Aditya Mehta

Aditya Mehta was brought up in a joint family, along with 18 first cousins. "I was a spoilt brat! I hated studying and used to have terrible arguments with my parents. I was incredibly naughty and often got in trouble at home and in school." He would often get caned by his father for his reckless behaviour.

When he was in the fifth grade, things took a turn for the worse. "I failed in my Telugu exam, and was terribly scared of my father." He stole his mother's earrings, sold it for some money and travelled all the way to Goa from Hyderabad. Realising the error of his ways, he eventually called his parents to come pick him up. Needless to say, his parents were in grief and his father finally stopped caning him.

Not everything had changed though – Aditya was still a difficult child to handle. No one in the family had high expectations from him. His reputation as a child, unfortunately, was about to cost him.

"I eventually realised that I was looked at as a failure. Everyone had a terrible opinion of me, especially in the family. It hurt."

By the time he turned 16, Aditya had had enough. "My family had been in business of all kinds; anything to do with Roti, Kapda, Makaan (Food, clothing, housing), for almost a hundred years. I knew the only way to prove myself and change their opinion of me was to start a business of my own and succeed."

When he spoke of the idea of starting a textile business, he received support from no one. "My father said that he didn't know who my friends were and questioned what I would do with the money." Deep down, Aditya knew what the real issue was – His father didn't trust him, and with good reason.

With the little money he had, Aditya decided to venture out on his own. "I worked like a bull! My days would only end at midnight or so. I travelled from town-to-town with garment pieces to sell."

Slowly, his family began to notice his perseverance. His grandfather and his mother eventually supported him with minimal funding. Aditya continued to move forward on an uphill battle with minimal sleep. A year later, he would turn a modest investment of Rs. 30,000 into a turnover of Rs. 1.5 crores. He was 18 years old.

When his parents reached the hospital, they were in a state of shock. His father, who would usually be the one communicating with tough-love, found himself in very vulnerable state. His mother and wife were inconsolable. "I was the eldest boy in my mother's side of the family. My grandfather couldn't digest hearing that his grandson had been hospitalised. He immediately travelled from Mumbai to Hyderabad to be with me"

This wasn't the end of it for Aditya – he was about to experience pain that was much worse than the accident. "Every second day of the treatment, the dressing of my wound was to be applied without painkillers."

On the 12th day, it was clear – Aditya's right leg had to be amputated from above the knee. Everything he had imagined for his life had suddenly been shattered in a cruel twist of fate.

The period of recovery was long and hard. Aditya would go through a state of depression before getting better. For about one and a half months, he had to be in a state of complete bed rest. In this time, many people would visit him, expressing their pity. "They looked at me and felt sorry for me. In the other room, I once heard one of them call me bechara (helpless person). I would scream back 'I'm not a bechara. I'm going to fight back!'"

In all of this, Aditya tried very hard to keep his dream alive. A few months after the accident, he decided to go to South Africa and continue building his business.

To get to Delhi for the championship, Aditya had to stand in the plane for almost 2.5 hours. "Sitting would cause me tremendous pain. I carried a hot & cold pack with me for my tailbone to use when I needed to sit for take-off and departure. I decided to stay without medication".

"Before the race started on the championship-day, I sat on the saddle despite the sores. I decided to give it my all." Without a break or a moment of thought, Aditya rode as fast as his legs would take him. When he finished the race, he asked his coach what the results were. "'You are absolutely useless!' my coach said. I was in shock when I heard those words. Suddenly he smiled and said, 'you only got a silver!!'" Aditya was overwhelmed and wept in joy when he heard this.

He didn't stop there. "I decided to take part in the second race of the championship to win atleast a bronze." The second race was 40 km. He didn't win a bronze though. He won a silver. "There were no words to express my joy. I was the first amputee cyclist in the championships to win a double-silver. I'd achieved more than I'd set out for."

Breaking one record wasn't enough for Aditya. He decided to compete against himself at every point in his cycling journey. He eventually rode across London to Paris and climbed 9000 feet in the process – His name appeared in the Limca book of records yet again. He went on to ride from Kashmir to Kanyakumari facing a very gruelling journey.

One of his biggest achievements so far has been to ride from Manali to Khardung La. Standing at 17,582 feet, Khardung La is believed to be the highest vehicle-accessible pass in the world available to the general public. "I wanted to hoist the Indian flag on Khardung La on our independence day." He made it.