Sikar: Tanisha Bajia’s village school in Sikar recently discovered her childhood secret—it was her disability and she hid it for 12 years. The secret was out when she won a silver medal in the 400-metre race at the 13th National Sub-Junior Para Athletics Championship in Bengaluru this July.
Growing up, Tanisha mostly stayed home because other children would tease her for her disability. So, when she joined the school 5 kilometres from her village, she decided to keep her disability a secret from her teachers and classmates.
But it wasn’t easy. It meant a life of loneliness and living in the shadows. Tanisha stayed away from public gatherings and family events. She didn’t participate when her friends played.
“I did not enjoy anything publicly earlier and now I live freely and no one is commenting on me. I don’t hide my hand from anyone.”
—Tanisha Bajia
Nobody at school knew Tanisha was born with only half her left arm. She made an extra pocket on the left side of her skirt, tied her half-arm in a dupatta, and tucked it in.
“My left hand was always in my skirt pocket. This way I hid my disability so that no one would laugh at me,” said the 18-year-old in a conversation with ThePrint, sitting on the wooden cot at her home in Agloi village in Rajasthan’s Sikar—50 kilometres from the district headquarters surrounded by Aravallis.
The stunning Bengaluru victory has changed all that. Her hand is out of the left pocket and so is her confidence.
“I did not enjoy anything publicly earlier and now I live freely and no one is commenting on me. I don’t hide my hand from anyone,” Tanisha said with a shy smile.
In the past one year, she won five medals including three gold, one silver, and one bronze in national and state-level championships. Two of the golds came in March 2023 in state-level junior and sub-junior para athletics in 1,500-metre and 400-metre race categories.
“It’s has changed my life. Now I accept myself and have no shame about what I am,” she said, showing her hand.
Sports as an escape
When Tanisha was born in 2006 with half of her left hand missing, her father immediately took her to a doctor in Sikar.
“The doctor said only one line to me. She is God’s gift. Give her lots of love. Since then, I have raised her with great love and have not discriminated against her,” 43-year-old Indraj Bajia, a Jat farmer, said, seated in the courtyard of his house in Agloi.
Bajia always reminded his daughter that she was not alone—there were many children like her in the world. By the time Tanisha understood this, many years of her life had passed.
But sports rescued her from the shell she had retreated into.
Last year, Tanisha participated in ten-pin bowling at the National Para Athletics Championship in Bengaluru and won a gold medal. It was a chance meeting that led her to pursue a career in running.
She met Maharana Pratap awardee coach Mahesh Nehra and his wife Sarita Bavaria through a relative. They train disabled children across the state, having coached more than 4,000 children in different games. Of these, around 300 have found government jobs through the disability sports quota.
She runs very well and has a lot of potential to move ahead. That is why we go to her village every week to train her.”
—Sarita Bavaria, Tanisha’s coach
“We did not know anything about where and how to play. It was them who inspired us to move forward and asked us to run,” said Tanisha, who was trained twice a week by Nehra and Bavaria.
“Tanisha has the hunger to do something and this girl has proved herself in a year. She runs very well and has a lot of potential to move ahead. That is why we go to her village every week to train her,” said Bavaria.
Bavaria, who has been a national-level player herself, devotes her time to training children with disabilities.
“All of them are from very poor families and have lived in frustration for years.”
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Finding confidence in herself
Tanisha had the coaches to guide and support her, but it was her father who pushed her to take on the biggest challenge yet. In her first running competition, she was to compete against able-bodied children in a 1,500-metre race.
Recalling the day, she said that the participants were laughing at her, not allowing her to run with them. But her father insisted she participate. Tanisha was nervous because if she didn’t perform well, she would’ve been teased all the more. So she ran with all her might.
“When I came in fourth, everyone came and shook hands with me. Only then did I feel that I can do something,” she said.
This boosted her confidence like nothing ever did until then.
When Tanisha arrived at Shree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru for the Para Athletics Championship in July, she was nervous to see a big stadium filled with hundreds of spectators.
“There was only one thing in my mind: I had to put in all the hard work of the whole year in one round,” she said.
She won the silver medal in the 400-metre category, completing the race in 1 minute and 15 seconds.
“I have never seen my daughter as happy as she is now,” said Bhanwari Devi, Tanisha’s mother. “Sports have completely changed her. Now she lives with pride and her hesitation has vanished.”
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Training on johad land
Indraj Bajia made a running track on johad (community land) as there is no place for Tanisha to train in Agloi village.
In the heart of the Aravalli hills, where the rugged terrain meets the sky, a father’s love and determination transformed a barren johad into a 200-metre running track for his disabled daughter.
Bajia spent Rs 9,000 to make the track. In the last 10 months, he has spent another Rs 9,000 on repairing it during the rainy season. “There is no sports facility in our village. So last year, I decided to prepare a track on the johad. But initially, villagers objected as they thought I was doing this for my personal use,” he said, adding that he has assured everyone that anyone can come and practice on the track.
The once-dormant land now pulses with new life.
Tanisha’s achievements inspire local children. “It all started with Tanisha but now more than 10 children, including girls, come here every day for practice,” said her father.
He expressed that even after his daughter’s achievement, there has been no help from the administration and para sports federation. Even in Bengaluru, she ran wearing normal sports shoes, not running shoes. She has no proper kit.
“Tanisha is very good at running but she is still very junior. She has to prove herself more. Only then will we be able to help her,” said Dronacharya awardee coach Mahaveer Saini, who works with the Divyang Para Sports Association of Rajasthan.
Tanisha’s next goal is even bigger. The Summer Olympics is going on but she has no clue what it is.
“I’m preparing for next year’s Asian Games,” she said, showing her medals.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)