Sharmistha Gooptu in Paris
Bhavnaben Choudhary comes from rural Gujarat. According to her coach Sunil Tanwar, women over there are supposed to do chulha and bartan. She’s soft spoken and during any conversation, she’s a picture of demure calmness, almost devoid of emotion. Asked about her struggles, she doesn’t say very much beyond acknowledging that she has indeed had many struggles.
Bhavna is competing at the Paralympics in women’s javelin throw in the F46 class.
Bhavna’s husband was opposed to her sport. According to a source, he had threatened saying he would break her legs if she dared to step outside for practice. Bhavna’s parents have been a rock of support and in my interview with her, she acknowledged them, saying that their struggles have been far more than her own.
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EXCLUSIVE: Meet Bhavanaben Ajabaji Chaudhary, the women’s javelin thrower.
Bhavanaben opens up about her experiences in the Athletes’ Village, handling pressure, managing expectations, and more.@FederalBankLtd @TrishaGhosal @RohanDC98 @ParalympicIndia #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/BWWo86ZfLg
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) August 29, 2024
Her community and society was also not in favour of a woman, that too a married woman, playing sport, and wanted to drag her back into the confines of her home, where she would make rotis, cook and clean. Her coach took a firm stand. Incidentally, Tanwar has also coached one of India’s greatest Paralympians, Devendra Jhajharia. He too testifies to her immense struggles.
As it now stands, Bhavna’s qualification for the Paris Paralympics has turned heads, and her village and those that had been opposed to her playing sport have relented somewhat. Can we even estimate what impact she can make if she does well, and wins India a medal? With medals also come rewards and that is most often the language that people around — neighbours and friends and society — understand the best.
Yet, for me Bhavna’s medal is only one part of her journey, if it does come, and by all standards she is a medal prospect. She herself said in one of her interviews to RevSportz that she was happy with her preparation. And yet, more important than a medal is Bhavna’s journey, that inspires beyond measure. To strive, to seek and never give up is what Bhavna tells the world, through her few words and her staid calmness. To imagine that this journey will go unnoticed or unrewarded in ways other than the winning of medals is a fallacy.
Bhavna’s journey till the Paralympic Games Village, outside which I interviewed her, is in itself an achievement. This larger world that has now opened up before her will give her the strength and will to go on, and to give more to her sport, because that’s what has been her liberation. Liberation from a life that was supposedly her destiny, a destiny of subservience. And she has given that destiny a thumbs down, shown the courage to step out of an abusive marriage and move ahead. There will be more like her. Girls from situations like hers who will look upto her.
We pray Bhavnaben is able to make her mark at these Paralympics. I, for one, will be there to cheer her on.
Also Read: “If I can, everyone can”: Sheetal Devi, armless wonder, on Paralympic archery dreams