 Able Minded
Soundararajan
 Who
will say that Soundararajan is a disabled person when they see his achievements
which even the able bodied men could not achieve? He was born in Madanadar
village in Tirunelveli region to Ragaiah Nadar, who was incharge of the village
temple.
He has two younger sisters, one
elder sister and three younger brothers. They had a house and some lands and
Ragaiah was well respected in the village. Some local people raised some
questions about the dealing of temple funds during a festival and abused Ragaiah.
As he was truthful and sensitive, he could not bear the false accusations and
jumped into a nearby well and was seriously hurt.
He was hospitalised and the
house and land were sold for his treatment but he could not be saved. The
illeterate mother Selvakani had to take care of the children as all property was
sold and there was no regular income to feed eight mouths. She went to the
forest to cut timber and earned her livelihood which was not sufficient for the
family.
Soundararajan and his elder
sister went to the same school, while all other children remained at home. After
the school hours, he used to go along with his mother to the woods to cut wood
as the earning of his mother was insufficient.
When he was in second standard,
he met with an accident. He got hit by a cycle and his leg was seriously
wounded. It has been the practice in the villages to go for local treatment
only. So Soundararajan was given only very ordinary treatment for his serious
hurt.
The local physician used some
herbs and oil and put a heavy bandage on his leg with some barks and never
returned to continue the treatment. The pain was unbearable and Selvakani had no
money to take him to the hospital.
As the bandage was not removed
for a long time and the treatment was improper, his leg got blackened and all
advised his mother to take him to a nearby hospital. He was admitted in the
hospital and as there was no flow of blood in his leg it became useless.
When the doctors tried a major
operation to bring back life to the leg it ended in a failure. He was amputated
upto his knee and stayed in the hospital for one full year. The only consolation
for him was the school books which he read during his stay in the hospital.
As he thought that he could not
live without a leg, he requested his doctor to put him to permanent sleep by
giving him some poison. Days passed and he started walking with wooden sticks.
He continued to go to school but was deeply hurt by the teasing of his
schoolmates who always called him a lame boy.
He was feeling unhappy whenever
he crossed the playground where he used to run, hop, jump and play many games
before the accident. Soundararajan wanted to train himself in cycle race and
javelin throw. There also he was not encouraged by his classmates and teachers.
So after reaching home, he practised cycling.
He needed some ones help for
that as he fell down often during his practice. The physical pain was less than
the mental strain and stress he underwent. After completing his school education
he decided to come to Chennai in 1990 hoping many avenues would be open for him
to achieve something in life.
Initially he got a small job in
a provision shop and slowly got into the practice of cycling, javelin throw and
swimming. He was keen on continuing his higher education too. So he joined the
correspondence course also.
He was a regular reader of
newspapers. Once he came across the news item about the games and sports
specially conducted for the physically handicapped persons at all levels. He
started vigorous practice to participate in the games.
He met the organisers who
conducted the events and expressed his desire to participate in sports. Knowing
his talents and serious practice, the organisers chose him to participate in the
national level competition for the physically handicapped to be held in Gujarat.
He was very happy and with
great determination he took all efforts which resulted in getting gold medals in
swimming and javelin throw. This was a great beginning of his achievements in
sports. He participated in many competitions at the state and national levels
and won many prizes.
He could not believe his photos
appearing in papers and magazines in the sports columns. A great surprise
awaited him when he heard from one girl who was fascinated towards him when she
saw his photographs and read about his achievements and expressed her wish to
marry him.
He could not believe that he
could also be loved by somebody in this world. She is Bindhuji who only saw his
hardwork and interest in games, not his disabled body. He is happily married to
her and she is the main source of encouragement in his life.
He not only loves her but feels
greatly indebted to her for sharing his joys and sorrows. Soundararajan
recollects his achievements, he aimed at a world record of cycling 2,850 km in
140 hours. This feat was accomplished by him on 4th June, 1991.
He was anxiously awaiting the
recording of the same in the Guinness book of World Record. But he was shocked
to hear that he was given only the appreciation of the Guinness and not a record
due to some technical reasons.
When he asked for the reason,
the authorities told him that the previous record was created by John Mathew for
cycling 1,350 km from Austria to France in 69 hours. Though he had pedalled
1,500 km more than John, he could not defeat John's achievement as Soundararajan
cycled with in Tamil Nadu, while John's feat took place in going from one
country to the other.
 Had
he gone either to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or Pakistan, he would have defeated the
record of John and found his name in the Book of Record instead of getting mere
appreciation. This gave him great disappointment as he was not aware of that
particular condition.
Though he put forth all
efforts, his ignorance of the rules and regulations put him under distress and
disappointment. He wants the sports authorities to come forward with necessary
information to help the talented players to achieve great laurels for the nation
as a whole.
There was another unforgettable
incident in his life. In 1994, he covered 2,6750 km driving his motorbike all
over India and created a record. But when he was going in Assam, there was heavy
rain and flood in Tripura river which obstructed his progress.
He was very much upset and did
not know what to do. When it was nine o'clock at night, he was shocked to see
people around him with guns. Soon he realised that he was surrounded by the ULFA
militants.
The security police who
accompanied him informed about it to all police stations. They informed the
Tamil Nadu police too. Soundararajan tried to explain to the militants about
himself and the aim of his trip was to infuse confidence among the youth of
India and pleaded to them to release him without any harassment
But they did not believe his
words and examined him thoroughly to know whether he was really handicapped. But
still they refused to release him. When asked what they were going to gain by
his capture, they asked for his motorbike.
Soundararajan boldly refused to
handover the bike to them and told that it could be possible only after
accomplishing his feat. He firmly told them to take the bike after shooting him
to death. What changed their minds, Soundararajan did no know but they said to
him to go with his bike.
They also told that they too
had conscience. It was a great escape for Soundararajan from the killing group
and his new record looked smaller than his release from the ULFA militants. He
crossed the distance from Chennai to Kanyakumari in nine hours and one minute.
To create an awareness among
the youth about road rules, he organised a cycle rally from Chennai to New Delhi
and led a group of 25 youth. He could narrate innumerable success stories as
well as the obstacles faced by him in his life.
 He
took part in the cycle and javelin throw competitions held for the physically
handicapped in Belgium on 11 and 12, May, 2002 and won gold in both and added
fame and prestige to India. He represented India in the cycle race held in
Germany in August 2002 and won gold medal.
He has been selected to
participate in the 2004 Olympics representing India. He is not satisfied with
all these achievements. The thirst for achieving new records persists. Next he
aims at creating a world record in the Guinness Book by going all over the world
in a car.
He planned it well in 1998. He
was able to get the acceptance and support of the previous government. But the
change of government in Tamil Nadu in 1999 has obstructed his plan. Whomsoever
comes to power should honour talented people.
The achievers, that too the
handicapped ones should not be blocked in the name of party politics. They
deserve all encouragement and financial support.
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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