Against all odds

At the age when most sportspeople decide to retire, 63-year-old Amarjeet Singh Chawla is addicted to running and winning half and ultra marathons. In his illustrious career, Amarjeet, who was detected with muscular degeneration at the age of 13 and became completely blind at the age of 40, has recently achieved his first goal of completing 101 running competition.

Although he appears highly motivated now, it wasn’t the case in the beginning. After getting diagnosed with this rare disease, Amarjeet underwent every possible treatment available under the sky but nothing worked. After matriculation (11th class), he could not attend school as he could hardly read the text written on the blackboard and ended up spending more time indoors. He also started sinking into the depression and it took immense efforts for him to realise that he had to make the most of his life.

The first ever marathon that he participated came nearly eight years after he lost his eyesight. He received a message on his phone informing about a walk for the blind by National Association for Blind (NAB). At this point, he was completely unaware of the concept of a marathon and it was the association who explained to him about half, full and ultra marathon. “I told them that I can’t run for 42 km to complete a full marathon and then they told me about seven km half marathon and I agreed,” confesses Amarjeet and adds that on completing his first marathon, he was escorted by former Indian cricket team captain Kapil Dev for the last 200 meters. “I felt that if I am getting such a big personality to escort me in my first marathon then I might meet many (in future). So, that motivated me,” he adds.

His true call of inspiration that revolves around meeting and getting escorted by celebrities might push one to wonder if this is the only thing that keeps this extraordinary runner going, but for Amarjeet, it is more about inspiring other blind people. “I want to inspire other blind people that life doesn’t end if you lose your sight. It is like a plant and people can taste the fruit later. There is a lot and if I can do then you can also do it,” says the runner proudly while adding that he is happy to be known among all the visually fit pe ople.

The addiction to run came much later. “The life doesn’t stop. So, I had to move forward and hence this goal came  out of instinct when I was asked about my  goal after I completed the 21st half marathon in Pune,” recalls the Dancing Sardar, as he is sometimes called.

Ever since his first race, Amarjeet has won multiple medals and trophies almost every year until he completed his first goal of 101 half marathon. But this is not all, this athlete at his advanced age has many more ambitions. He wants to complete 151 half marathons and conquer the Mount Everest. It is his quest to explore more. He won All India Swimming Competition for the disabled in the 50 meters freestyle event and completed the 300-kilometre Mumbai-Shirdi rally walk. He is also the only visually impaired mountaineer to scale 19,000 feet Dolma La Pass in Kailash Pari in Tibet. “When I finish any marathon or trek, people come and say they want to have a picture with me. This gives me the utmost satisfaction,” smiles Amarjeet.

Amarjeet, who ran a lottery shop before achieving this adventurous light, is now helping his wife Gurpreet Kaur with her insurance services business. According to him, his wife is the most beautiful thing that happened to him. “She knew that she will be leading her life with a blind man but she was confident. And, even today, she is supportive. However, she gets concerned at times when I come back from marathons with bruised knees,” gushes the trekker. The Dancing Sardar is married for 36 years and has two daughters.

When asked if he has any financial aid from any government or private associations, the athlete rues saying, “If I would have had any financial support, I could have done more than 171 half marathons.” It was only last year that Amarjeet has got a sponsorship deal from a Gujarat based energy drink company who decided to make him the brand ambassador. “They aren’t giving me any cash but they are bearing my expenditures for my marathons and that is a great help,” he assures. Managing household expenses solely with the lottery stall and paying for marathon registration fees is undoubtedly challenging. Moreover, visually impaired runners have to pay for their escorts as well. “Now things have become relatively easier. I share the expenses with my escorts,” he concludes.