THIS MEDAL PROVES NO AVANI LEKHARA, DISABILITY CAN TOP ME FROM XCELLING’
Vani Lekhara’s feat comes after numerous sacrifices, nd she hopes that this will inspire generations to come
All eyes were glued to the television, as 19-yearold para shooter Avani Lekhara scripted history on Monday by ecoming the first Indian woman win a gold medal at the aralympics. A delighted Lekhara ays, “I want people to look at me nd feel that if Avani can do it, hen why can’t we? No one should el sad about their disability. his medal proves that no isability can stop me from xcelling in what I want to do.” A student of BA LLB, Lekhara ggled sports and academics to each where she’s today. “I’ve een training for the past six ears. Amid the pandemic, I built target set-up at home. I’ve not nger Leslee Lewis grew up with Bollywood around him, as he likes to put t he admits he always ted to dabble in western ic, too. Recently, he came with an English song, urage, in collaboration rapper-singer Omar ding. slee feels that a large on of people in India didn’t race western music back e day. “Nobody got it in the when I did it here. People ‘English mein samajh aata, do lines ke aage kya ahe ho, kya bol rahe ho’,” counts, adding, “I would
Sholay attended my college because of my training. To put aside my studies and focus completely on the sport has been the hardest sacrifice. I’ve missed my friends’ reunions, birthdays and other parties. But it was my parents and brother who were my biggest support system throughout all this,” she adds.
She’s received a lot of congratulatory calls and messages on her win. But the “most special congratulatory call came from our Prime Minister”. She adds, “(Narendra) Modi ji congratulated me and wished me luck for the future. It felt like a moment of a lifetime,” shares the 19-year-old rifle shooter from Jaipur, adding that her inspiration on the field has been Olympian Abhinav Bindra. “He is my inspiration. I’ve always wanted to win a gold medal just like him,” she adds.
Lekhara says when she took the winning shot, she “wasn’t thinking about the medal”. “I was just focusing on my shot. But to win gold on my debut in the Games feels special,” she says.
The gold medallist feels glad to be put on an equal pedestal as other athletes. She says,
“The treatment to Paralympians has been on a par with other athletes. We are treated equally in terms of getting endorsements, ads sponsorships and financial aids.”
Ask her about the first thing she wants to do upon reaching India, and she replies, “I’ll take rest, meet my friends and family and give my college exams. I want to have my favourite kadhi chawal when I reach home.” the hit number Yaaron and his debut album, Colonial Cousins, with Hariharan, believes that people in India prefer sweetness in music. “Indians need mithaas. Rock, for them, is distortion, something abrasive. By the time I got down to Aapki Dua in my album Pal, it was a sweet rock kind of thing,” says Lewis.
Talking about Entourage ,he says that he is “probably the only Indian” singing in Hollywood, in English. Lewis is happy that his music is being embraced across the world. “I have started my own label, which is all about global music in Hindi. I released a song in June called Chhoda
which did well. It made