A woman who kept her spirits up even when the lower part of her body became numb. She is a disabled Indian woman athlete in shot put and javelin throw. She has also been participating in competitions like swimming and motor racing.
Not only a para-athlete but also a courageous biker, skilled swimmer, car rallyer, social worker, motivational speaker, successful entrepreneur, and member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
We are talking about Indian player Deepa Malik, who is the first Indian female para-athlete to win a medal in the Summer Paralympics Rio 2016.
She has been honored with awards such as Padmashree, Arjuna Award, and Rajiv Gandhi Sports Award by the Government of India. She also made the country proud many times at the national and international levels.
She has been awarded 5 President's Awards, 4 Limca World Records, 3 International Awards, 68 National and State Medals, and 23 International Medals.
Deepa Malik is also associated with the Himalayan Motorsports Association (HMA) and the Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India (FMSCI).
She is the first paraplegic female biker, swimmer, rallyist, and Paralympic medalist.
She carried forward her abilities even with her disability and did not sit in defeat. It is difficult to recognize the potential hidden behind disability and not everyone has that much courage.
Overcoming the difficulties, she made ability in disability her life's mission.
Deepa Malik is continuously engaged in the endeavor of empowering people with disabilities through her foundation Wheeling Happiness.
On 11 October 2019, on the occasion of International Women's Day, she appeared in the popular Indian TV game show "Kaun Banega Crorepati".
Let us know the interesting story of Deepa Malik's willpower, courage, and struggle…
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Early Life
Deepa Malik was born on 30 September 1970 in Sonipat, Haryana. Her father Bal Krishna Nagpal has served in the Indian Army. Her mother's name is Veena Nagpal. Her brother Vikram Nagpal is a Brigadier in the Army.
She was active and motivated towards sports since childhood.
When Deepa Ji was 5 years old, she had to suffer painful treatment for 3 years due to a tumor in her spinal cord. The treatment was successful but he had to undergo aggressive physiotherapy.
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Education and Marriage
She was a scholarship student of Kendriya Vidyalaya. She has a graduation degree in English Literature from Sophia College, Ajmer. She was very fond of riding bikes. She fell in love with Vikram Singh Malik, who was enthusiastic about bikes like her.
Vikram Malik had proposed to her while gifting her a bike. On June 27, 1989, she tied the knot with Army officer Vikram Singh Malik.
She has two daughters Ambika Malik and Devika Malik. Her daughter Devika showed signs of disability at an early age. Due to the symptoms of hemiplegia, the left side of Devika's body was affected. But she is not at all less than her mother Deepa Malik in courage. She is also a para-athlete.
When She was Paralyzed
In the year 1999, 29-year-old Deepa Malik once again had to fight a spinal cord tumor. The doctors were left with no other option except an operation. She had also warned that she would be unable to walk after the operation.
During that time her husband was fighting for the country in the Kargil war.
She underwent three surgeries to successfully remove the tumor, which required approximately 183 stitches. The tumor was destroyed but she was paralyzed from the waist down. After the surgery, she had to undergo physiotherapy for 6 years.
Not only is Deepa Malik's courage so strong, but the credit for this also goes to her husband. After the Kargil war, her husband Vikram Singh Malik left his army job. And taking courage from his wife, he stood up from the rock.
In 2003, when her husband was on tour, she opened a restaurant in Ahmedabad. She provided employment to the youth and also took them towards education. She closed the restaurant in 2010 to give direction to his sports life.
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Turned towards Sports
After winning the battle with the tumor, at the age of 36, she showed interest in sports. Breaking all social norms, she was ready to face every storm.
Anyway, at the age when athletes think of retirement, Deepa Malik has just started her career.
She started swimming to strengthen her shoulders and arms. Seeing her enthusiasm and skill in swimming, her coach suggested that she should participate in national-level swimming competitions.
Deepa Malik proved with her courage that disability is just a state of mind. In 2008, she swam 1 km upstream of the Yamuna River.
In 2009, she moved from para-swimming to para-athlete. She participated at the national and international level in sports like shot put, discus throw, and javelin.
In 2016, Deepa Malik etched her name in sporting history by winning a silver medal in the shot put F-53 event at the Rio Olympics with her best performance of 4.61 meters.
By then, due to her ability and amazing performance, she had won 54 national awards in her name in swimming, shot put, javelin throw as well as as a biker.
In the year 2018, she won the gold medal in the F-53/54 Javelin event at the Para Athletic Grand Prix held in Dubai.
She is currently the world's number-one player in the F-53 category.
She created a new Asian record at the Asian Para Games 2018 and is the only Indian woman to win a medal in 3 consecutive Asian Para Games (2010, 2014, 2018).
Dipa Malik is the only Indian woman to qualify at the IPC World Athletics Championships, Lyon, in 2013.
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Motor Sports
She is associated with the Himalayan Motorsports Association. She covered 17,000 km with a climb of 18,000 feet for 8 days in sub-zero temperatures.
She is the first disabled person to get an official rally license from the Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India.
She has participated in the toughest car rallies. She became the first disabled person to participate as a navigator and driver in remote rallies like Raid-de-Himalaya in 2009 and Desert Storm in 2010.
Her aim in getting involved in motorsports was to encourage and raise awareness that physically challenged people can obtain official licenses. And physically disabled people can awaken independence and self-reliance through driving. She has held several rallies to emphasize this issue.
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Honors and Achievements
- Boosting Deepa Malik's enthusiasm and confidence, the Indian Government honored her with the highest sports honor “Arjuna Award” in 2012 for her amazing performance in swimming.
- In the year 2014, she was honored with the President's Role Model Award.
- She was listed as one of the world's 10 most inspirational female para-athletes by the International Paralympic Committee.
- She has been ranked as one of the top 10 Asian women leaders by the Great Asia Women Achievers Awards 2017.
- For her achievements, she was awarded the prestigious “Padmashree Award” in the year 2017.
- She was named Para Athlete of the Year 2018 at the Sport Star Aces Awards ceremony.
- In the year 2019, she was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (now renamed as Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award).
- To strengthen the bilateral friendly relations between the people of India and New Zealand, Deepa Malik was selected by PM Jacinda Ardern as the New Zealand Prime Minister Sir Edmund Hillary Fellow for the year 2019.
- She is also a motivational speaker. She was awarded the 'Outstanding Speaker Award' by the International Human Rights Council.
- Deepa Malik was honored as Woman of the Year 2019 by the International Paralympic Committee.
- Under her leadership, the Indian team won the most medals in the Tokyo Paralympics in history. Deepa Malik has been honored with the Asian Award 2022 for this historic achievement. It is the highest honor among all Asian countries participating in parasports.
- In the year 2006, she was honored with the Swavalamban Award by the Government of Maharashtra.
- Deepa Malik was awarded the Maharashtra Chhatrapati Award for 2009–10.
- In the year 2008, she was awarded the Haryana Karmabhoomi Award.
- She was honored with the First Woman Award by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
- She holds four Limca World Records in the Adventure category.
- She is the first woman to represent the country in international level sports in disability category F-53.
- Deepa Malik has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate by ITM University for her outstanding contribution to the field of adventure sports. and another honorary doctorate by Raffles University in recognition of his contributions to social work.
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Social Role
Deepa Malik, nominated by the Planning Commission Human Resource Development Division on behalf of the Ministry of Sports, as a member of the Working Group on Sports and Physical Education for the formulation of the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-2017) Sports in the Interest of Physically Challenged Persons Played an important role for the betterment of the society.
She is the brand ambassador of “Swachh Bharat” of New Delhi Municipal Corporation. She is also the Expert Advisor on Disability Inclusive Accessible Infrastructure for the “Smart Cities” project of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
In 2013, she participated in the grid and national anthem ceremony of the Indian Grand Prix held at Budha International Circuit.
In the year 2020, she was elected as the President of the Paralympic Committee of India.
She is also handling public relations and complaints for the Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority.
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Social Worker
Deepa Malik, along with her daughter Devika Malik, a Paralympic gold medalist, helps people fighting physical disabilities through the Wheeling Happiness Foundation.
The aim of this foundation is to help disabled persons by providing medical equipment and financial assistance.
Deepa Malik works every day through the Wheeling Happiness Foundation to enhance the emotional well-being of persons with disabilities, foster their interest in sports, and motorsports as well as empower women through adventure activities.
She provides assistance with para-sports training and sports equipment requirements.
At the same time, she is also playing her role in spreading disability sports awareness in various schools and colleges.
She also provides disability sensitization training to airline employees.
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Other Awards
- Rotary Woman of the Year Award (2007)
- Rashtra Gaurav Award (2009)
- Nari Gaurav Award (2009)
- Guru Gobind Gallantry Award (2009)
- District Sports Award Ahmednagar (2010)
- International Women's Day Appreciation Award by Cancer Patient Support Association New Delhi (2011)
- Shri Shakti Puraskar CARE (2011)
- Batra Positive Health Hero Award (2012)
- AWWA Excellence Award for Sport (2012)
- Media Peace and Excellence Award for Sport (2012)
- Maharana Mewar Aravali Sports Award (2012)
- Misal-e-Himmat Award (2012)
- Amazing Indian Awards Times Now (2013)
- Cavinkare National Ability Mastery Award (2013)
- Karmaveer Chakra Award (2013)
- Nominated for L'Oréal Femina Awards 2013 in the “Women We Love Category”.
- WCRC Leaders Asia Excellence Award (2014)
- Limca People of the Year Award (2014)
- iCONGO Karamveer Award (2014)
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Records and Rankings
Deepa Malik created an official IPC Asian record in the Javelin F-53 category, for which she was felicitated by Milkha Singh and PTYusha.
She held national records in all three types of throws (discus, javelin, shot-put) in the F-53 category.
She made three national records in the S-1 swimming category – backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle.
She ranked second in shot-put, third in discus, and third in javelin in the world rankings 2010–12.
In the Asian Ranking 2010–12, she ranked first in all three throws.
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Limca World Records
- She set the first Limca World Record in 2008 by swimming 1 km upstream in the Yamuna River in Allahabad.
- Second – Special Bike Ride (2009)
- 3rd – Driving on nine high-altitude routes in nine days on the highest motorable roads of Leh-Ladakh in the year 2011. She is the first woman in the world to undertake such a journey despite her disability.
- Fourth – Longest pan-India drive by a paraplegic woman in 2013, Chennai-Delhi 3278 km.\
- She gave an excellent performance in every field and today set an example in society that every obstacle seen on the path to success should be used as a tool.
There is a huge difference between disability and cowardice. Cowardice can make you intellectually handicapped. Courageous spirit and self-confidence are capable of leading one toward excellence even with physical disability.
Jagdisha: Deepa Malik, we salute your great courage and high intentions.
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