Girisha Hosanagara Nagarajegowda in 2010 went to Samarthanam trust in Bangalore being ‘interested’ in sports. He worked really hard for (just) two years and in September 2012 during the London Olympics, Girisha became one of the few Indians to win a medal, after clinching a silver medal (he’s only the third Indian to win the Silver at these events) in the High Jump finals. The 24 year old jumped over a height of 1.74 metres clinching his spot.
Photograph via Getty images from WSJ
Girisha was born in Karnataka with a defective left foot. His father was a labourer. The Indian government paid him 30 Lakhs (3,000,000) rupees as appreciation for his performance in the Paralympic event in London in 2012. This amount also went for the repayment of the loan for his sister’s wedding.
It is a belief we have at MIEF, that your abilities are not defined through the circumstances that you’re born into. Your achievements and performance are defined by how far you allow yourself to challenge the status quo to reach where people don’t expect you to, through tenacity and resilience. That’s what makes you successful.
As we celebrate Girisha, we hope you start re-defining and stretching your boundaries and limits too. After all, what’s stopping you?