A mere fortnight after its July 23 launch,the first edition of the Marathi translation of Dream Runner was sold out. It flew off the bookshelves so quickly that the publishers are planning to bring out the second edition of Oscar Pistoriuss autobiography in less than a month. The story behind the translation is as astonishing as the story of how Pistorius,a double-amputee running on prosthetic legs,competed alongside able-bodied athletes at the London Olympics. Translator Sonali Navanguls life story is not unlike Pistoriuss. When Navangul was nine,a bullock cart fell on her back,leaving her paralysed below the waist. Schooled at home in her village in Sangli district,she shifted base to Kolhapur to find livelihood as well as space for social work. Last year,I had to write an article about Oscar Pistorius for a Marathi magazine. At that time,he had won three gold medals at the Paralympic games,and while writing the article as an assignment,I was inspired by his will and spirit, says the 32-year-old Navangul. I decided that I must read more on this athlete and came across his website. Navangul found Pistoriuss email address on his website and wrote to him,telling him how much he had inspired her to use her disability as an advantage rather than a weakness,and that she wanted to share his story with other physically challenged people around her. Pistorius replied the very next morning,appreciating her interest in his autobiography and arranged for her to contact his publishers to work on a Marathi translation. I am happy with the response that the book has got during these last three weeks. I am looking forward to the second edition. I want more people like me to be inspired by the unbreakable spirit of Pistorius. He has never stood on his own legs but he raced against international runners at the London Olympics, says Navangul. What the book teaches everyone like me,and even those who are not physically challenged,is that we must rise from our pettiness and do something worthwhile with our lives.
