My Story: 'People Ridiculed Me For My Height Problem And Considered Me Weak, But I Kept Working Hard Towards My Dream'

I have been suffering from Dwarfism since I was born. I measure 102 cm, which is just 3 feet and 4 inches. Being a person with a disability, things were not easy for me. Right from school to college, I had people poking fun at me due to my stunted height. Every day, I used to commute to the college on the local train. Whenever I travelled in it, the vibe around me changed. The commuters kept staring at me and commented on how I looked that made it worse for me.

Since I was a child, I was always interested in sports. I used to play cricket with my friends and I still do. It was during this time when I found myself leaning towards bodybuilding, since it has a strong connection with fitness. In 2012, I officially started to work out in the gym to become one.

It Was Not An Easy Path

My condition made it a little difficult for me to sweat it out in the gym. Initially, I struggled a lot to pick up the weights but over time, I gained enough strength to do so. I am able to work out with different weights to make myself stronger. Despite all of this, I kept working hard. It did not deter me from chasing my dreams of becoming a bodybuilder.

However, the roadblocks were still there. The people's perception did not change about me. In college, I used to work out in an empty gym so that I could avoid their taunts. People in the gym kept telling me that I am weak and I will never make it. They never respected me because of how short I was and did not value my dedication.

Along with this, my family was not entirely supportive either. They do not see bodybuilding as a lucrative career path. Therefore, they told me to take up a government job so that I could be financially stable. However, I did not give up. I kept going on and making myself stronger and more capable of pulling this off.

Hard Work Paying Off

I did not pay heed to any of these taunts. I told myself that if I could ignore them, it will make them realise that their nasty words do not matter to me. The more I worked on my body, the more I got confident about myself. For three years, I worked towards getting my name in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's shortest competitive bodybuilding. One of my friends made me try for this and I gave it a go.

When the organisation announced that my name will be in the 2022 edition, my joy knew no bounds. I strongly believed in myself and realised that anyone can do anything, if they put their mind to it.

This was a moment I could not be more proud of as all my hard work eventually paid off. Along with that, the people who made fun of me started to respect me after this. Many of them even come to my competitions and cheer for me.

Nowadays, I work as a gym trainer. I have 20 to 25 people that I am training. However, there is still a long way to go. Bodybuilding is still not taken seriously by anyone. Not just the government, but even the local authorities do not put aside enough funds for this. At the moment, I am currently struggling to find sponsors for myself. I am facing financial issues as well because I am not able to provide for my family. I dream of representing India at Mr. World one day therefore I wish people come forward to help me make this come true.

If you too have an inspiring story to tell the world, send us your story at mystory@thelogicalindian.com