disability activist

Preethi Srinivasan’s illustrious life as an athlete changed in a fraction of a second when she met with an accident at 18 that left her quadriplegic. Today, she runs Soulfree, a non-profit organisation that provides rehabilitation, physical training, counselling and hope to people with irreversible spinal cord injuries.

Today, at 17, Kerala-based Noor Jaleela is a budding artist who not only paints but also plays the violin, belts out songs melodiously and shares the stage with stalwarts such as KS Chithra and Stephen Devassy.

Even a terrible car accident in 2012, which paralysed him from the chest down, did not deter the now 29-year-old. His latest record in the Limca book of records was for driving across the breadth of India – from Arunachal Pradesh’s Tezu to Gujarat’s Koteshwar. This was part of his campaign ‘Accessible India’, to make the nation a more accessible place for Divyangs (persons with disability).