 Aiming high
Gopikannan
 Is
it not a surprise to see a handicapped person achieving honours at the
international level? Gopikannan, born in a poor family in Subramaniapuram, in Madurai, with two elder sisters and one younger sister and a brother, had an
attack of polio and became handicapped. His father worked in a shop as a
labourer and his mother was a servant maid. But the earnings were not enough to
feed seven mouths. The parents were upset and shocked to see their first son a
handicapped and took him to many doctors in vain. Whatever little money they
earned went for the treatment of the young boy. Time and money were wasted in
the attempt to cure Gopi.
The next step was to admit him in a school. Gopi was denied admission in all the
local schools on the basis of his disability. So, the parents admitted him in a
boarding school for the physically handicapped in Anavathanallur, near
Palayamkottai. It was a horrible place surrounded by forest. The place where the
handicapped were housed was a hut with a thatched roof. It had no walls. It had
a muddy floor and they slept on a bed sheet.
Gopikannan still remembers how
the hut was invaded by snakes and wolves at night and the small boys remained
sleepless because of their fear of these animals. He could not even concentrate
on his studies. He spent one year in that hostel and came back home.
With great difficulty he joined
a school in Madurai. On many days they slept without food. When he was in
class-7, he realised the pathetic condition of the family and decided to do
something after the school was over. He got a part-time job in a workshop. When
school got over in the evening, and all the other boys rushed to the playground,
poor Gopikannan went to do painting in the workshop. He earned Rs 10 a day for
his work and gave Rs 8 to his mother and kept Rs 2 for buying books and
notebooks for himself. His life went on like this till he completed class-10. As
the financial condition of the family was very bad, he could not continue his
school education.
 So
he joined a professional course and trained himself in screen printing. He also
completed his certificate course in welding and computer. He was disappointed to
note that in spite of his professional qualifications he could not get a job.
One consolation was that he continued his work in the workshop which provided
him some income. He had an urge to achieve something in life though he knew his
disability.
Though handicapped, Gopikannan
loved games and felt very sad that he could not practise long jump, high jump,
running, etc., for which he needed the strength of his legs. He read in
newspapers and magazines about the service rendered by the Association of the
Physically Handicapped in Madurai. He became a member of it and expressed his
love for games and sports. They understood his interest and potency and gave him
hope and encouragement.
First he was trained in
three-wheel cycle competition. It was a memorable day in the life of Gopikannan
when he came first in the first competition he participated during the sports
meet conducted on the day of the Physically Handicapped in 1993, Madurai. This
initial success gave him encouragement and he started concentrating on other
games too.
He got trained in shotput,
javelin, discus, etc., by sitting in his wheelchair. Though it was a strenuous
practice, and he had to use all his strength, and the pain he felt made him feel
that earning a small income from the workshop was enough for him, Gopi resolved
to participate in new sports and games and win prizes.
He participated in 1994 at the
state-level competition held at Chennai for the physically handicapped. To his
great joy, he won a gold medal for javelin throw, silver for discus throw and
bronze for shotput throw. This gave him more hope to participate in the national
competitions held at Bangalore in 1995. He got two gold, one silver and one
bronze in the events.
He goes to the workshop in the
morning at 9 a.m. and returns home at 9 p.m. He has a bath and goes to the
telephone booth for work. The whole night he works there and comes home early
morning. Again, after having a bath and breakfast, he goes again to the
workshop. He has very little sleep. He accepts that sometimes, while painting
the bottom of the cars, he goes to sleep and his colleagues wake him up. This
strenuous life does not affect him. His ambitions and instinct for survival make
him face challenges in life.
Gopikannan’s participation in
games and sports continue and he brings more laurels to his association. He has
won more than 25 medals of gold, silver and bronze at district, state and
national levels. He has entered into a new game. He saw the handicapped playing
badminton sitting in their chair. He started practising for it. He secured
prizes in chair badminton too. He was happy to get selected for the badminton
competition for the handicapped at the international level in Bangalore in 2002.
But there was no proper ground in Madurai for the handicapped or proper
equipment. Special training methods were also unknown.
With inadequate training,
Gopikannan went for participation. The whole system seemed different there. He
had been practising in a plastic chair in Madurai. But in the international
competition, the players had to use a high wooden chair. Though it gave him an
initial shock, Gopi played with great confidence and was able to win the bronze
medal. His thighs got swollen because of his fierce movements on the ground on a
wooden chair and he suffered great pain.
He regrets there is lack of
training for Indian players while other countries care for the handicapped
players and allot funds to improve their standard. He was greatly acclaimed for
getting the bronze medal and TV, radio, newspapers and magazines highlighted his
achievements. He was interviewed by many and when he reached Madurai, the people
gave him a warm welcome. It gave him immense happiness and he forgot his
unbearable pain in the thighs. He was congratulated by known an unknown people.
When he went to the telephone booth, there were continuous phone calls wishing
him gold in the next international competition. In this process, people at home
suffered as there was no income during his absence for training and
participation in the competition. He regretted the pathetic condition of the
Indian players in comparison with the foreign players who were given all
comforts and training by the State and private organisations.
In the meantime, he received
the happy news of his being selected for participation in the international
badminton competition for the physically handicapped in New Zealand in April
2003. It was not easy to get selected like this as the player ought to have
qualified himself by winning in some standard competitions. Gopi had fulfilled
the conditions which had resulted in his selection. Though the selection for the
world level competition gave him joy, he had to face a new problem of getting
financial assistance. He had to pay in advance Rs 57,000 for meeting travel and
boarding and lodging expenses.
Gopi was confident and felt it
would be easy and possible for him to win a medal in New Zealand but very
difficult to get Rs 57,000 for making the trip. Still he did not lose hope. He
went to each and every shop and begged the owners to consider his case so as to
enable him to go for the international competition. But it was unfortunate that
Gopi could not get enough funds. His dream of getting a gold medal ended in a
fiasco.
 This
has inflicted a scar of disappointment in the mind of Gopikannan. He longs for
the day when the talented handicapped are given all assistance (physical,
financial and psychological) by the government as well as private organisations
so that not only individuals but also the nation as a whole benefits.
Gopi was selected for
performing another important event. The Physically Handicapped Association in
Bangalore has devised a programme for the handicapped. They have selected 15
talented handicapped for the project of climbing up the Himalayas in a
wheelchair. The participants have to use their hands only for driving it. It is
a strenuous work. Gopikannan has been selected to undertake the journey to reach
the peak.
They are given good training in
mountaineering on the wheelchair. After completing the full training and getting
the necessary permission to accomplish the unique achievement, Gopi hopes that
he would get the honour of being the first handicapped Tamil to reach the
Himalayas.
The strong-willed Gopikannan
does not stop with these achievements. As he is interested in getting a
postgraduate degree, he has got admission into the correspondence course and is
pursuing his higher studies.
There is no end to his efforts.
Gopi has forgotten sleep. His job during the day at the workshop, in the night
at the telephone booth, practice for games and sports at all levels and his
initiative for higher studies have made him a very busy person. It is the duty
of the government and the public to show interest in the progress and
achievements of talented disabled persons like Gopikannan.
Shanmugam can be contacted
@:
No: 54 Kamaraj Road,
Ramakrishna Nagar,
Alwar Thirunagar,
Chennai- 600 087.
Phone: 248 60 221
E-mail: shanmugam@azagi.com
Click
here to buy this book
(Extracted
from the book 'Hope is Life')
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