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. Shukla’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. “You should see him jostle for the ball. The wheelchair doesn’t come in the way,” says M.K. Saha, the PRC’s basketball coach who has played in several international meets at Malaysia and Bangkok.

It’s early morning and the newly-built physiotherapy centre at PRC, called the Express Block — it’s a joint venture of The Indian Express and the Army — is humming with activity. The dashing Naik Prem Singh, a paratrooper who became tetraplegic when his parachute didn’t open as he was skydiving, is working hard on his arm muscles.

“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,” explains PRC director Col JS Spehia (retd).

... contd.