Treading on tough paths with a single leg - Vinod Rawat

September 25, 2017

Get over the heroes you have been watching on screen. The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of us but those who win battles we know nothing about. The life of Vinod Rawat has never been short of trials but the way he faced all the challenges of life and has been achieving feats one after the other is something that deserves massive respect.

How many campaigns for a social cause have you volunteered in? How many times have you raised funds and helped someone build a house? How many times did you step out of your house to run in support of a national cause? Vinod Rawat has been passionately doing all this and much more and that too with a single leg.

Vinod Rawat was run over by a truck near his house when he was just 6 years old. Due to the weak financial condition of his family, he could not be operated upon and had to undergo amputation in one leg. Hence, his childhood was not a happy one. In an age when he should have been playing around with friends, he was left with crutches to hang around with. Facing renunciation from his friends, he spent most of his childhood alone and distressed.

The long time seclusion led him to run away from his home and join a gang of local goons at the age of 15. Isaac Swamidas brought the much needed positive ray in his life and directed him towards an NGO for distracted youth, Bombay Teen Challenge. This proved to be a landmark in his life journey. Initially starting as a floor cleaner, he got indulged in various other activities including counselling other youth. His chances of walking again were beyond the bounds of possibility due to the mismanaged operation which ended the chances of getting a prosthesis.

Vinod calls it a miracle when Jaipur Foot Centre at KEM Hospital, Parel, designed a special prosthetic leg for him. At 27, he was ultimately relieved from his crutches and fulfilled his dreams of walking, running, exercising like any other normal human being. He was chosen for the leadership training programme in Portugal which added more calibre to his personality. In 2001, when an earthquake shook the whole of Gujarat, he stayed there for 8 months to help in the housing and rehabilitation of those who lost their homes.

Just 3 days after he got a prosthetic leg, he started cycling. Also, since 2004, he has been participating in Mumbai Marathon, running a half marathon every year. He even auditioned for the second season for MTV Roadies. Rejected in Chandigarh, he tried again in Mumbai and made his way to the finals. He married Vidya Tripathi who died soon after giving birth to a baby boy in 2006. But he stayed strong for his child. Corporate offices started inviting him to deliver inspirational lectures which awoke the motivational speaker inside him.

He further got into mountaineering and has climbed every peak of Maharashtra. During this while, he fell in love with Diana Peters and got married to her. His hunger for adventure was always insatiable. Hence he joined a motorcycle club and got himself enrolled for riding to Ladakh. His disability made him face rejection once again in life. But he did not let his past define him, deter him or defeat him. It only strengthened him to bounce back in life rather strongly. Hence, he founded an adventure club for persons with disabilities, Convoy Control Club (aka C3) which was, otherwise, open for everybody to join. It started with 3 motorcyclists and today has 7 branches with 70 members who organise biking expeditions throughout the country.

In 2011, 7 members of the club raised around 18 lakhs by doing a charity ride from Mumbai to Leh. The funds, thus collected, were donated to 6 families in Leh to build houses. He has been a man of selfless service. He has always put the needs of others before his own. His marriage broke up in 2014. Still trying to cope up with this ordeal, he hasn’t stopped himself from aiming high.

In 2016, he rode a Royal Enfield Bullet at Ladakh as a tribute to the soldiers lost in the URI attack. Recently, from 30th July to 10th August, he treaded on the highest motorable road of the world in a cycling expedition of 525 km from Manali to Khardungla. Moreover, he wants to follow the footsteps of Arunimha Sinha and climb the Mt. Everest.

Vinod Rawat never let the pain and struggles of his life make him a victim. He has always fought his battles bravely which has made him a nation’s hero.

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