This champion swimmer has more achievements to her credit than many of her able-bodied counterparts. Hema Vijay profiles the never-say-die Madhavi Latha.
Today, she is a champion swimmer, having won three gold medals in the 11th National Paralympic Swimming Championship-2011, besides other trophies like the Most Encouraging Sports Person Award in the mainstream Corporate Sports Olympiad — 2010.
But five years back, Madhavi Latha was being rendered progressively immobile by an excruciating back pain. "I couldn't sit. My body ached all over. My spine was in terrible shape, literally", she says, revealing an amazing, bitterness-free sense of humour, despite all the challenges that life has thrown up to her.
The fact is, polio had affected Madhavi, causing 80 per cent disability, and she had been forced to lead a sedentary life bound to a wheel chair. But intellectually, her sharp mind was very active and she was making a great career for herself as a successful banker, and commuted around the city independently by self-driving her hand operated Maruti Zen.
As she explains, being confined perpetually to sitting or lying down had starved her muscles of physical exercise, which had weakened her spine further. "Then, my doctor said that a complicated spine surgery would give me a chance at life, but that it was a risky procedure. As for the alternative, it would be progressive muscle wastage and a breakdown of all bodily functions, including the kidneys and the lungs.
Certain death, in other words", Madhavi recollects. This kind of diagnosis might have stunned a lesser mortal into inaction, but Madhavi was looking for a solution. "I was in a dilemma. It was then that someone in my office suggested physiotherapy and I took it up.
My physiotherapist prescribed a spinal brace, and with that I could manage to sit a bit", she narrates. Until then, Madhavi had to take to a lying posture more often than she could sit. The physiotherapist also suggested hydrotherapy — exercising in water.
Yes, we too can
To Madhavi, stepping into water was a Eureka moment. "My pain vanished instantly as the water took care of bearing my weight", she says, adding, "I love water. For so many years I had wanted to swim, but everyone had told me that it was not something I could handle". But now there she was, in the pool. So it was that Madhavi began to spend an hour at the baby pool every day at the Andhra Social and Cultural Club in Chennai, doing her exercises.
Slowly, she started to move around and learnt to swim freestyle in five months, without even coaching assistance! Seeing her pluck, the swimming coach at the pool came forward to teach her more complicated strokes like the butterfly, breast and back strokes. Now, Madhavi could really swim, and she never skips her daily swim, though it takes an hourly commute for her to reach the pool.
With hydrotherapy began a great positive change in Madhavi's health. "I understood how impactful swimming could be, especially for the physically challenged, as they are denied exercise otherwise", she mentions. With that burning vision, she started 'Yes, We Too Can' a movement to promote swimming among the physically challenged and the elderly, and the movement has been having a huge impact in Tamil Nadu.
"Many of us can't do exercises on ground, but can do it comfortably in water. It is the best and most complete exercise for anyone, especially for physically challenged persons", she says. Later, while reading up on hydrotherapy, Madhavi discovered that hydrotherapy had been a component of rehabilitation medicine in all the three ancient civilizations — Indian, Chinese and Egyptian. "I can't imagine how we lost track of it", she muses.
"Of course, the main objective of Yes We Too Can is to help physically challenged persons stay healthy and fit through physical activity by participation in sports, especially swimming. But besides that, I want physically challenged persons to discover the joy of sports, and also stay connected in society by participating in sports events. I can't describe the euphoria I felt when I got my first medal and was introduced as a sports person", Madhavi reminisces.
A self-taught banker
When Madhavi was a child, her father or brother used to carry her to school and back, in her native village Sathupalli in Andhra Pradesh. But when the time came for her to step into college, infrastructure threw up a roadblock. "It was no longer feasible for me to be carried around. But I decided that I would continue my studies. My parents and my brother too were very insistent about this", she shares.
So Madhavi taught herself college math, pouring through text books and guide books, and obtained not just a math degree but a veritable list of prestigious certifications that include MBA (Banking & Finance), CAIIB (Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers), CDCS (Certified Documentary Credit Specialist from IFS, UK), and she is also a Certified anti-money laundering Specialist from ACAMS, USA.
This would be an awesome achievement, even if Madhavi had not been a self-educated and physically challenged girl from an obscure village in the country. Incidentally, she is an avid blogger too, and one can keep track of Madhavi through her blog at http://yeswetoocan.blogspot.com
Madhavi is also one of those spirited persons who love challenges. That is why she quit a 'safe' job at the State Bank of India, and joined an MNC. "When I was with SBI, people told me that it was lucky that I was working with a nationalised bank, and that working at an MNC would be a difficult deal. I wanted to prove that I could handle a high pressure MNC job as well", she shares. Now, Madhavi has risen to be an Associate Vice President with Scope International. Well, you can bank on this woman's grit and ability.