Chasing heights

Born with HIV, a young Bengaluru girl found freedom in running, now she’s aiming for Everest

- Joe Williams

“We had no one to call our own. They claimed we belonged to them, yet we never truly had a family. All we had was sport, the only thing that held us, saved us, pushed us forward,” says Monika (name changed for security reasons), her voice steady but heavy with memories she rarely revisits. She recalls the day she stood on the podium at the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K in 2017, winning the women's 10K category, a moment that felt like reclaiming a life long dismissed. As World AIDS Day (December 1) approaches, her story becomes a reminder of the challenges children like her endure, and of the doors sport continues to open.

Monika’s journey begins in a small hamlet near Bengaluru. Born with HIV, raised in stigma, and exposed to a world no child should face, her life seemed destined for silence. But sport became her unexpected escape. “I was 11 when Sir Elvis Joseph found me,” she says. “That one step changed everything.”