Writer Salil Chaturvedi will be the first paraplegic to undertake a sailing expedition from Mumbai to Goa, on a boat that has no modern amenities. Will power is all he needs anyway
Writer Salil Chaturvedi will be the first paraplegic to undertake a sailing expedition from Mumbai to Goa, on a boat that has no modern amenities. Will power is all he needs anyway
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Dressed in a red tee that sets off his salt-and-pepper hair, Salil Chaturvedi charms you instantly with his infectious smile and twinkling eyes. He's talking excitedly over a cup of coffee and a Cheese Sandwich about this never-done-before endeavouru00a0to sail from Mumbai to Goa in eight days on a small boat that isn't even equipped with sleeping bunks or a bathroom! His sunny disposition helps you overlook the hard fact that he's paralysed from waist down, but that's the one thing Salil doesn't want you to forget. "I know that there is only one life to live, and why not do all that you set your heart on? I wanted to prove that anything is possible even for the disabled. But society must also be ready to do its bit. It's about the power of collaboration," says the writer who won the Commonwealth Short Story Competition 2008-9 for his short story, The Bombay Run.
It all started in Goa
The idea took root on a trip to Goa, after a meeting with Umaji Chowgule, a sailing expert. "I asked him if I could sail, and he was a bit apprehensive, but I had made up my mind," says Salil, who then proceeded to hoist himself out of his chair, and get on the the boat. "It must have been a sight, with my hands flailing around. But Umaji just watched me. I could see he was trying to figure out my limitations, and how he was going to work with them."
With a little corporate help
"One day, as we were being followed by dolphins, I knew something bigger was in the offing." Once the idea was in place, and a route decided, Salil and his wife Monika Kshatriya, set off to find a sponsor, and that's where Godrej stepped in. The Godrej Brighter Horizons sailing expedition will be flagged off from Mumbai on November 24 and land in Panjim, Goa, eight days later on the eve of the World Disability Day.
The team of four
But Salil knows this isn't going to be an easy trip. The weather has been unpredictable and when out on sea, anything is possible. Salil and his team of four, which includes wife Monika who "hopes to do her bit", pilot cousin Shaunik Chaturvedi who's "anxious but keyed up" and his teacher, Umaji, are going to take it one day at a time. "We are going to make four stops along the way. I am also taking a cushion called the Vicair, which will provide a softer support for my back and legs," says Salil, who suffered a road accident in 1984 in Allahabad.
On dangerous mission
Sailing on a boat named the Bombay Harbour Seabird, a 21-feet sloop type of sailing boat designed in 1920, is an adventure Salil can't wait for. The writer, who represented India at the Wheelchair Tennis tournaments in Melbourne and Japan in the early 1990s, has one final reason to be undertaking this once-in-a-lifetime dangerous mission. "The feeling you get when you are one with nature, back to the basics, is priceless. Even when I sometimes wonder why the heck I am doing this, I know deep down that this is a defining moment; for me and disabled people everywhere."
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