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By:

Prithvi Asthana

20 August 2025 at 5:20:30 pm

From Wheels to Wings

After a life-changing accident, Priya Sharma turned pain into purpose through sport and dance, building a nationwide community for women with disabilities. Para athletes inspire the world with their performances, but few know their backstories. Even less attention is paid to the thousands of others with disabilities who continue to struggle every day. Priya Sharma, a para-athlete from Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh, is trying to change that — not just for herself, but for many girls across...

From Wheels to Wings

After a life-changing accident, Priya Sharma turned pain into purpose through sport and dance, building a nationwide community for women with disabilities. Para athletes inspire the world with their performances, but few know their backstories. Even less attention is paid to the thousands of others with disabilities who continue to struggle every day. Priya Sharma, a para-athlete from Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh, is trying to change that — not just for herself, but for many girls across India. Through  Dance with Wheels  (DWW), she has created a platform where people with disabilities can dance, turning struggle into strength and inspiration. Setback to Strength Priya Sharma, once a trainer under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna, saw her life change after a road accident in 2018. While returning from a 10-day training camp in Indore, the car she was travelling in met with an accident that permanently injured her spinal cord. Her lower body was paralysed, and unable to cope with her disability, Priya slipped into depression. During the Covid-19 period, when TikTok was still legal, she spent hours watching videos of wheelchair users dancing with their upper bodies — and found inspiration. The turning point came when Priya heard Paralympic medallist Deepa Malik’s story on the TV show  Kaun Banega Crorepati . She realised that if Deepa could achieve so much despite similar challenges, she could too. Slowly, she returned to sport and connected with disabled women dancers on TikTok. A sportsperson since school, she resolved to become a para-athlete and win a medal for India. In 2023, she won the state championship in javelin throw and was selected for the national meet in Pune, where she finished in the top 10. In 2025, she won gold in javelin and silver in shot put at the 15th MP State Para Athletics meet. After 2023, Priya began thinking about other women like her—with disabilities, struggling mentally and unsure where to turn. That led to the birth of  Dance with Wheels . What began as a small virtual group of two or three people has now expanded across 16 states, bringing people with disabilities together online through dance. Though Priya had no formal background in dance, she started it simply to empower women like herself. Today, it has grown into a nationwide community. Dancing Beyond Limits During 2025-26, the initiative engaged 37 women with disabilities and held 55 sessions. Its first offline event,  Astitva , took place in Jaipur on December 17, 2025, bringing together dancers from 16 states. The event aimed to bring women with disabilities out of their homes and help them feel empowered. Nine wheelchair dancers delivered a galvanising performance before an audience of over 350, proving that with the right support, people with disabilities can overcome immense challenges. Because travelling with a wheelchair is never easy, Priya Sharma also held special sessions to prepare participants. She taught them how to fold their chairs and care for their bodies during long journeys. Some travelled 20 to 22 hours to attend. All of it grew from Priya’s vision to change the lives of women like herself. Looking ahead, she said, "I want these dancers to compete for India in Paralympic Dance Sport, win gold for our country, and show the world that we are no less than anyone else.”

The great survivor!

Ganesh Naik

Ganesh Naik is a great survivor literally and figuratively. Recently at an election rally, he said that ‘all his rivals are dead’. That is very true literally. Nevertheless, Naik has also shown great agility and has survived politically.


Born in the Bonkode village of Navi Mumbai on September 15, 1950 Ganesh Ramchandra Naik started off in the life as a union leader. Initially he led workers from some of the prominent factories in the TTC industrial belt. As the union grew and spread to other industrial belts across Raigad and Thane districts, he started wielding political power. The planned city of Navi Mumbai was in making which lifted him straight from the village panchayat level to the state assembly. Shiv Sena was the most popular party among the youth back then. So, he became the Shiv Sena MLA in 1990 and also became the leader of the party in the house after rebellion of 11 MLAs under the leadership of Chhagan Bhujbal.


However, his rivals within the party made him leave Shiv Sena in 1999 though he was a minister and showed a great command on the administration. He lost the assembly election. But, after a brief period when he floated his own party, he joined NCP and was inducted into the state cabinet. After sensing that he has no future in NCP, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2019. However, before that he had developed a strong hold over the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), the two assembly constituencies in the city and the Lok Sabha constituency that extends from Navi Mumbai to Mira-Bhayandar. Naik family members occupied all the key posts of public representative from this region between 2000 and 2014.


Despite such a long and successful career, Naik faced controversies. He has been accused of cheating in two cases, and a woman claiming to be his live-in partner filed a more recent case of rape against him. The high court later quashed the case, and the complainant changed her statement, alleging that the case was politically motivated. But, the blot remains.


When he joined the BJP in 2019, his arch-rival Manda Mhatre had already been an MLA from the constituency that he had been being elected from. He had to leave the seat for her and he contested from his son’s constituency, Airoli. His elder son too didn’t get to contest Lok Sabha and his nephew couldn’t become Mayor of the city again. He still stayed with the BJP, but his son Sandeep, who was district BJP president, quit and is contesting from Belapur constituency as NCP(SP) candidate. Many feel that this is marks Naik’s backward journey to Sharad Pawar who had helped him stand again after being dejected by the Shiv Sena. Naik’s political journey has been marked by his ability to bounce back from setbacks.

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