UP house help’s daughter wins gold in shot put at national para-athletics

BAREILLY: The daughter of a housemaid from Meerut, who was born without her left hand below the elbow, won gold in shot put at the national paraathletics championship in Bhubaneswar, completing a journey shaped by financial hardship, a driver father’s abandoned sporting dream and a family’s struggle to meet even an athlete’s basic nutritional needs.Ria Solanki, 19, began training in shot put in 2018. Her rise in the sport came despite severe financial constraints and her disability that often made it difficult for the family to provide the diet and support needed for regular training.Sakshi told TOI that arranging the nutrition required for an athlete was the hardest part of the journey. “We cut down on our own food so that she could get protein-rich meals. She felt bad seeing that, but she stayed determined and kept working hard. Today, that effort has paid off,” she said.For Sakshi, the medal brought back years of uncertainty, when the household had no fixed income and every decision had to be made around work, food and the children’s future. “In the beginning, we used to lock both our daughters in the room and go to work.My husband tried his best, but we never had a fixed income,” she said.“In 2010, I got work as a housemaid for Rs 150 a day. For us, that was a big amount because before that I was getting Rs 250 a month. Then we decided that my husband would stay back and look after the children while I continued to work.”That arrangement brought taunts from people around them. Today, my daughter has proved them wrong. She will do well in the future, though even now her path needs more struggle,” she said. For Anshuman, the medal also carried the memory of his own sporting life, which poverty had cut short. Ria said her parents’ sacrifices remained her biggest source of motivation.