MADURAI: Sometime in early 2000, a 25-year-old youngster— with joy gleaming in his eyes — was waiting at the venue of a national sports event for his coach’s autograph on the certificate he had just won. When he got what he longed for, a thought flashed through his mind: “I want others to get my sign on their certificates.”
Two decades and many an achievement later, J Ranjith Kumar, a para-athlete from Madurai who brought Dhyan Chand Award, the highest civilian award in the country for an athlete, to the State for the first time in 2020, boasts of coaching more than 100 people with disabilities, many of whom winning national and international recognitions in athletics.
The transition from a lift operator and later a telephone operator at an STD booth in the late 1990s to the present status of a coach was no cakewalk for Ranjith, who got crippled some 46 years ago at the tender age of one owing to polio.
The true fighter that he is, the wheelchair-bound Ranjith put up a brave face against all odds to come up in life. After losing his father at an early age, Ranjith had to do menial jobs to provide for his family, and life took a turn for the better when he met Physical Education Teacher (PET), Parasuram, who introduced him to the world of sports, thanks to his good physique.
Ranjith’s sports career shone bright, as he won 26 medals in javelin throw, discus throw and shot put for India. From being the first Indian ever to bag a medal at the Commonwealth Para-sports in 2002 to clinching bronze for shot put in 2006 Commonwealth Games, Ranjith had an illustrious career.
But the trophies and certificates he had pocketed failed to help him come out of the poor financial status. That’s when the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT) appointed him as a coach. “Sports is in my blood. Taking up a new responsibility and taking the road that I had never traversed invoked fear. At that time, I was married and had children. A wrong decision could turn my life upside down. Still, I took up the challenge,” Ranjith reminisces.
One of the many persons with disabilities whom Ranjith coached is A Selvaraj, who clinched gold in Javelin throw Class I category at the World Dwarf Games held in Canada in 2017. “I am a testimony to Ranjith’s training. The training he imparts and his approach in handling athletes are unique. He used to say if he could achieve something despite his disability, then it is possible for everyone. He is an inspiration, and a hope for everyone who wants to fight against the odds,” says the Pudukkottai resident who bagged five international gold and two silver medals.
The thought that passed through Ranjith’s mind 22 years ago is a reality. From a youth waiting for an autograph to a trainer, he has come a long way. “I aim to help my students realise their dream, help them climb atop every podium at para-sports events across the globe,” he signs off.