Smashing it on and off the court: Manasi Joshi's journey to becoming world para-badminton champion

Shaping her own destiny after meeting with an unfortunate accident and determined to make a change, Manasi Joshi talks about her life experiences, defying challenges head-on one serve at a time. World para-badminton champion Manasi Joshi shares her incredible journey of becoming a para-badminton world champion and going beyond her limits to win medals across the globe. 

Join us on an insightful journey to learn more about India's first para-badminton world champion.

Transcript

Go-Beyond Podcast – Manasi Joshi Transcript

Speakers:

AK: Akshay Kapur

MJ: Manasi Joshi

AK : 

Welcome to the Sony Pictures Networks Go-Beyond podcast where we go beyond the surface and uncover the extraordinary. I'm your host, Akshay Kapur. They say when the going gets tough the tough get going but one never truly realizes how tough they can be until they are pushed beyond the precipice. It is only then that we find the untapped reservoirs of strength and courage that we never knew we had within us. Today's guest like a phoenix rising from the ashes, turned tragedy into triumph by converting a life altering accident into just another obstacle for her to go beyond. Her resilience and courage have been recognized in India and across the world, including by Forbes and ESPN India, and by the BBC. It is an honor and a privilege to welcome the Women's singles World champion in Para badminton and an icon for Paralympic athletes across India. Manasi Joshi. 

Manasi, how are you feeling today?

MJ : 

Hi Akshay, thank you for having me. I am really happy to be a part of this podcast.

AK : 

We are glad to have you here and I think naturally the first question has to be when did you fall in love with badminton?

MJ : 

I think when I was 6 or maybe even younger than that, and I remember my father would take me out for an evening walk and we would just take a racket and shuttle with us and I think that was this age where I really fell in love with that sport

AK: 

And at that young age, did you also know you wanted to play badminton professionally? Or is that an ambition that came to you later on in life?

MJ : 

No, no, my only ambition at that time was to play the sport as a hobby for fun. And still I was playing school level, district level tournaments. But I never wanted to become a professional.

MJ : 

But yeah, I mean you know this skill badminton actually taught me so many things, later on in life.

MJ: 

But the sport actually helped me to keep on pushing myself. It helped me in my rehab, it helped me how to be a leader, it helped me how to accept a loss and I think for me that is one of the biggest learning from the sport. 

AK: 

May I ask you Mansi? about the one fateful morning how destiny sort of took that as an opportunity to then take you into professional athletics in the long term, the incident in your case, that could have been, drastically life altering, but in many ways became just an obstacle for Manasi Joshi to overcome. 

MJ: 

Well, I don't believe in destiny because I feel you create yourself only with your hard work. You can do wonders and when I met with an accident, many people told me that it must be your destiny and I was like no, it was not my destiny. I met with an accident because it was somebody's mistake. and that's how I became a person with disability, and I have to live with it lifelong and what I do today, or the efforts that I put in, it’s not a part of somebody's plan, it is my plan, how I decide to spend my time today. 

So, when I met with an accident even, I felt you know what if this is a destiny, but within two to four days. I realized this cannot be my destiny. I am going to ask questions, I am going to rise above this. 

It was 2nd of December 2011, I was on my way to work. the signal that I used to pass was not working. Uh, that day I was not supposed to go to office, that day was my grandmother's ear operation and all of us were supposed to stay at home or go to hospital. But last minute the operation got cancelled and I then left for work. When I left for work it was around 8:30 in the morning and within 10 minutes I met with an accident, I called up my parents saying. Please come and pick me. It's a little scary and there are a lot of people. It was very difficult moment and my father just rushed to the accident spot in his car and picked me up. I mean there were multiple people and they picked me up in like a very weird police gaadi and took me to a hospital from that hospital, we went to another hospital by the time I reached the next hospital and I was operated upon it was almost 5:30 in the evening, so from morning 8:45 to 5:30 I'd lost that kind of time in a busy city like Mumbai with one of the best health facilities. I still lost that time and unfortunately lost my limb to that accident. 

And yeah I was in hospital for 45 days every five to seven days I would undergo a surgery. For my whole family it was a time of where we all were scared. but then everybody had to push through it because you can't remain disheartened or disappointed or questioning that you know why me? You just have to act, I was 22 at that time. fresh out of college, having multiple dreams and to see my parents see me in such a state, I would feel sad for them not for myself, and I think I had great support from my family. I had great support from my school friends, I had college friends, I had office friends.

AK: 

Can you tell us about how your family and friends then became a sense of support for you, or the strength you found within yourself to accept what had happened and to move past it?

MJ: 

I think acceptance allows you to deal with a loss. Its once you accept that this is how it's going to be. You start working on things to improve your quality of life, when I came home, it was a reality check for me.

I had to relearn everything from standing to, you know, using washroom to sitting to sleeping. Uh, I mean the first day, when I came home, my first question was what if I don't realize that I don't have a leg? And what if I try to go to the bathroom and I fall? I mean I had some very stupid questions initially.

AK: 

Right how soon after you came home did you procure your prosthetic limb for walking?

MJ: 

It took me two and a half months for all my wounds to heal and muscles and everything to recover. And then I started with working on my prosthesis and within one and a half month of learning little bit of how to walk. I rejoined office.

AK: 

Wow, during almost four months of you know these ups and downs was there anything that you never wanted from the people around you that they were always giving you? And then conversely, something that you wanted from people, but it might have been in short supply?

MJ: 

So, I think I was getting a lot of sympathy, and this is what I didn't want, a lot of unsolicited advice  I really felt that you know I'll take my own time to heal to recover and not physically but mentally, and I knew that I will recover quickly. I remember when I was in hospital, I had accepted that I'm going to be living the next chapter of my life as a person with disability. There are so many people living like this and. I will be doing the same and there's nothing wrong It's not my fault and it's not my problem.

When I first time saw myself in the mirror, I felt oh, this is who I have become, and it was a reality check, but then since then I had accepted to look at myself in the mirror and not be too worried about how I look or what I have? What I don't have? The thing that I really didn't want people to be giving me was sympathy, but the thing that I really wanted people to have was a lot of understanding and empathy towards me.

AK: 

Absolutely can you tell us a little bit about how this transition came into your life where? Manasi Joshi, the software engineer, now started competing almost semiprofessionally and then professionally in a sport which was up until that point a hobby for you.

MJ: 

there's this one very interesting story that I would like to share. And this was when I was still, you know, learning how to walk there was this one intra company level tournament. In 2010 I had played that tournament and I had won a gold medal there. But in 2011 we had the same tournament and the people who were part of it, they invited me that you have to be there. Don't play, you come and help us how to organize and I went there. I went with my racket, and I took my brother and sister along 

For few minutes, we organized and then I said, yeah, I'm playing because me and my brother we used to play badminton in our colony, and I felt here also I can play. What's wrong with that? And within a few minutes I started stretching, warming up and started playing and by the end of the day, I was again a gold medalist. This was 2012, 

MJ :

2013 I played the same tournament and won gold medal.

And in these two- three years, I had made a lot of amputee friends, people with disabilities and one of the friends after seeing pictures on social media suggested why don't you take up the sport in the Para Circuit. So, I went for the first national tournament in 2014 and I won a silver medal and that too against the world number one Arjuna awardee.

AK :

Wow!

MJ:

And I was like if I can win silver medal I'm making this big. I'm going out and I participated in my first international tournament in Spain in 2015 March and in the same year I won a silver medal in mixed doubles at World Championships. So, you know, the sport that I had learned earlier in my childhood. I kept on pursuing it even in my college and even after my accident it helped me to recover quickly in my rehab to learn better, balance better. So that sport also gave me an opportunity to represent myself and then my country at an international arena. 2015 to 2019 is my story of struggle in para badminton, playing multiple tournaments and 2019 I won a gold medal. I became a world champion and I worked very hard. I made a lot of sacrifices, I quit my job. I started putting 100% in my sport. 

AK:

Right, In fact, I wanted to ask you exactly about that because we know that a lot of athletes have to make sacrifices like you said you quit your job, What are some of the other sacrifices you had to make in order to slowly transition into pursuing para badminton full time?

MJ :

So I’ll tell you this reality of disability sports and that is our sports is not equally funded. When I took up that decision that I want to play this sport professionally, I started putting in a lot of time and hours into fine tuning my skills. But then I later on realized that I need to have a sustainable income to keep on pursuing. When I left my job, I decided that job is not going anywhere, opportunities are there. It was very difficult to, you know, get leave. A 10-day straight leave multiple times in a year, and I was managing both as a sports person and as a full-time employee, 

But at some point I felt that Can I do more? Can I push myself? You knowas a personal disability, I wanted to push the boundaries of my physical self, and I thought this is the age where I can push this.

With full passion I wanted to pursue it and I gave myself some time that I made some savings and then I quit.

But when I saw to participate at various international tournaments, I was lacking funds so I would do a fundraiser. I would ask corporates to support. and it really helped, but I felt as if these fundraisers are not sustainable. I only need to have a sustainable income because our sport is not funded, so I again within few months I rejoined workforce. I started pursuing both sports and my office started to manage my time and that is when I realized that my life is not going to be easy if I want to pursue sports. My biggest issue is financial security as a sports person. Also, as a person with disability the finances that I have to bear is completely different than any other people, so I had to have a sustainable income, sustainable job, then my prosthetics are super expensive so every five years I need to replace them and they cost me around 20-25 Lakhs every five years. 

MJ :

So yeah it's huge cost set up to bear so I rejoined workforce in 2019 I got an honorary job in public sector. where I don't have to go to office, and I get paid a monthly salary. It's an honorary class A job which gives you good benefits working in such organization. In 2018, I shifted to Hyderabad, I started living alone. So, I currently have no social life Monday to Saturday I train and Sunday is the day I get off. I have to rest, recover and prepare for the next week so our social life goes for a toss.

So, there are like n number of sacrifices. And I have to keep on traveling every few weeks. I'm traveling to a new destination for a tournament and it's not easy, as a sports person with a disability.

AK : 

We know that your sister Nupur and your brother Kunjan have been big supports in terms of your coaching and you're managing right for your professional athletics career. I know from personal experience that having siblings is obviously a road filled with potholes and speed bumps.

(Both MJ & AK laugh)

How has your relationship with your siblings evolved over the years?

MJ :

So, I have a younger sister and a younger brother. Both are, I think the best of people I have, my younger sister, she's now my manager. She's managing me and she's making sure that the time I utilize I get paid for that. My younger brother, he was my coach. He's the one person who has made sure that continue playing this sport, I still remember this was 2014-2015, we were still learning how to play disabled badminton.

My brother would watch videos and would teach me that this is the shot we have to try. Let's try and we would put in hours on badminton court to just perfect a skill or perfect a shot. And this is the dedication. I mean, if I didn't have that dedication from my own family, I don't know if somebody else would be even interested in training me later.

AK :

I think that's a lovely story.

AK :

One of the other perks, of course, of being a professional athlete. is traveling a lot for competitions. But there have been some interesting funny incidents during your travels as well, right?

MJ:

Oh yes. So, in 2019. There was this one time when my prosthetic charger broke, and I had a very few percentage of charge left in my prosthetic leg and I had to get it repaired before I flew to China.

I was in Thailand at that time and my next tournament after two days was in China and I had almost no time. I had just finished my matches and I enquired in Bangkok, where can I find a prosthetic center which can help me repair this and I could not find any. Then I opened up my charger and I realized that one of the wire has got loose or one of the connection has got loose So, I went to a repair center, and I asked one of the person to repair that unit.

And that guy, first of all, there was a language barrier. He said it's difficult when I suggested this is for my prosthetic, which I'm currently wearing. He was completely scared that what if he messes it up, 

AK :

Right

MJ :

And I tried to convince him somehow and he helped me, but his work was not fine. I mean my equipment didn't work.

So I said aap baju hath jaao mujhe de do ye soldering iron mai kar deti hun isko fix and I took some time, and I could fix it.

AK 

So you yourself was sitting and soldering the wire back into place for your charger.

MJ :

Correct and it helped. I fixed it. I flew to China and I was able to walk properly. But in China another thing happened, was that my sports prosthesis broke down. 

AK :

Right, And then you tell me that in Australia it didn't show up right for the full tournament.

MJ :

Correct. So this was 2018 and we flew from Hyderabad to Singapore and Singapore to Melbourne. My prosthetic leg does not fit the cabin size restrictions and usually these flights they're very adamant about what fits in your cabin and what doesn't. So, they did not allow my prosthesis, usually no flight allows my prosthesis to be carried in cabin. I have to always check it in. I always say that you know This is my leg and I'm giving it to you to be kept in check in. 

In Australia, in Melbourne took me 4 days for me to receive my prosthetic leg because it got lost in transit. As soon as I landed in Melbourne, when I didn't find my luggage, I complained and they said we will let you know. So, the most difficult part was that airline was not a daily airline to Melbourne from Singapore and I had to wait for two days for them to give me an answer. Once they said even in the second flight, it didn't come, we started raising issue and start posting online in our network and everywhere that we require help and support, 

And tournament had begun, and I had to play with my walking prosthesis. It's quite heavy and it does not support the way my sports prosthesis supports. But then I had no other option.

On the day after semifinals, one day before finals, I receive it. But by then I mean somehow, I'd qualified till semifinals. Very tough for me, but somehow I qualified and in finals I got my sports prosthetic and I played on that prosthetic. That tournament I won my first gold medal in singles.

AK :

Wow I have to ask you; you've talked about the fact that you have two different prosthetics. Can you shed some light about how what makes them different and how you've adapted each of them to suit your need?

MJ :

So now I have three different prosthetics, one for walking, one for playing and one for fitness and running. So, in my badminton I don't have a knee but in my running prosthesis I have a sports knee which bends and recovers quickly. In my walking prosthesis, I have a knee which offers me a lot of resistance while I'm walking so none can be used for other purpose, but all allow me to improve my quality of life.

AK :

Understood and the reason each of these has these different mechanisms is because of the different utilities and the movements and actions in each.

MJ :

Correct

AK

Right. 

Mansi, we've come towards the end of our time with you, but we can't let you go without one final question. Now you're already the world champion. So how does Mansi Joshi plan to go beyond that?

MJ :

I think I want to be a person who changes perception, who contributes even in small quantity in changing perceptions around disability, para sports in raising awareness in speaking up You know, sharing more stories, getting other people to share their stories because you know. When I say we don't, I could not get empathy, it was only because of lack of story sharing by people and I think these podcasts these opportunities that we get it gives people a voice to share more.

And this is what I want to hear. I want to live in a world which is an empathetic world which understands problems of every individual by just you know, sharing and in future I want to see more and more people with disabilities participate, not as like we don't want social security.

I want to see people with disabilities participate as equal taxpayers to the country.

MJ :

By contributing for the development of the country. And I see that. It's like in near future, not like in a farfetched future, but a near future where everybody is equal, and I want to be a contributor to that world.

AK :

That's fantastic. Mansi thank you so much for joining us here. It has been a real privilege and it's been a great experience getting to chat with you about your entire journey till date and learning about how you're planning to take things forward.

MJ :

Thanks, Akshay.