Deepa returns to a great welcome

Paralympic queen cherishes the rousing reception she got on her arrival home as the entire Khap from Haryana came to receive her.

Cherishing the reception she got post her historic silver medal at the Rio Paralympics, Deepa Malik on Saturday said that getting love from Haryana is a "really big deal" for a disabled woman.

The 45-year-old scripted history by bagging the silver medal in women's F53 shot put event in the Rio Paralympics, throwing a personal best distance of 4.61 metres.

Malik, who returned home to a rousing reception is overwhelmed with the love she received from her native place in the north Indian state of Haryana with the entire Khap coming to receive her.

"They say women are not en- couraged to take up sports in Haryana. I don't know about that. When I came back from Rio, 200 people from my village, the entire Khap came to receive me. They gifted me a gada (mace) for making the village proud," Malik said at NDTV's Youth For Change Conclave on Saturday evening.

"The honour is usually reserved for men. For them to give it to me, a disabled woman, is a really big deal," she added.

A mother of two and wife of an Army officer, Malik, who was conferred with the Arjuna Award, is a paraplegic - paralysed from the waist down.

A spinal tumour left her paralysed waist-below in 1999. The tumour had to be operated and 31 surgeries were conducted on her which got healed after 183 stitches between her waist and legs. After six years of being in the wheelchair, she turned to para-sports.

Meanwhile, India woman gymnast Dipa Karmakar on Saturday recollected that people often asked her whether her sport has anything to do with circus.

Dipa, who finished fourth in the Rio Olympic Games, has made gymnastics popular in India due to her feats. "People used to ask me what is gymnastics, is it something to do with the circus? And when I made it to the Olympics, there was a lot of pressure to get a medal," Dipa said at NDTV Youth for Change programme.

"But I just forgot all of that and tried to give my best," the 22-yearold girl from Tripura added. Wrestler Sakshi Malik, who got a bronze medal at the Rio Games, is also enjoying the adulation coming her way.

"Life has definitely changed after the medal. I had gone alone and when I came back I found the whole country with me. Being made to feel very special," said Sakshi.

Meanwhile, India's Virender Dhankar finished eighth in the men's shot put - F56/57 final at the Rio Paralympic Games here on Saturday. Virender finished with a best of 11.62 metre in his six attempts at the Olympic stadium.

The 32-year-old never looked in the contention as by the end of his three attempts he was at fourth position with a best throw of 11.39. In the next three attempts he slipped to sixth place before finishing at the eighth place. IANS