“…… and here are the medals that I won”, displaying the shining metals that stood hanging from the wall of her house at least a quarter century ago. Her eyes exhibited that pride she would have felt when she was garlanded with those medals; she won as a para shooter.
This is the story of Dilraj Kaur, a national level parashooter, winner of as many as 39 medals. Kaur represented India in the International Paralympic Committee World Cup in 2015. What is Para shooting? It is a sport for ‘competitors with disabilities’, where the shooters use a pistol or rifle. The accuracy and the control of the participant are tested, while shooting at fixed, non moving targets.
Now back to the ‘protagonist’ of this essay, Dilraj Kaur, who once upon a time, brought glory to the nation, and now forced to make ends meet by selling chips and biscuits in a roadside kiosk! This is a heart wrenching story of an athlete, who should have been treated like a ‘superstar’ for her contributions in the field of sports.
According to Dilraj Kaur herself, she was a practising advocate and she began shooting in the year 2004 and was literally the first woman to take up parashooting. As there was no other woman to compete with, she was made to compete with men. And in the year 2005, she participated in the pistol shooting event and won a medal in the Paralympics. This led to the Paralympic committee in the country to introduce Women’s Pistol shooting events. It is truly mesmerizing to note that she won as many as 39 medals at the national level, of which 28 were gold and 8 silver and 3 bronze. Due to her achievements at the national level, Dilraj Kaur finally realized her dream at the age of 28, in the year 2015. She was selected to represent the country in the international Paralympic Committee World Cup, which was to take place in Croatia. In the international wheelchair Amputated Sports Meet in Bangalore, Dilraj Kaur won a silver medal and she was a star. Her coach also exuded confidence in the star woman parashooter, that she would bring laurels to the country in future.
What led to her current condition now? In 2019, everything fell apart for Dilraj Kaur! Her father was suffering from kidney disease, and though he was under treatment, and every effort was being made to cure him of the illness, her father passed away. All the family’s earnings, including all the prize money she had earned with victories in parashooting competitions since 2005 was spent in the treatment of her father.
But nothing could save her father and he passed away in 2019, leaving Dilraj Kaur and her family, which included her mother and a brother, in debts. They borrowed money from their relatives, and also from money lenders at high interest rates and they had to sell a lot of their assets to settle the loans. The tragedy did not end there! In February 2021 her brother met with an accident. This led to Dilraj and her mother to dire straits. Her father was a government employee, and there was some pension coming, yet it was barely sufficient to make ends meet. According to Dilraj Kaur, the pension got used up in paying the house rent and loan EMIs. Today, the star parashooter is on the streets, selling chips and biscuits.
What does she expect the government or the Parashooting federation of the country to do? She does not want money, which was offered to her from the government and from companies and individuals. She flatly refused to accept monetary assistance and this speaks volumes about her self respect. She says, “I am not begging. being a certified coach and having a degree in law, all that I expect is that the government should treat not just me but other athletes with some respect and recognise us for our work”. Very straightforward and honest words. She says that she is not only fighting for herself, but also championing the cause of Page 1 straightforward and honest words. She says that she is not only fighting for herself, but also championing the cause of all other athletes, who may have brought laurels to the country or the states, but have been forced to take up menial jobs to run their household or to survive. In her own words, ““Now, I am also the voice of all athletes who have gone through this pain, because of a government that turns a blind eye to them, plunging them into darkness and poverty. That’s why I am doing this job. though I am helpless I still fight for self respect.“
A few words about Dilraj kaur’s personality. She is charismatic and jovial, full of life and cracking jokes at such a sad juncture in her life. According to her own self, she was the one who was always encouraging her junior shooters. She was strict when it was needed, but her colleagues felt comfortable with her. It is truly very inspiring to see that she has embraced life and worked on her strengths.
By Melissa Andria DSouza
