India is aiming for 15 medals at Tokyo Paralympics, for which it has sent 54 para-athletes contingent, the largest in history. One consistent name throughout Paralympic sports is Arhan Bagati, whose resolutions are an inspiration to our para-athletes.
Arhan Bagati, who says India will show its best performance ever, is the youngest deputy chef- de mission in the world at Tokyo Paralympics, at the age of 22.
Arhan Bagati travelled with the first batch of Indian athletes to Tokyo for the Paralympics, starting on 24th August 21.
ARHAN BAGATI FOR INDIA:
Arhan Bagati, a Kashmiri Pandit, has been the goodwill ambassador for Paralympics since 2015 and completed his graduation from Pamona College, USA.
As a class 12 th student of Shri Ram school in Gurugram, in 2015, Bagati developed the InRio app, which assisted the Paralympic athletes in Rio Olympics, 2016, with online access to various questions like diet, fitness, etc.
Bagati has developed another idea to build an original app for Indian Para-athletes participating in Tokyo Paralympics, 2020 edition.
In continuation to the InRio app, he has introduced the IndTokyo app for Special Indian athletes to assist them by providing information about diet and nutrition, accessible places to visit Tokyo and speed dial for emergency contact numbers.
Showing his commitment and dedication towards the Paralympics, he revealed that Milkha Singh is his inspiration for taking the Para movement forward.
During a conversation with the Flying Sikh in 2014, he learned about the struggle of para-athletes and all about them. After this, soon Arhan struck a chord with the Indian para-athletes.
He was in constant touch with the athletes and did whatever he could for them till he became a part of the official board in 2015.
Bagati had sponsored Para-athlete gold medalist in Rio Olympics, 2016, Mariyappa Thangavelu and Varun Singh Bhati. He had donated his entire pocket money and received help from his family and friends.
We have set a target of fifteen medals, and the potential is immense. The motivational interaction with the Prime Minister has boosted the spirit of all the athletes, says Dy Chef de Mission Arhan Bagati as he leaves on his debut journey to Tokyo.
Soon after returning from the USA post his graduation, Bagati has been in Delhi and wants to go back to his valley, to his family roots in Kashmir. On a personal note, he is in the process of establishing “KYARI”, which stands for Kashmir’s Yumberzal Applied Research Institute, strengthened by the belief that research makes the way to debates.
KYARI aims to conduct applied research on a broad spectrum of topics that impact civil life and raises social issues in Jammu and Kashmir, which paves the way for decision making in public policy matters.
