STANDING TALL

A new physiotherapy centre at the Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre has helped jawans fight back their disabilities

Rajouri, February 25, 2005. The 58 Rashtriya Rifles had received a tip-off about the presence of militants on a hilltop. Ajit Kumar Shukla, heading a quick-reaction team, was stealthily advancing in the dark when a burst of fire flung him in the air. Shukla and his men returned the fire and it went on that way for what seemed like hours.

It was only after the encounter ended and Shukla sank back that he felt like he was dripping wet. It was his blood and he had been hit. Shukla8217;s company commander got him airlifted to Udhampur. But that encounter changed his life forever. The young man from Ara district in Bihar who always dreamt big had been rendered a paraplegic, strapped to his wheelchair forever.

Today, he is one of the most aggressive basketball players at the Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre PRC in Mohali on the outskirts of Chandigarh. 8220;You should see him jostle for the ball. The wheelchair doesn8217;t come in the way,8221; says M.K. Saha, the PRC8217;s basketball coach who has played in several international meets at Malaysia and Bangkok.

It8217;s early morning and the newly-built physiotherapy centre at PRC, called the Express Block 8212; it8217;s a joint venture of The Indian Express and the Army 8212; is humming with activity. The dashing Naik Prem Singh, a paratrooper who became tetraplegic when his parachute didn8217;t open as he was skydiving, is working hard on his arm muscles.

8220;Earlier, our equipment was scattered across several small rooms which made it impossible for the physiotherapist to supervise more than one patient at one go. With this new physiotheraphy centre, she can handle many,8221; explains PRC director Col JS Spehia retd.

It8217;s thanks to physiotherapist Sukhwinder Kaur that the inmates have learnt to be on their own. Mahender Singh, who couldn8217;t move a finger when he came here after an accident in the pool while training at Garhwal Rifles Regimental Centre at Lansdowne in 2003, now shaves and eats on his own. 8220;It8217;s good and airy, we will be able to exercise much longer,8221; he says of the physio-centre.

Besides a big hall with a wide array of equipment, the well-lit block, which looks out into vistas of green, has two rooms for electro- and hydro-therapy.

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8220;It8217;s here and on the playgrounds that we learn to live life all over again,8221; says Naik Balbir Singh of 14 Garhwal, who got here after being grievously injured in a landmine blast near Anantnag in 2000. Singh, who says he had lost the will to live, is now looking forward to educating his two sons.

Spread over 10 acres, the centre which dates back to 1978, also provides accommodation to families of the inmates. At present, 17 of the 37 men live here with their families. A. Burman, the oldest resident who came here in 1982 after an accident when he was 25, calls PRC his home. 8220;It8217;s here that I married in 1995. Now we have two children.8221;

The PRC is home for these inmates and their families but it sticks to its routine with a military discipline. 8220;The centre keeps us busy all day. PT in the morning, basketball practice, and making wire brushes, candles, sweaters,8221; says P.P. Pradhan, who has represented PRC at several national and international sporting events.

The PRCites don8217;t believe in moping. Shukla, for instance, is all set to be a software programmer. 8220;We have to make the most of our life,8221; he shrugs.