Journey from ‘Alien’ taunt to Arjuna Award: Tulsimati dedicated the award to her father

Indian para badminton participant Tulsimati Murugesan, who confronted the taunt of ‘alien’ from classmates due to congenital deformity and darkish complexion, has left behind her bitter childhood recollections by making it to the checklist of Arjuna Awards after profitable a silver medal at the Paris Paralympics. This 22-year-old lady’s story is considered one of tireless perseverance, impressed by the unwavering assist of her father, D. Murugesan, a each day wage labourer. Their father continued to pursue his daughters (Tulsimati and Kiruttigha) in sports activities regardless of opposition from society.

“He never allowed us to see his struggles,” Tulsimati advised PTI. He did not need us to know the way exhausting he labored or how a lot he sacrificed to make our goals come true. That’s why each medal, each award I win is his. Relatives and neighbors used to ask my father why he was taking us to the playground. They are women and they’ll get married and go away.

However, it had no impact on D. Murugesan. He impressed his daughters to play hockey, tennis, soccer, volleyball. Tulsimati and her sister, nonetheless, discovered badminton the most difficult, so their father determined to take up this sport. “When we said it was difficult, my father said ‘this sport will be your profession’,” he mentioned. And then that call modified our lives.

Despite the tough monetary situation of the household, Murugesan left no stone unturned to fulfill his daughters’ goals. During this time, he used the prize cash acquired from small tournaments to purchase sports activities tools. When requested about her childhood, Tulsimati mentioned, “I have faced many difficult situations. My classmates used to tease me because of my disability. They called me an ‘alien’ because of my complexion, my hands and my background.”

She mentioned, “I as soon as participated in a small district degree match and after I returned after profitable, some classmates got here to speak to me. At the similar time, I considered attaining one thing massive in life to depart behind my bitter recollections. Tulsimati’s left hand didn’t work due to ‘muscular dystrophy’, however in 2022, a street accident fully paralyzed her hand. Kind of spoiled it.

He mentioned, “My dad and mom saved crying for a number of days after the accident. They could not consider what had occurred to me.” After recovering from this damage, Tulsimati traveled to 15 international locations and received 16 gold, 11 silver and 7 bronze medals. This additionally contains notable achievements in the Asian Para Games. He mentioned, “I dedicated the medals to my father at the Chennai airport. I received down on my knees and offered these medals to him. This was the most memorable second for me.

However, he achieved the largest success of his profession by profitable a medal in the Paris Paralympics. Tulsimati was in her veterinary class in Namakkal when the Arjuna Award was introduced. “My classes usually end at five in the evening, but I think the announcement was made around three in the afternoon,” he mentioned. I used to be in school and I did not find out about it. After my courses had been over I checked out my cellphone and it was crammed with congratulatory messages. I additionally acquired many calls from mates.

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