Wheelchair-bound boy creates new Guinness record

New Delhi, May 16: Overcoming fears of his disability, Delhi-boy Gulshan Kumar has broken the world record for spinning his wheelchair the maximum times in a single minute.

The 18-year-old differently-abled boy made 63 spins in a minute on a wheelchair, thereby breaking the existing world record of 32 spins previously held by Jeffrey of France in the Guinness Book of World Records.

"I am really feeling on top of the world after breaking this record. I want to say that people like us need encouragement and opportunity rather than sympathy," says Gulshan, who resides in the suburbs of East Delhi.

He is a disciple of renowned disabled dance theatre director and founder of ''Ability Unlimited Foundation'', Guru Syed Salaudin Pasha.

"Gulshan has been training under me since the past ten years now. He has overcome his disability and poor background to break this record. It shows that given an opportunity, the differently-abled people can do wonders," says Pasha.

"A wheelchair is more than just a carrier of a body, and Gulshan has adapted it nicely. He is a very talented boy," adds the master.

Pasha says that Gulshan managed to do around 75 to 80 spins on his wheelchair but due to cameras and other restrictions on the sets of the show where he performed he was unable to able to repeat his performance.

"He broke the record nonetheless. We will try it again and set a new record," he says.

A dose of a wrong medicine in the year 1992 crippled Gulshan for life but even as he overcame his disability with hardwork the teenagers says he feels disheartened to see apathy towards differently-abled people.

"Teachers were apathetic towards me in the school. I could not play cricket. Guruji however trained me like any other boy and instilled the spirit of dignity in me," says Gulshan, who is awaiting his class 12 result.

Gulshan has been training in Kathak, Bharatnatyam, Sufi dance on a wheel-chair and gave his first performance in 2006 in the USA. A year later, his next tour took him to UK, Canada and the United States.

He says the government needs to help people like him as all their tours are organised with the help of sponsors and managed by the foundation. Gulshan broke his record on April 2, the night when India won the cricket World Cup.

"People left cricket and were glued to the TV channel ''Colors'' in our Jhilmil Colony of Vivek Vihar which tuned in to witness their boy turn into a star. People know him and are proud of him," says his proud father, Vivek Kumar.

Pasha says the record has made Gulshan more confident and they will continue to show the world what differently abled people are capable of.

"Social perceptions will change. We will keep doing such things and it is just a beginning," he says.

PTI