Can and able

"I realised that you need legs to run and wings to fly. I was hurt but I didn't give up, I knew, one day, I will run"... The launch of physically challenged athlete Malathi Holla's biography was as inspirational as the book promises to be

Struggle makes you successful, was athlete Malathi Holla's message at the launch of her biography to every other physically challenged person.

A Different Spirit, Malathi's authorised biography written by Ananth Krishnan M, is the inspirational story of her life as a physically challenged track and field athelete.u00a0 It was launched by former cricketer Syed Kirmani, sprinter Ashwini Nachappa, Malathi and Krishnan.

"My book may not be inspirational to others but I want to convey a message to my community (physically challenged individuals) that you make life the way you see it. The more you struggle, the more successful you become," said Malathi, recipient of the Padma Shri and Arjuna awards.

Also, she said, each day is a hurdle and once you pass the hurdle, it becomes an achievement.

"As I grew up, I realised that you need legs to run and wings to fly. I was hurt but I didn't give up, I knew, one day, I will run...," she says in the book.

"Any sportsperson disabled or able inspires me. I observe and absorbs skills from the person," said Malathi.u00a0u00a0u00a0

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"The name of the book is appropriate as you need to have a different spirit to overcome hurdles and be an achiever," said Ashwini Nachappa.

"Malathi has a never-give-up attitude and has been a great motivational soul to the sports fraternity. I am sure this biography will be an eye-opener for all," said Kirmani. The book chronicles Malathi's struggles it speaks of her childhood at the Ishwani Prasad Dattatraya Orthopaedic centre in Chennai after which she moved back to her hometown in Bangalore.