A basketball match at a military installation in 2014 was one of the last things Lt Col C Dwarakesh saw before an accident left him blind.
He would spend the next eight months in hospital, recovering and adjusting to life without eyesight while his imagination envisioned new possibilities.
President Droupadi Murmu gave the 36-year-old the National Award for Persons with Disabilities on Wednesday, honoring a career in the Army that even a disability could not end, one that now includes a world record in parashooting.
The first Indian military officer to remain in active duty while being completely blind is Lt Col Dwarakesh. It’s an achievement made possible by the derring-do of a young officer who never gave up on himself despite no precedence.
"I was trained to have conviction, courage, willpower, and perseverance as an Army officer. But blindness is a hurdle I couldn’t have prepared for,” Lt Col Dwarakesh told TOI from Delhi.
"I used technology and academics to get around this obstacle, passing several competitive tests in the process. I now conduct research on para-sports, particularly for blind individuals. I developed ways to express myself in the same manner that people with vision do, and I turned my limitation into a strength.
This approach has helped me achieve new heights.” Dwarakesh carries out his duties with the same skill and accuracy as his coworkers thanks to assistive technology and AI tools. In paralympic sports, he is a national champion in swimming and shooting, rated world No. 3 in the 10m air rifle event.
His most recent accomplishment was a world record score of 624.6 at the October Shooting World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. As part of the Indian para shooting team, he trains at Army Marksmanship Unit in Mahou.
The national prize is a "full-circle moment" for Dwarakesh, who enlisted in the Army in 2009. “I remember being granted commission by the President,” he remarked.
"And it's quite something to be getting an award from the President sixteen years later for something that completely changed my life."
The officer, a native of TN, has also qualified for the UGC NET, making him one of the few visually impaired academicians in management, human resources, labour law, and sports research.
