Shooting: Samurai and a hot shot

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“Life is short, energy limited, very limited. And with this limited energy we have to find the unlimited; with this short life we have to find the eternal. A great task, a great challenge! – Osho

Have you ever thought of doing something beautiful in life, something that would define you? Perhaps you will, after meeting Sidhartha Babu who, in the pursuit of finding what he calls the ‘beautiful thing’, has become an inspiration in the national shooting arena.

Sidhartha braved the ‘shooting pain’ down his spinal cord to win gold in 10 m rifle and silver in the 50 m rifle prone in the handicapped category of the 55th national shooting championships held this month.

His is a story of self-realisation and determination to overcome life’s shortfalls. Sidhartha’s life took a drastic turn when he met with a serious road accident nine years ago that left him paralysed in both legs.

“I had everything, I was a martial arts national gold medallist,” says Sidhartha about his life before the accident.

“I was left with little option, I could have quit, but I thought instead I need to do ‘something beautiful’ that will define me.”

So, Sidhartha decided to take aim in life and went in search of a rifle association, which unfortunately wasn’t around in Thiruvananthapuram, his home city.

When he went to the famed rifle club in Thodupuzha that has produced several shooters from the state, they told him, “You cannot shoot my friend, we appreciate your effort to come here, but sorry.”

“However, I stayed there and waited nearly three hours when they finally allowed me to take a few shots. If I hit I was in and I hit the 10 (the exact centre),” said Sidhartha.

But joining the rifle club was just one of the many struggles the 32-year-old who works in Technopark endured.

Shooting is an expensive sport to be in and as Sidhartha says, “Every shooter needs his own rifle, all this while I have been borrowing my rifle from the club, but now I really need to get one for myself. Rifles in both the events will cost around Rs 5 lakh and that is a tough job – finding the money,” says

Sidhartha, who is also studying for an MCA at the College of Engineering so that he can find a decent job.

“There is little technical or financial support for disabled shooters in the country, but I will continue because as I said I really want to find that beautiful thing in my life. I still don’t know if I have found it yet,” says Sidhartha, inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and the true-to-their-principles Samurais.