On a chilly morning in Amritsar on February 19, 2000, Padmini Shrivastava found a four-year-girl outside the All-India Pingalwara Charitable Society, a home for the destitute and an orphanage, after she was abandoned by her parents.
Nineteen years later, Shalu (who has just one name), a special needs athlete, will represent India by competing in powerlifting at the Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi from March 14 to 21. The Special Olympics World Games are held every two years for athletes with intellectual disabilities.
"It was eight in the morning. I was at the gate when I found a little girl shivering and crying. I took her into the office. I asked her name but she didn't reply. I quickly realised she had been abandoned by her parents. Being a mother myself, I can't even imagine how anyone can disown their own child," recollects Padmini, who is the principal of the orphanage.
Shalu's birthday is celebrated every year on February 19, the day she was found by Padmini.
"It took us more than a month to understand her problem. She has a speech impairment and also a learning disorder. Since then, I have become her life and she has become mine. We are inseparable," adds Padmini.
Shalu, who is 22 now and a powerlifter, still can't speak properly. If you talk to her, she will only utter four words - "Shalu, India, gold and ma (she calls Padmini her mother)." Shalu lives in the home that has 230 inmates.
"She is very excited for the tournament. She has been training hard for the last six months. She wants me to travel with her as well but I can't go with her until I get permission from the (Punjab unit of the Special Olympics Bharat) association," explains Padmini. "I am just glad that after this tournament, she will get recognition and there will be an identity for her. She is a special child and I just wish the best for her," she adds.
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Padmini says the first few years with Shalu were difficult. "She used to give everyone a hard time. But over the period of time, with love and care she started to mingle with everyone."
Shalu always was interested in sports, she was very good in athletics and football, says Padmini. It was Raju Rajendra, the trainer at the society, who persuaded her to try powerlifting. "She started training in 2012 but after couple of weeks she had lost interest, because football is her first love. After eight or nine months, she came to the gym and straightaway started lifting the weights. I was really shocked. Later in the evening, I got to know that she was fouled by someone and she was very angry about it. After that incident, football was dead for her," says Rajendra.
"I don't have any expectations. I know she will not return emptyhanded, but we never talk about winning or losing with her. As a coach, I am just so happy for her and I can't describe it in words. She will be boarding her first flight and she is very excited about it. At present, the only interest she has is the aeroplane ride. She is so curious about it and she has a tonne of questions too," chuckles Rajendra.
The society trains its inmates in sports and Poonam (floor hockey) and Suraj (floor ball) participated in Winter Special Olympics in Graz, Austria in March 2017; and Dolly (powerlifting) in LA Winter Special Olympics in 2016.