The wind beneath their wings

Subhash Rajta 

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 19

On Sunday, the Haryana Raj Bhawan was abuzz with excitement. The Bhim awardees, with trophies in their hands, lit up the place with their broad smiles. In this blissful gathering, everyone looked happy and proud, especially the parents of the youngsters with special needs who had excelled in sports. 

For them, the award was the recognition of the hard work their children had put in to excel against all odds. It was also a triumph of their own sacrifices, of their steely resolve to turn their children into champions. 

One such proud parent was Kartikay Saini, the father of 16-year-old golfer Ranveer Singh Saini. Ranveer, who was diagnosed with autism when he was just two years old, won a gold medal at the Special Olympics World Games in Los Angles in 2015.

“It’s a great day for us, what he has done is amazing,” said the proud father. “One can’t even imagine how tough it is for an autistic kid to excel in a sport like golf. The sport requires a high level of concentration, precision, but autism makes you hyper and unfocussed, and you can’t concentrate for more than 40-50 seconds. So you can imagine how tough it must have been for him.”

So, how did Ranveer get into golf? “We are a family of golfers. While we would play golf, he would sit alone waiting for us to return. So we all thought that we can’t leave him behind and got him to play with us,” said Saini. “And we are so happy that we took that decision. Once he got in, he never looked back,” said the beaming father. 

Karnal’s Tejbir Gagsina, too, couldn’t leave is son behind to fight alone with his troubles. And while Saini fortunately had the resources to take care of the needs of his son, Gagsina had nothing except his resolve to help his son achieve something despite his crippling disabilities. 

“I was shattered when I learnt that Arun had problems. But instead of breaking down, I decided I will do whatever it takes to help him achieve something in life.” And the decision he made years back saw Arun, now 22 years old, take up roller skating and win gold and silver in the Special Olympics in Athens in 2011.

“I am a small-time electrician, and I have no land, no property. And I couldn’t even work for more than three to four hours a day as I had to accompany Arun to his school and practice,” said Gagsina. “But nothing mattered to me. I did everything I could to help my son achieve something and be someone. We’ve achieved 70 per cent of what we set out to achieve, the rest will be accomplished if he gets a government job,” said the doting father.