In Conversation with Arjuna Awardee Deepa Malik

An Arjuna awardee athlete, an avid rider, mother of two daughters, wife of an army officer and a youth icon, all these attributes define Deepa Malik. More than anything else its her courage and will that depicts her 'Never say Die' attitude! Despite the fact that she has 183 stitches between shoulder blades due to three spinal tumor surgeries, which she has been through over the past 14 years, Deepa Malik is one of the busiest people, I ever came across. Talking about her achievements, Deepa Malik is the first ever sportswoman to represent the country at the International level in her category of 'disability', she is also the first paraplegic Indian woman biker, swimmer and car rallyist. In fact, she is the first physically challenged (paraplegic) person in the country to ever participate in Himalayan Rally, Polaris ATV Challenge and Desert Storm.

After inspiring differently abled individuals on various occasions, Deepa Malik now has come with a unique initiative with Satyabhama University called 'Will on Wheels', which is being supported by Renault India. Deepa Malik will be driving a Renault Duster, customized by the students of Satyabhama University for differently abled individuals to set a record for longest Pan India drive by a paraplegic woman. Team CarDekho will be documenting this unique expedition exclusively that goes through 6 different states and 9 major cities, bringing to you live updates of this scenic drive with a purpose.

For this we recently caught up with Deepa Malik to find out her side of excitement before undertaking this long drive.

Q.1 Most of us are aware of your achievements, but we would request if you could share a little bit about your journey so far.

My journey so far has been a quest of getting right set of wheels in my life. I am not a born disabled, 14 years ago due to medical problems, I came on a wheel chair. Coming on the wheel chair, I lost my identity and everybody thought that I would lose my passion. All these achievements are basically a symbol of my endeavor to let people know that life is possible on a wheel chair and if you want you can continue following your heart and your passions, my passion is sports and motorsports. So, I haven't allowed that wheel chair to stop me from enjoying my passion. The journey is not about the awards and achievements, these are to spread out a message and reach out the masses. I refused to agree with the set of wheels that god gave me, I will always try to get the wheels that I love, as my life journey has been all about that. And in bargain to put that message across, I have excel in sports, I have excel in motorsports and in rallies, motor biking, swimming. So, basically my whole journey and achievements are to pass on the message in the society that see achievements can be achieved despite of disability.

Q.2 What we have learnt so far, Will on Wheels seems to be an unique initiative. We would request if you could share how things shaped up for this drive?

Will on Wheels was conceptualized by students of Satyabhama University, in month of March, 2013, I was awarded as 'Inspiration Icon' by university. Where I interacted with the students of automobile and mechanical engineering, I made an appeal to them they are the designers of the future of India and you will be creator of new designs in future, so always keep disables in your mind. The students took inspiration from that speech and decided to design a special car for differently abled individuals and they choose me as the cause ambassador. On this 15th August, university again invited me for flag posting, and they told me that the students come together with this hybrid car. Then, I decided to spread this message across the nation, so I decided to drive the car from Chennai to Delhi. FMSCI (The Federation of Motor Sport Club of India) agreed that if I will drive the car for that distance they will accept it as a record for Longest Pan India drive by a parapalegic woman. So, that is how everything happened.

Q.3 So, what is the entire purpose of this initiative?

The purpose is to spread the message that when people come together and take initiative miracles can happen, in WoW there is only a single educational institute and their student and they are about to bring a change. So, by doing this, I want to set an example for the educational institutes that if you support and motivate your students and give them freedom they can come up with brilliant ideas and projects.

Q.4 You are an inspiration for many, so do you think this initiative will inspire your followers and differently abled persons and how?

Yes, I want people learn that if I can do it, others also can do the same. The life is very precious and we should have live each moment of it. The other thing that I learn and see that disable persons limit themselves in boundaries of their house, so I want to inspire them that if a 43 year old seviourly disable woman can go out and drive and play and enjoy every single moment of her life, they should also do things on their own and follow their passion.

Q.5 Your Life is all about and around wheels. What is the most fascinating thing about these machines, which inspires you to go the extra mile?

I think that life is a bonus for me and I want to live these days for some purpose and I want to tell other disabled individuals that you can have a normal life despite of your disability. Again my records and achievements are just to inspire those, who has some kind of disability.

Q.6 Why did you choose a Renault Duster to be a part of this expedition?

I was looking for a SUV as the dimensions of these cars are easily accessible with a wheel chair as the transfer is very easy. And I zero down to Renault Duster as it has the dimensions of an SUV but at the same time it is a beautiful urban car, which is easy to maneuver in traffic. I also like the boot space, which allows me to put my wheel chair and my sports equipments in it. Besides this the tag line 'Drive the Change' also attracted me as the motive of this drive was also the same. So, all these things made me to go for the Duster.

Q.7 How do you feel about your current association with the Renault India, as they are also supporting this initiative?

We initially spoke to many automobile manufacturers but we didn't get satisfactory response. But, after Satyabhama university conceptualized this whole drive and we decided to go for the Duster for this drive and bought the vehicle. One day, I approached Renault for their support and the response was overwhelming, they are providing us the technical guidance and also proper media coverage through CarDekho, so the association is pretty good.