Rajeev Bagga delivers speech at an event organised by KC College, Mumbai

07.01.2017

€ˆtook the Indian badminton scene by storm in the '90s when he won the national men's titles in singles and doubles. At one of these championships, he also defeated his good friend, the indomitable Prakash Padukone. He captained the Maharashtra badminton team, and represented India at the All England Championships, Commonwealth Games and Thomas Cup, among many other international tournaments. Arjuna Award winner Rajeev Bagga has one more laurel to his credit - he achieved all this by competing in the open circuit, while he is hearing impaired.

At an interaction organised by the Department of Mass Media, KC College, yesterday, the genial sportsman, 49, addressed the students through an interpreter, using sign language, and shared with them how the sport defines his life.

"I am happy I was born into a sports-loving army family, where my parents and siblings constantly supported me and encouraged me to take up sports," Bagga shared. He began playing squash, but it was hearing-intensive, so he moved to badminton where eyesight would be more effective. While much has changed since then, competing in the open circuit (able-bodied players) three decades ago meant entering a non-inclusive playing field. Not only could Bagga not hear the umpire's calls (there was no provision for interpreters), there was often no display of the score and so, he had to keep a mental note. "When I beat players who could hear, many couldn't take it well," Bagga recalled with a smile, when a student asked him about being bullied.

Having competed in the open circuit since the beginning, it was only in 1989 that he represented India at the World Deaf Games, which later became the International Olympics Committee's Deaflympics. And there was no looking back. Bagga kept India on top of the world in men's singles titles for five consecutive Deaflympics. His feat received its due when in 2001, he was crowned the Deaflypian Of The Century by an IOC subcommittee.

A sports officer with Hindustan Petroleum since he turned 18, he quit his job, and moved to England after he got married in 2000, where he is a certified coach. It was the decades in which he was an active player - when badminton was not a high-profile sport in India - that somewhat obscured Bagga's achievements. Would he consider coming back to India if offered an opportunity to coach here? The towering man nodded in the affirmative.