PANAJI
People with indomitable spirit are the icons which the society looks up to for inspiration. One such hero is Major (Retd) Devender Pal Singh. D P is now a saviour to those who suffer disabilities and lose interest in life, through his NGO ‘The Challenging Ones' endeavouring to rehabilitate and incorporate them in the mainstream society.
Brainchild of Kargil War veteran and India's first blade-runner, Major Devender Pal Singh; the Swachh Ability Run held in Campal-Panaji, was an unique event that showed what an inclusive society is all about. Abled and ‘specially-abled divyangs' participated in the running events and shared a great bond while also undertaking a cleanliness drive in the area. This is the spirit that thrilled D P Singh, who has completed 25 half-marathons and one full marathon. He is now on a mission to take his ‘Swachh Ability Run' to different cities in the country. "The spirit triumphs when the disabled come out in large numbers. Goa has made a fantastic beginning," an ecstatic D P Singh told The Goan on a bright Sunday morning. "I am thankful to the Goans. I had not expected that we would get such a fabulous response here. The spirit was amazing and it proves that we all are together in keeping society as inclusive and our mother Earth beautiful and clean.
"Our focus is to give a platform to the people and divyangs of a city. So that they do not feel isolated for lack of such events. We will bring the event to your city, while you will have to come out with your spirit," declared Singh, whose event will be held in Belagavi on Monday, followed by Hubballi on November 7, Mangaluru on November 9 and Bengaluru on November 12.
According to Singh, the number of amputees coming to sports for staging a comeback to their normal life, is on an upswing. "The Challenging Ones is my NGO. We endeavour to enable people through the means of sports. I started ‘The Challenging Ones' in 2011 after doing my first blade run. I remember the day when some of the amputees from my group then, were not even in a position to speak due to the inhibition of disability. It has been an inspirational journey since then and today we are 1400 amputees connected and around 400 are such, who have participated in various running events; events like cycling, swimming, cricket, badminton, and other sports.
"One case that is very inspirational is of Arun from Bangalore, who has gone on to run a 10km event in Bangalore even before completing an year from the day of amputation of his leg. Through sports we build the confidence of people. It's a chain then as people watch and get inspired by actions of others. Today everybody is taking pride in coming out in open saying, ‘so what if I am an amputee? I am what I am," explained Singh.
As Singh says, it is not easy to come out of a shock of disability in general. So how did the former Indian Army officer fight his way back. Here is the answer: "For any type of setback if I say so, well... firstly for me it's not a setback, as I feel pride about losing (right leg) because it happened in a war. But then, after suffering a loss, it becomes very important for us to accept the reality. The moment you accept the reality, it becomes easy to progress further from there. I did not take much time to accept that the leg is not there. Now what best can I make with whatever I have? -- this is my endeavour and has always been so. God has been very kind to me as he has given me the strength to make the best use of whatever I have."
The legend of Singh can add many chapters yet to his glorious life. A relatively recent achievement has been the completion of a full marathon on January 13, 2017, to mark his 43rd birthday. Salute to the hero, who is on a campaign to unearth more heroes!
