Sheetal Devi: The Most Inspirational Sportsperson in India

The most inspirational sportsperson in India is….Sheetal Devi.

It was a cold, cold day in January 2007. The village was Loidhar in Jammu and Kashmir, and there was a bustle in the air that day a slight undercurrent of excitement. A young couple were surrounded by many eager villagers. A baby was about to be born.

The couple came from a humble background: the mother a homemaker, a simple, practical woman; the father a daily-wage laborer doing the hard grind of lifting, ploughing, and harvesting, earning a meagre sum just enough to feed his family. He was respected in the village as a helpful and spiritual man, always lending a hand and counselling others with calm, “Upar wale pe bharoosa rakho.” His faith would be tested on that day 10th of January 2007.

As the loud cry of a new baby split the cold evening, the group of men waiting outside smiled. Someone placed a hand on the father’s arm, whispering, “Mubarak ho…” Just then, an ashen-faced woman came through the door.

“Bhai sahib…” she said, “par… par…”

The father and his well-wishers rushed inside only for many to turn away in horror. The child had no arms. Later, they would learn the condition was called phocomelia phoco meaning seal and melia meaning limb where arms resembled flippers. A disease once associated with the dreadful “thalidomide babies.”

But the child cried loudly through the night announcing she was happy to be born, happy to be in Kashmir, and happy to be in this humble family. She would be named Sheetal Devi the pure one. The devis of myth were many-handed; Sheetal had no arms, but she would become a legend, bringing hope to the differently abled across the world.

It was 2007, and Sheetal, one day old, slept beside her mother happy, unaware of destiny.

It was 2009. Sheetal had grown but struggled to eat, walk, roll, or stand things most children do with ease. Her mother watched, her heart breaking, yet she did not rush to help. She knew the world outside would be harsh, and the child must learn to cope. Sheetal’s spirit never wavered. Her legs adapted to double duty she learned to eat using her feet, pick up small items with her toes, even apply a bindi. Her Maa was her Durga Shakti in every sense: unflinching love in her gaze, yet a fierce belief in letting her child grow independently.

It was 2009, and Sheetal was two and learning to do with her legs what others did with their hands.

It was 2011. Sheetal now ventured outside and began hearing the whispers that followed her: bechari, bojh, maa-baap bad-kismat hai. She felt inferior. Her heart wept. “Why me, God?” she asked, but there was no answer.

But she was not alone. Her family was her pillar. Her mother never treated her as different. Her dadu adored his bright, angel-faced granddaughter. And her father calm, warm, the man villagers pitied for having a disabled daughter never showed a moment of self-pity. “Upar wale pe bharosa kar,” he would say.

She began to believe those words. To trust that maybe God had created her for a reason. Many years later, when fame and fortune surrounded her, Sheetal would say: “Many know my father now as Sheetal ke papa, but my proudest title will always be Maan Singh ki beti.”

It was 2011. Sheetal was four and beginning to trust destiny.

It was 2015. Sheetal was eight, in school, writing beautifully with her feet. Her intelligence impressed teachers. She dreamed of becoming a teacher. She had a gang of friends, exploring the mountain slopes of her village. But in sports she was always on the sidelines.

And she longed to climb trees.

The tall chinars shimmered like golden gowns in the Kashmir breeze. The apple trees tempted her endlessly. One day, she could bear it no more. She approached her favourite chinar gripped the bark with her powerful legs, pushed herself upward, centimetre by centimetre. Don’t look down. A deep breath. Another push.

Finally six feet up she perched on a branch, looking down at her stunned friends. She felt the wind on her face. She could see farther than she ever had.

It was 2015. Sheetal was eight and on top of a tree. Her heart alight, she thought: I can go further. My body can do things others cannot imagine. It was 2021. Sheetal was 14 when the Rashtriya Rifles organised a para sports identification camp in Kishtwar. She had never played sports before. She was handed a bow and told to shoot. Holding it with her feet, she bent it let the arrow fly close to centre.

Coach Kuldeep Vedwan stared. “Have you tried archery before?” “No,” she said.

He shook his head. “Do you exercise? Have you trained?” “No,” she said. “But I climb trees every day.” Kuldeep whispered to his assistant, “This girl is something special.” The assistant stared “But sir, she has no hands. All para archers have hands…”

Yet soon she was called to the Vaishno Devi Sports Academy in Katra. Her parents allowed her to go far from home for the first time. Sheetal had taken up a sport. She was ready to fly.

It was 2021. Sheetal had reached the academy and Kuldeep became the wind beneath her wings.

It was 2023. Sheetal had turned 16. The year was difficult and amazing. The coaches abandoned the idea of prosthetics and instead showed her videos of Matt Stutzman, the famous archer without arms. Sheetal watched keenly. I can do this, she thought.

The training was grueling hours bent over, toes bleeding. But her climbing-honed core, her focus, her fire they carried her through.

At just 16, she made the Indian team for the Asian Para Games. The youngest on the team. The only armless woman archer in the world. Many saw her as a curiosity. But when the dust settled, she had three medals around her neck individual gold, mixed team gold, and women’s pairs silver.

Sheetal 16 years old became a global phenomenon. In 2024 she would become the youngest Indian to medal at the Paralympics in Paris. In 2025, in an outrageous, unprecedented achievement, she beat able-bodied archers to qualify for the Indian team for the Asia Cup the first para athlete ever to do so.

At 18, she knew she was limitless.

She was a Devi woman-power in all her glory: joyful, fearless, powerful.