It is not easy to get an entry into the international forum as the player has to come out successfully in the first place in three earlier competitions at different levels. Prakash's continuous success at the national level got him the recognition and he was selected for the international swimming meet at Argentina, organised by the Commonwealth Handicapped Sports Association in 2001.
lt was a rare honour to any player and it should have been the responsibility of the government to give financial assistance to the selected player to go to the place of competition. Unfortunately, Prakash could not get the assistance of either the state or Central government to make his journey to Argentina.
The continuous effort of Prakash ended in a fiasco because of the disinterest shown by the governments. It should not happen to any achiever. He was greatly disappointed. In the same way, he showed interest in crossing the
English Channel and prove to the whole world that it was possible for a disabled man to do it.
This dream also did not materialise as no one came forward to sponsor him to accomplish the great feat. The third blow came to the untiring swimmer when he could not get funds to meet out the expenses of crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, even though he was granted permission to perform the event.
All these remain unfulfilled dreams in his life and Prakash sheds tears and feels unhappy for having lost wonderful chances of bringing laurels to himself as well as to his nation. In western countries, the authorities come forward to support their players to any extent if they are sure of their success.
Even otherwise they encourage the selected players and look after their needs. But in India the players are not given due recognition. Some private concerns at least sponsor some players but the government shows least interest. They should know that these players bring honour to the country by their participation and if they are successful they glorify not only themselves but their nation too.
The plight of the sportsman is really pathetic. This condition should change if India is to get a place in the sports map of the world. Prakash was happy when he was selected to participate in the international swimming competition for the physically handicapped Asians held at South Korea in October 2002.
The same problem continued. The invitation came to Prakash just two weeks before the competition and he had to make not only vigorous practise to compete with national champions from other countries but also to raise funds for his travel and maintenance.
It was a hectic experience for him. He had to meet many organisations for funds and finally succeeded in getting Rs 30,000 in Trichy. As it was not sufficient, he borrowed Rs 45,000 for interest to make his trip. But he could not find enough time to practise swimming.
He was able to get fourth place in the competition. If he had had no stress and strain and got sponsorship, he would have had better practice and won a good position in the swimming meet. He regretted this did not happen. He felt a little satisfied when he got two gold medals in badminton in the national competition for the handicapped held in Bangalore in November 2002.
He has so far won 24 gold medals, five silver medals and five bronze medals for participation in swimming, shot put, javelin and discus throws. He is interested in social work. He donates blood ooce in four months. He has a group of friends who are always ready to donate blood at times of need.
 Prakash is happy to state that he has donated blood 30 times and he would continue to do it till his last breath. He feels honoured when he was invited to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi who praised him for his achievements and wished him to do achieve greater things.
He is a proud recipient in 2003 of the Chatrapathi award given every year to great achievers in different fields by the Government of Maharashtra. Along with the award he was given a cash prize of Rs 50,000. Prakash is happy and very thankful to the Maharashtra government that it has at last recognised his achievements though he originally belonged to Tamil
Nadu.
Apart from his participation in various competitions, Prakash has shown his talents in floating in water for hours together. Initially, he floated for one hour in the Arabian Sea and later increased the duration, and, in October 2002, he performed it for 12 long hours and created a record for which he was greatly honoured.
His achievements have been recorded in the Limca Book. Prakash has some plans too. To emphasise the need and importance of world peace and friendship, he wants to undertake a journey in his three-wheeler from Mumbai to Delhi and on his way he would like to impress upon the people the evils of war and how many people become handicapped because of war and how it should be put an end to.
It is absolutely essential to have a positive approach towards great achievers like Prakash and help them in all possible ways to make them achieve more and more honours as they are the proud sons of Mother India.
Shanmugam can be contacted
@:
No: 54 Kamaraj Road,
Ramakrishna Nagar,
Alwar Thirunagar,
Chennai- 600 087.
Phone: 248 60 221
E-mail: shanmugam@azagi.com
(Extracted
from the book 'Hope is Life')
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Victorious swimmer
