Krishna Nagar: From being bullied in school for his height to becoming a Paralympics champion

Indian shuttler Krishan Nagar beat Hong Kong's Chu Man Kai in a neck-to-neck tie to clinch the gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympics in the SH6 Men's Singles event.

Growing up, at some point, every child has seen someone being bullied or has been the bully because the other child looks different from you. They may look different in terms of height, weight or colour. Especially in a country like India, where we are a bit backward in terms of sensitizing our children to not hurt others just because they look different.

Paralympics gold medalist Krishna Nagar was no different as he was bullied as a child for being shorter than the other kids. Despite having a medical condition that stunted his growth, the para-badminton star tried everything to increase his height in school to avoid getting bullied. Keeping your spirits high, especially in times like those, where you feel left out, must have been extremely painful for the youngster.

"I was just two-year-old when I was diagnosed with dwarfism. Since my height did not increase then, my family consulted multiple doctors who helped us understand that there is some issue with my bone growth and my height may not grow like others," Krishna explains in a conversation with The Bridge.

He eventually found his true calling in para-badminton during his teenage years and fell in love with the sport. Since then, there has been no looking back as he proved all his doubters and naysayers wrong by shining on the court and has won a Paralympic gold medal while becoming one of the world's best players in his category.

"People did make fun of me when I was in school. There were people who said I would not be able to do anything in life. I was affected by it too and tried various kinds of exercises and played different sports to increase my height, but nothing really helped. After I reached college, I joined a stadium in Jaipur to play badminton for fun somewhere in 2017, and that is when I was introduced to para-badminton. The coach there explained to me how it works and how there is a category in para-badminton for people like me. There has been no looking back since," he added proudly.

Krishna's story is a lesson in not underestimating anybody as you might not know who would turn out to be a champion one day. He also is living proof as to what immense willpower and mental fortitude could do in helping you achieving your goals and helping your dreams come true.