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By:

C.S. Krishnamurthy

21 June 2025 at 2:15:51 pm

Ekta Bhyan, Quiet Gold

The strongest lessons in life rarely arrive with drumbeats. They come quietly, sit beside us, and stay long after the applause fades. I learnt this at the recent Peakst8 Festival in the world-class Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence Bengaluru. The venue was full of ambition, energy, loud confidence and polished success stories. Yet, it was gold-winning para-athlete Ekta Bhyan who held my attention, not by raising her voice, but by lowering the noise around her. She was an integral...

Ekta Bhyan, Quiet Gold

The strongest lessons in life rarely arrive with drumbeats. They come quietly, sit beside us, and stay long after the applause fades. I learnt this at the recent Peakst8 Festival in the world-class Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence Bengaluru. The venue was full of ambition, energy, loud confidence and polished success stories. Yet, it was gold-winning para-athlete Ekta Bhyan who held my attention, not by raising her voice, but by lowering the noise around her. She was an integral part of a panel discussing what it takes to reach the Olympics. Others spoke of pressure, fame and sacrifice. Ekta spoke of routine. Of turning up. Of patience. There were no heroic flourishes in her words. Each sentence was measured, calm and grounded. Listening to her, I sensed a deep reserve of experience. She was not trying to impress. She was simply explaining how life had unfolded. A spinal injury, in 2003, had left her paralysed. This is usually where stories pause for sympathy. Ekta’s does not. She spoke of rebuilding, not rebelling. Of learning what the body could still do, and then working patiently within those limits. Para sport entered her life quietly, not as rescue, but as direction. Over time, she found her space in the F51 club throw, a demanding discipline where balance, precision and control matter more than force. What stayed with me was her restraint. She mentioned podium finishes only in passing. International meets, Asian Para Games, world championships, all appeared briefly and then moved aside. Even the gold medal she had earned was referred to almost casually, as one would mention a milestone on a long road. For her, medals are not destinations. They are confirmations. Steely Discipline Ekta spoke about training. It is not exciting, she said. It repeats itself. Progress hides. Muscles resist. The mind looks for shortcuts. Yet commitment must remain steady. She described days when success meant completing a session without excuses. On some mornings, it was finishing gym work despite fatigue. Evenings meant outdoor practice, carefully timed because regulating body temperature is a constant challenge after spinal injury. For nearly three years, she has not missed a single day of training. With limited muscle use and only about forty per cent lung capacity, each session needs careful planning. Her shoulders are her strongest allies. Other muscles cooperate less. Fingers offer no strength at all. Still, she works with what she has. Over the last four years, this discipline has translated into results. Gold medals at national championships. A bronze at the Asian Para Games. Gold and bronze at the World Championships in Paris in 2023. This season alone, she added gold at the Indian Open Paralympic Championships and a silver soon after. Her personal best stands at 21.5 metres, and she speaks of improving it, not defending it. There was a gentler revelation too. As a young girl, Ekta had once dreamt of becoming a doctor. She wanted to heal. Life rewrote the syllabus. Yet, listening to her, I realised she still heals. Not with medicine, but with example. Her journey treats assumptions and restores belief, quietly and effectively. Human Moment After the session, when the crowd thinned, I walked up to her with my notebook. I asked for her autograph, expecting a quick signature. She paused, asked my name, and wrote hers carefully. That small act reflected everything she had spoken about. Presence. Respect. Attention. Her daily life, she earlier shared, is not simple. She needs two people to help with routine movements, from transferring to travel. Public transport is impossible. Every trip requires planning, space and expense. Often, she bears the cost for three people, not one. Yet, she spoke of this without complaint. The harder challenge, she said, is mindset. People with disabilities are still seen as separate from the mainstream. Expectations are lowered, often disguised as kindness. Ekta resists this quietly. Her competition is internal. Yesterday versus today. Comfort versus effort. Paralysis, she believes, is a condition, not an identity. As I left the venue, the applause felt inadequate. Not because it was soft, but because her journey asks for reflection, not noise. Ekta Bhyan reminds us that ambition can change shape without losing meaning. That success does not always announce itself. Sometimes, it arrives quietly, balanced and consistent. Her strength lies not only in the distance she throws, but in the steadiness she maintains. And in that quiet balance, Ekta Bhyan offers us something rare. A lesson that stays long after the hall has emptied.   (The writer is a retired banker and author of ‘Money Does Matter.’)

Death toll crosses 21; CM reviews status   

Mumbai: As large parts of Maharashtra continued to reel under the monsoon fury for the fourth consecutive day, the statewide death toll climbed to at least 21, with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis closely monitoring the situation in the state’s 36 districts.

 

The battering rains have disrupted normal life with trails of deaths, missing persons, crops devastated and untold misery for lakhs in Mumbai, Marathwada, Vidarbha and Konkan regions, reviving memories of the July 26, 2005 deluge.

 

With rainfall figures remaining in 3-digits for the past 3 days, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) has been hit hard with delays or disruptions in the suburban train networks, major and arterial roads, the two highways flooded, rail tracks, vicinity of stations inundated, causing huge hardships to the commuters.

 

Hundreds of commuters were seen trudging on the railway tracks in places like Vasai, Nalasopara, Ghatkopar, Mulund, Kalyan, Sion, Kurla, and certain other stations on the Western Railway, Central Railway and the Harbour Line networks.

 

Scores of big and small vehicles were stuck in the waters submerging the city roads and highways across Mumbai, and towing vans rushed to the rescue of four-wheelers in some places, but two-wheeler riders preferred to drag their vehicles to the nearest garage.

 

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) authorities advised intending domestic and international passengers to check the status with their respective airlines before venturing out and allow extra time to reach the airport given the incessant rains and traffic conditions.

 

Officials said that over 10-lakh hectares of farmlands have been destroyed with the highest 2-lakh hectares in the Vidarbha region alone, said Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, after attending the review meeting today.

 

The IMD has announced a Red Alert for Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad, besides Orange Alert for Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and other districts, fisherfolk on Maharashtra-Goa coast warned against venturing into the angry Arabian Sea, a holiday for past two days for all schools-colleges, a work-from-home for government staffers and other precautionary measures.

 

As per official reports, more than 800 villages have been affected in the usually dry Marathwada region, water levels are alarmingly high in several talukas of Raigad-Ratnagiri.

 

Indian Army’s Sudarshan Chakra corps rescues hundreds in Nanded

Nanded: Responding to a SOS from the Maharashtra government, the Indian Army’s Sudarshan Chakra Corps has rushed a rescue column to bail out thousands of people stranded in the flood-ravaged Nanded district, officials said here.

 

Till Tuesday, at least 21 rain-related deaths were reported across the state including eight in Nanded where a cloudburst-triggered deluge created massive havoc and destruction, and more than 300 people have been rescued.

 

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that at least eight persons perished in the Nanded which has been clobbered by rains since Sunday, besides 2 rain-linked fatalities in Beed, one each in Hingoli, Gadchiroli, Akola, plus 2 in Mumbai.

 

The Sudarshan Chakra Corps has rushed a rescue column of 65 comprising rescuers, engineers and medicos which are helping the State Disaster Response Force, local police and district officials.

 

Temporary camps have been set up to shelter the people evacuated from inundated villages, with Raawan, Bhaswadi, Bhingoli and Hasnal bearing the brunt of the flood waters from the overflowing Lendi Dam.

 

With 80 percent of Hasnal still inundated, the local authorities said that of the five reported missing yesterday, the bodies of four were recovered and a search continues for one person in the ongoing operations.

 

“The Army columns are actively relocating families to safer areas. Medical camps and food distribution points have been established to extend immediate humanitarian relief. Equipped with advanced rescue gears, our teams are prepared to ensure safe evacuation of stranded residents,” the Army officials said today.

 

Of those rescued under challenging conditions with intermittent rains, nearly 180 persons were administered first aid, and food provided to over 450 people, Nanded Collector Rahul Kardile describing the situation as ‘currently under control’.

 

Kardile said that though the rainfall situation has eased somewhat with water levels receding, the Godavari and Painganga rivers are still in a spate, and a strict vigil is being maintained on the unfolding flood crisis.

 

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