CHENNAI: Tap, tap, tap!’ the sound of metal pellets being fired and tearing through paper targets was relentless. As was the sight of seated shooters putting in their entire focus to pull the trigger and hit the bull’s eye. This was the scene on the third and final day of the Chennai Para Shooting Camp at Chennai Rifle Club, Egmore, which was attended by 28 persons with disabilities (PwDs) across Tamil Nadu. At the event, organised by Sportzcraft Inc and Chennai Rifle Club, PwDs were trained for two days and a competition was underway on the third day.
“They taught us how to grip the gun, how to aim... There is a ‘u’ and an ‘i’ in the crosshairs. You have to focus it so that they join and become a ‘w’. Then you take the shot,” explains 11-year-old V Manoj Kumar excitedly. The participants were taught sighting, alignment, focus, grip and trigger release.
Matilda from Chennai had difficulty with the pistol. “I can aim well, but when I pull the trigger, it recoils and my hand shakes. With the rifle, I get a better grip. Now I’m confident. Events like these give us more courage to participate in sports,” she says.
Karunakaran, a wheelchair user with a spinal cord injury, managed to hit the bullseye. “Now I am planning to take part in State-level competitions and if that goes well, in national-level competitions too,” he beams.
The rifle range of the club is on the first floor, but it was shifted to the ground floor for this camp, which had two categories — the rifle and pistol. Just as the shots kept coming, so did the smiles. The excitement of every participant was palpable as they wheeled up to the shooting spot, shifted into a chair and took aim.
“A few friends saw pictures of this on Facebook and asked if I had changed my mode of protest and taken up arms!” laughs T M N Deepak, activist and founder of the December 3 movement. “This is the first time we’re exposed to such a sport. What the organisers have achieved is a Himalayan task. ,” he says, adding that in the ideal world, there would be facilities for para shooters too to take part in the same competition as the others.
“It should be made inclusive. I should be able to use an elevated platform, for instance, and shoot alongside the others. Only then can we get sports quota jobs,” he adds.
Concurs N Lalith Kumar, another activist, and adds, “It would be great if PwDs can make a career out of sports like this. Those shooting in this camp today may become a national level shooter tomorrow or even a coach.”
D V Seetharama Rao, Secretary General, National Rifle Association of India, captured the essence of the event in a nutshell. “It’s like an oilfield. Events like this are like the little oil gushing out, but there’s a huge oil field underneath.”
Age Just a Number
Veteran shooters T K Varalakshmi and Lalitha Ayyagiri (both in their mid-seventies) trained and evaluated the shooters. “People say that if you’re short of one thing, you’ll always have an edge in something else. These people have proved that. Most of them have done so well, within three days they have learnt and performed what it takes people months to do,” says Varalakshmi.
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