Many people who are born with good physical strength in the society, even if they see a small failure in life, they become physically tired, mentally exhausted and go to the point of despair. But there are those who struggle with the drive to achieve even when others are unable to walk unaided and overcome their physical disabilities to achieve in life. In that line, he made a record with struggle as his life and received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Ranjith Kumar.
J from Madurai. Ranjith, who was born with no physical deformities, contracted polio when he was 9 months old and lost both his legs.
After that, while growing up under the care of his parents, his father also died at a young age. Later he grew up with his grandparents with the support of his mother. Although he wanted to study further, he was unable to pass his graduation due to his family’s poverty.
He has also worked as a telephone booth, travel agency, lottery sales, lift operator in the difficult environment of protecting his family. But the motivation to achieve something in life is growing day by day.
After that, at the age of 24, he met coach Parasuram and there was a turning point in his life. He did not consider his physical handicap as a hindrance and tried hard by training in events like shot put, discus throw and javelin throw.
Due to continuous efforts, Ranjith won the district level competitions and went on to become a record holder by winning the state competitions and national competitions as well.
Ranjith Kumar, who started participating in competitions since 1998, has represented India 26 times in shot put, discus and javelin in recognized international competitions including Asian Commonwealth Games, World Championships and has won 10 gold medals, 9 silver medals and 7 bronze medals. He has achieved success.
He has also participated in national level competitions from 2002 to 2014 and has won 38 gold medals and has been a consecutive national champion.
Moreover, he is also responsible for founding the Tamil Nadu Para Olympic Sports Association in 2014 with the ambition of not only being an achiever but also other disabled people like him to become achievers. Through this, he has created more than a thousand differently abled sportsmen and women and turned them into achievers.
It is noteworthy that Mariappan, who won a gold medal in the World Para Olympics and was hailed as the golden son, is one of the most important creators of Ranjith Kumar.
He also received the Best Disabled Sportsman Award from former President Pranab Mukherjee for his sporting achievements. He also received the award for the best sports coach from the Tamil Nadu government as he trained many differently-abled players.
As Ranjith Kumar’s achievements in the field of sports continued, in recognition of his achievements, the Central Government also honored him with the Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest award given to sportspersons. The award was presented by former President Ram Nath Kovind.
Apart from being an accomplished sportsman, Ranjith is also working as an athletic trainer for disabled athletes of the Tamil Nadu Sports Development Authority. And hundreds of disabled athletes are benefiting as a result of their struggle to provide equal rights and incentives to differently abled sportspersons.
About his life J. Ranjith Kumar says, I worked hard with the ambition not to be paralyzed by physical disability and to set an example for people with disabilities like me. Behind my achievements there is a lot of poverty, social neglect, neglect and shame. Beyond all these, I stand today as an achiever in the society. I am training many people especially women with the intention of creating achievers like me. I am a symbol that physical disability is not a barrier to achieve in life. Being awarded by two Presidents is one of the most memorable events in my life. He said that he felt the meaning of birth when he hoisted the national flag to play the national anthem of our country even though he was disabled.