Malathi Krishnamurthy Success Story
“I believe in reinventing myself and learning new things
everyday. The only disability in someone can be an inferiority complex.”
- By Malathi Krishnamurthy
Introduction:
Malathi Krishnamurthy Holla is an International para athlete
from India. She was awarded Arjuna award and Padma Shri for her achievements.
Malathi Krishnamurthy Holla, who despite undergoing 33 surgeries and many
setbacks in her life, never gave up and won over 389 golds, 27 silvers and 5
bronzes at national and international events, most of them on a rented
wheelchair. She is still the fastest female Indian athlete on a wheelchair.
Childhood:
Malathi Krishnamurthy Holla was born on 6 July 1958 in
Bangalore to a middle class family. Her father ran a small hotel in rural
Bangalore. Born a healthy child, Malathi was struck with tragedy when she was
just a year old. Malathi was left paralysed neck down by a raging fever. Electric
shock treatment for more than two years on infant Malathi helped improve her
upper body strength but there was little change below that. A very challenging
destiny awaited Malathi. Malathi's parents continued efforts to bring life to
Malathi's lower body. After 2 years of shock therapies, her parents had no
choice but to hand her over to orthopaedic center in Chennai with hopes of
reviving her lower body. The center was going to be the new home of Malathi for
next 15 years, away from the comfort and warmth of a home with parents. But
this was a place which was different from the usual outside world. It was a
place where she will grow up with people having disabilities around her. Most
of the children around her were from poor families, left by parents to never
come back. For the next 15 years, Malathi's life was punctuated with surgery
after surgery. Pain, surgeries and medical procedures was a routine at the
center. The center was were she also studied and exercised hard to gain body
strength. Going through all of this, Malathi slowly and steadily gained mental
as well as physical strength and got used to the physical pains and mental
trauma in her life. Over her life, Malathi would undergo over 32 surgeries.
During this time Malathi made sports her passion, a therapy she pursued to find
solace and freedom from her everyday pain. To Malathi's credit, she fought on
and never backed out with dispair at any time during all these years. But life
was to throw another challenge for Malathi. It was a fight that every disabled
person in India has to fight. Coming back home after 15 years at the center,
Malathi was now out of her comfort zone – in a society which looked down on
disabled people. As she recalls, the biggest trauma of being a handicapped is
the inferiority complex that creeps in. That is what hurts the most. But her
passion for sports gave her the confidence and strength to fight along with her
disability.
Haul of gold!
Malathi joined Maharani College in Bangalore where she
continued with her passion for competitive sports. She trained hard, even
though she didn’t have the most important piece of equipment needed by a
disabled athlete – a racing wheelchair! Her strength and confidence saw her
sail through all sports levels upto nationals where she continued to dominate
sports for the handicapped. Starting 1975, she won many national medals. What
was astonishing that Malathi excelled in multiple field level athletic events
like shot put, discus, javelin, wheelchair race and obstacle race. Taken notice
by authorities, she was given a clerical post by Syndicate Bank in 1981. It was
only in 1988, that Malathi took part in her first international competition -
Para-Olympics at Seoul. While other foreign atheletes who took part had
personal coaches with them, Malathi was all on her own. Malathi saw first-hand
the difference which a personal coach could make to performance. Not to give up
in dispair, Malathi picked up cassettes and recordings of training by
professionals and started to train accordingly. The result were soon to be
seen. In a year's time, she began winning medals internationally. At the 1989
World Masters' Games in Denmark, she won gold in 200m, shot put, discus, and
javelin throw. She was now an international champion and she continued hauling
gold for India. After Seoul, Malathi has represented India at the Paralympic
Games in Barcelona, Athens and Beijing; and the Asian Games in Beijing,
Bangkok, South Korea and Kuala Lumpur. In all, Malathi has own 389 gold, 27
silvers and 5 bronzes at national and international events in her career,
mostly on a rented racing wheel-chair! While many may not know her today,
Malathi has been an inspiration for a entire generation of disabled persons and
continues to inspire others to rise above their physical limits. This thought
spurred her to start Mathru Foundation for physically disabled children in 2002
which she runs even today.
Awards & Recognitions:
Malathi, with her spirit, confidence and determination broke
new grounds for disabled atheletes in India during her time. She championed for
disabled atheletes be recognised for the Arjuna award and was also finaly
confered with one in year 1995. She also received KK Birla Award and Eklavya
Award from the Karnataka Government in 1995 and was named Woman of the Year,
1999 by American Biographical Institute, USA. In the same year, International
Biographical Centre, Cambridge, UK, also named her International Woman of the
Year. Malathi became the first disabled person to receive the Padma Shri Award
in year 2001. In 2009, a biography 'A Different Spirit' was released on her
life.
“I don’t think I am a
disabled person. Of course, I am disabled physically. But that is just one part
of my body. My self-confidence is not paralyzed”
“I took up sports and decided to do something different in life. Yes, we are different and so even our lives should be a shining example of that difference.”
- By Malathi Krishnamurthy
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