Top Of The Heap

Creators, trailblazers, torchbearers and all-round cool people. The achievers Femina honoured this year have one thing in common: they’re all severely allergic to the status quo and believe in shaking things up.

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Deepa Malik Femina Women Jury Award for Sports

Her story is one of grit and determination, and is sure to leave you inspired. After being diagnosed with a spinal tumour in 1999, Deepa Malik underwent three surgeries, and after countless visits to the hospital, was left paralysed chest down and was told she would never walk again. This was all before she went on to become one of the best athletes that India, and indeed the world, has seen. In 2016, Malik became the first Indian woman to win a silver in shot put at the Paralympic Games. She says, “I give credit to a lot of people who believed in my dreams which, in turn, made me believe that I could do it. The thought that a woman who is paralysed below the chest had to be confined to a room was just not acceptable to me. Then it became a journey of trying to tell people that it’s okay, that even though I’m on a wheelchair, I’m still the same.”

Malik aced whichever sport she set her mind to, and has given herself and the country a lot of firsts to celebrate. “I’m also the first paraplegic biker, rallyist and swimmer, and I absolutely love adventure. It hasn’t just been about the Paralympics; it has also been the journey of choosing to be first so that I could leave behind some footprints in a life where my legs don’t work,” she says. Ask her who inspires her and she promptly says it’s her children. “I didn’t want them to remember me as a cripple. I wanted to cherish my life with them.” Winning the Femina Women Jury Award, Malik says, is a testament to her never-give-up spirit and is every bit the “podium finish”.

Manasi Kirloskar