Amputee Athlete Sadashiv Shinde Overcomes Adversity To Win Gold In Wheelchair Basketball

Earlier this month, at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Training Centre for Disability Sports, Gwalior, Sadashiv Shinde was part of the winning team from Maharashtra, at the 9^th Wheelchair Basketball Championship, to win two gold cups.

Sadashiv’s is a remarkable story of grit and determination. An amputee, who lost his right leg after a road accident in his village, Limbgaon, when he was fourteen years old, he has come a long way from his feeling of utter helplessness. Apart from his physical disability, Sadashiv had to cope with economic challenges as well. His father being a daily-wages labourer, money was always an issue in his home, a bamboo-and-tarpaulin hut on a footpath in Bhandup. But, slowly, he overcame all these handicaps, and proved that where there is a will the way will appear.

I came upon Sadashiv a few months ago, at a most unlikely event. Part of a fashion show organised by Rotary International District 3141 in a five-star hotel, where lissom models sashayed down the catwalk, striking dramatic poses, Sadasiv walked the ramp on one leg with the help of crutches. Participating in the section for the physically disabled, curated by Shaline Serpes, Sadashiv was no less impressive than the professional models. Dressed to the nines in a Sajjad Naseem-designed outfit, he graced the runway confidently, flashing smiles and ending with a delightful pirouette.

Chatting with him, briefly, after the show, I discovered the always-smiling 30 year old drives an auto for a living! Intrigued by his skills, I met him again, some days later, for a longer conversation that had me thinking that the story of his life could well make an inspiring film.

As a child, Sadashiv studied in a municipal school in Mumbai but the accident and ensuing treatment for his amputated leg caused a break in his schooling. When he resumed studies it was not easy. Physical, mental and emotional trauma had made him lose all interest in academics. However, the humiliating taunt of a teacher in his coaching class, about his poor academic record, made him slog hard in the last semester of his tenth standard; and he scraped through the board exam.

However, life continued to be difficult and it was only after a few years that he summoned the will power to study further and pass the 12^th standard from Chincholi village, which was some distance from his village Limbgaon.

When he returned to Mumbai, Sadashiv got obsessed with wanting to be physically strong, the loss of one leg notwithstanding. Since there was no money to join a gym, he did push-ups and weight-training with bricks, in the shanty that was his home.

The resultant biceps caught the eye of a neighbourhood gym owner who invited him to work out for free at his gym. Six months later, when the regular trainer went on leave, Sadashiv was given the job of training. “My well-developed muscles motivated others to exercise,” recalls Sadashiv with pride. After some time, he was given a monthly salary of Rs.1000.

But the paltry Rs.1000 could not light kitchen fires, and so the youngster took up a job at a call centre in Airoli. This entailed travelling in packed local trains and walking on crutches from Airoli station to his office, a distance of two and a half kilometres, because he could not afford to pay Rs.10, to share an auto. The return journey home was equally harrowing.

After doing this for some years, Sadashiv felt he needed to find a job that required a less tiring commute. So, on a friend’s suggestion, since 2021 he has been earning a living driving an auto-rickshaw, expertly using one leg and two hands to navigate Mumbai’s chaotic traffic.

But where Sadashiv really shines is on sports fields where serendipity led him. A car driver, an amputee himself, spotted him walking on the road. Impressed with his confident gait, he stopped his car and asked him what games he played. When Sadashiv replied that the only thing close to sports was swimming in his village river, the motorist invited Sadashiv to meet him at Prabodhan Thackeray Krida Sankul, in Vile Parle where he regularly swam.

One thing led to another and Sadashiv found himself participating in a swimming competition at the club. It was here that he met Rahul Ramugade, captain of wheelchair cricketers, Mumbai. Ramugade took Sadashiv under his wing and taught him wheelchair cricket on the University grounds in Kalina. Others taught him basketball and handball...life changed dramatically after this.

Soon Sadashiv was playing different wheelchair games for Mumbai and Maharashtra teams. Travelling to states outside Maharashtra, for advanced training, meeting other challenged sportspersons from across the country, winning medals along the way, this hutment dweller’s world expanded exponentially. Captain Louis George, a retired Naval officer, who trains the Maharashtra wheelchair basketball team, honed Sadashiv’s skills further. Playing for Maharashtra, under Captain George’s coaching, Sadashiv was part of the gold-winning team that beat Punjab in 2023. This month in Gwalior, under coach Suvarna Limaye, he and his team from Maharashtra beat Punjab and Karnataka.

Sadashiv’s life is now equally divided between a wheelchair, a three-wheeler and attending morning classes for a degree. But he has more dreams to fulfil: participating in the Paralympic Games and having a bricks-and-mortar house that he can call his own. A true Mumbaikar, who never gives up!