Sportsperson & businesswoman, Geetha Chauhan excels at all that she does

Geetha Chauhan, a wheelchair tennis and basketball player, completed her education amidst many obstacles. Today, she runs her own business in Mumbai and is an integral part of the wheelchair basketball team.

Geetha Chauhan’s story is one of determination and will-power. This youngster has beaten many odds to emerge as a successful wheelchair basketball player and tennis player champ, with national and international matches to her credit.

A Mumbaikar, Geetha is also a successful businesswoman with a garment store where she also has clothes designed by her.

Like all kids, Geetha’s life was all about games and fun until she was six years old. She suffered a polio attack and was left paralysed and unable to move. Life changed for her in many ways. Her father refused to let her study for a long time and Geetha was confined to the four walls of her home for a very long time. With great difficulty, she completed her basic education and then used her own earnings, she completed her graduation followed by a course in chartered accountancy.

My mother was very supportive and she kept telling me that I have a lot of potential, but my father was not helpful. Our financial background was also not favorable. When I grew up, I decided to leave home and find my own life. After many years, I returned as my mother was unwell and I want to take care of her. – Geetha Chauhan, Businesswoman

However, life outside home was tough and Geetha had to find ways to survive. She started working with firms and handled marketing for them. She also met the love of her life while pursuing a course in chartered accountancy. He “He was supportive for a long time. But due to certain circumstances, we had to part ways and that was one of the darkest times of my life. I thought I was going to be lonely again, says Geetha.

She gathered all the broken pieces to start anew. To overcome her sense of loss, she took to sports and that’s how the passion for basketball and tennis started. She joined coaching classes and took it up with a gusto. She is now a member of the Indian wheelchair basketball team, her business is thriving and life has come full circle.

“I want to represent my country in the Olympics, and I am training myself for that”, says Geetha. “I want to bring home a gold medal for India and also plan to expand my business. I have my own financial constraints, but that is not going to stop me from what I want to do in life”. Life, she says, comes with its ups and down, “but we have to make the best out of what is offered to us.

Geetha’s life has inspired her friends and colleagues too. Like friend Sangeetha Majhi, who looks up to her.

“She came from a background where she never got any support. In spite of a disability, she works hard to move ahead in life. Geetha has overcome all challenges to give her best in whatever she does. You will see her putting her heart and soul into whatever she does’.

Truly, Geetha’s journey has lessons for many of us.

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