Srinagar:At the time of his birth, doctors were in a predicament about whether or not Adil Altaf would ever be able to walk. "Adil is my second child. His twin sister was physically and mentally fit but he was not. Doctors predicted he would never be able to walk," says his father Altaf Ahmed, a tailor by profession who runs his small shop in the uptown Lalbazar area here in Kashmir.
Some 18 years later, the same kid will go on to win a gold medal in cycling for his state -- Jammu and Kashmir -- in the Boys' 70 km cycling race at the Khelo India Youth Games. A joyous Alftaf suddenly beams with pride as the focus shifts from ordeal to his son's accomplishments while narrating the story to ETV Bharat.
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"Look at Allah's blessing today. He has won a gold medal in cycling," he adds right away. "Adil had a problem with his legs. He could not walk. We went to several hospitals in the country for his treatment but Allah Almighty healed him." However, Adil himself doesn't want to recall the hardships and ponder over them but is aware of the adversity his parents went through. He wants to solely focus on what remains, and his only passion in life -- cycling, the sport that ushered in a new lease of life for the boy, who was once declared unfit to walk.
"My parents wanted me to concentrate on my studies but my heart was in cycling. There was no money, and no nutritional food available but my parents worked very hard to fulfill my dream. They believed in me and the result is before you," he said.
The story began with Adil wading and maneuvering his bicycle through the crowded streets of the city markets as a child to pick up and drop off supplies to his father, a part of his everyday rigmarole. A few years later, the joyous rides would soon turn into an obsession during a school competition, where Adil stood third. There was no turning back from there.