JNU student Tejasvi Sharma, who is 69 per cent disabled, has been recognised as the "most flexible handicapped yoga champion" after performing the hardest of asanas and postures that involve difficult contortions.
The record by Tejaswi, who has represented the country in various international yoga championships, has been acknowledged by the 'Unique World Records', a global record book of India origin, whose first edition was published in 2009.
21-year-old Tejasvi, who hails from Bihar and is a final year student of German Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, was diagnosed with polio at the age of nine years with both legs afflicted.
"I have been practicing yoga since the age of 5 and can now perform even the hardest asanas. I had lost sensation in my both legs and the doctor said they may never function properly.
"I was suggested to practice yoga to be able to walk without crutches and that is when I enrolled myself in a Yoga school. However, I did not know then that I would later on be keen on pursuing the art as a profession," Tejasvi told PTI.
Tejasvi can perform asanas like bajrangasana, bhunamanasana and vrashchikasana, among others, which include difficult 'contortions' like shoulder rotations and touching elbow with lips.
He won the silver medal in World Cup Yoga championship held at Talkatora stadium in 2011 and the gold in Yoga championship in Hong Kong in the year 2012. Besides, he also secured the second position in the International Yoga championship held in China's Shanghai last year.
Planning to pursue his Masters in Yoga from Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute, Tejasvi also wants to "innovate and discover new postures and asanas to be performed by disabled people".
Asked about his choice of German for an undergraduate programme, Tejasvi said "I wanted to learn a foreign language extensively so that when I go to international championships I should feel more enriched. I had zeroed down upon French and German, and ultimately decided to pursue the latter".
The JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) has lauded Tejasvi's feat as an inspiration for students.
"I have been penalised for protecting 'bharat mata' and
standing up against the anti-nationals. So on mother's day, we have started a campaign in support of protecting the dignity of mother India. I am requesting people to donate one rupee in my paytm account," Saurabh, who is lone ABVP member in JNU students body said in a statement.
Saurabh along with four members of ABVP, who had also gone on hunger strike last week, called off their stir on Wednesday claiming they have got an assurance from the JNU administration that their demands will be considered.
The JNU administration had appealed the students and teachers to not invite outsiders saying it might vitiate the academic atmosphere and peace on campus. The administration also asked the students to refrain from using "direct or indirect coercive measures and come forward for dialogue and discussion".
Terming the hunger strike to be an "unlawful activity" JNU VC Jagadesh Kumar had also appealed the students last week to put forward their demands using "constitutional" means and asked them to come for a "dialogue" to resolve the matter.
Two other students --Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya -- were arrested along with Kanhaiya in the sedition case. While Kanhaiya has been slapped with a penalty of Rs 10,000, Umar, Anirban and a Kashmiri student, Mujeeb Gatoo have been rusticated for varying durations.
