Deepa Malik, 42, was recently featured for the third time in the Limca Book of Records as she became the first paraplegic woman to drive over one of the highest motorable roads in the world.

Paralysed below the chest after three surgeries for spinal cord tumour resulting in 183 stitches on the upper spinal column, she refused to give in to her many physical limitations and undertook a journey to one of the world’s highest motorable roads at Khardung La in her customised Tata Safari car making it the highest motor raid by a paraplegic woman. Beginning from Delhi on June 9, 2011, she along with co-driver Prateek Gahlaut, crossed nine very high passes, covering 3,000 km in 10 days.
What makes Ms Malik’s records even more extraordinary is that she has no bladder or bowel control and can feel no sensation in her body below chest level. She has no torso balance and only half her lungs inflate. Disc degeneration due to laminectomy (a spine operation to remove the portion of the vertebral bone called the lamina, a posterior arch of the vertebral bone) on her seventh vertebrae column has made her shoulders weak. This, combined with other medical challenges like cholecystectomy — removal of gall bladder — and hypothyroidism are more than enough to make any person lose the zest for life, but Ms Malik decided to combat all these and live a life as close to normal as possible besides encouraging others with disabilities to drive as it offers independence.
An elated Deepa Malik said: “I am glad that my achievement will be taken as an inspiration by the other physically challenged people and they would also realise that disability is only a state of mind.”
Ms Malik got paralysed when her husband, Colonel Bikram Singh Malik of the Scinde Horse, was deployed during the Kargil War in 1999. For her this journey, which comes exactly 12 years later, is a way to celebrate both the victories of their lives. For Ms Malik’s sake, Colonel Malik took early retirement from the Army in 2006.
Ms Malik’s choice of vehicle for this challenging journey was her customised Tata Safari considered a tough vehicle ideal for undertaking arduous road journeys. Choosing the Tata Safari was also an emotional decision as she had been driving a Tata Estate for seven years before she developed a tumour in her spinal cord. The Tata Safari also made practical sense as its suspension and leg space made it the ideal vehicle for such a long and strenuous journey.
Flagged off from New Delhi, the route charted out was through Jallandhar, Udhampur, Srinagar, Kargil, Leh (Pangong, Hunder), Pang-Tandi, Manali, Chandigarh and back to Delhi. The nine passes included Fotu La, Zoji La, Chang La, Khardung La, Tangla La, Nakee La, Chung La, Baralacha La and the famous Rohtang pass near Manali. At 5,359 metres above sea level Khardung La, located in India’s Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, is the second highest pass in the world. Marsimik La at 5,590 metres, also in India, on the northern-most tip of the Changthang Plateau near the Line of Actual Control, is the world’s highest known motorable pass.
Ms Malik is a highly accomplished physically challenged international sportswoman and medal-winner in areas of biking, swimming and car rallying as well as other heavy-weight sports like shot put, javelin and discus throw, and has been representing the country at both national and international tournaments in the disabled categories. This achievement is just another feather in her cap as she continues her awe-inspiring journey of grit and courage.
As a mother of two daughters Devika, 21 and Ambika, 17, Ms Malik has strived to strike the balance between her responsibilities at home and her aspirations for carving out a name for herself as an international sportswoman. Some of her honours include a silver medal in shot put at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships in Christchurch (the only medal for the country and the first-ever medal won by an Indian woman with any disability), three gold medals at CP Sports in Nottinghman in 2010 and a bronze in javelin at the 2010 Asian Para Games in Guangzhou (the first ever medal in athletics by a woman in India). Her other triumphs include the 2011 Bajaj Allianz Most Inspirational Women Driver Hunt, the Star Rider Trophy at the Castrol Most Passionate Biker Hunt in 2009, Limca Records for swimming in Yamuna river against the current for one km in 2008 and for riding a special bike in 2009. This is only a small glimpse of the great abilities of this woman and the extraordinary life that she is living.
Her other felicitations include the Stree Shakti Puruskar CARE in 2010, the Guru Govind Puruskar in 2009 and the Rotary Woman of the Year in 2007 among several governmental and non-governmental recognitions. Ms Malik is also a member of the working group for the 12th Five Year Plan (2012 – 2017) on physical education and sports. She is often invited to deliver motivational lectures to share her experiences and insights at institutions like Art of Living, Army welfare organisations, Indian Spinal Injury Centre and at schools like the Shri Ram School. Represented by Pilcrow Communications Pvt. Ltd. Ms Malik is presently in training for those who have qualified for the London Paralympics.