Avani Lekhara: The Midas touch

On August 30, Avani Lekhara—a 22-year-old from Jaipur, Rajasthan—made headlines (once again) at the 2024 Paralympics, held in Paris. Competing in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 event (a classification for para-shooters who can hold their gun and shoot from a standing or sitting position—in a wheelchair or chair) she defended her champion title, becoming the first Indian woman to win two gold medals in the history of Paralympic Games. In a twist that’s both surprising and fitting, Avani broke her own record—previously set at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games with 249.6 points. She also set a new record with an impressive score of 249.7 points. That glorious moment—Avani beaming with her gold medal alongside Korean para-athlete Lee Yunri with a silver, and her compatriot Mona Agarwal with a bronze—captured in Châteauroux, France, went viral across social media and publications in no time.

While preparing for my interview with this Paralympic sensation, I couldn’t help but wonder how she stacks up against other 22-year-olds. Is she caught up scrolling through Instagram reels like the rest of us? Or, perhaps, she’s one to overthink and worry about things that probably won’t matter five years from now?

Avani is wearing Mir set, Antar-Agni; Donna double-layered ring, Not so Ordinary 

Curious about her world, I catch up with Avani on a midweek Zoom call. Her signature smile radiates through the screen, as she shares that she was “kind of an introvert,” adding, “I couldn’t make many friends because I was changing schools every year.” This constant uprooting was because of her father, Praveen Lekhara, a member of the Rajasthan Administrative Services—the family remained on the move before Avani’s life took an unexpected turn. 

In 2012, when her family was involved in a car crash on the Jaipur-Dholpur highway, Avani—she was just 11 at the time—sustained spinal cord injuries, leaving her paralysed waist-down. “My whole life changed...I had to restart,” she reflects. From there on, she had to relearn everything—how to sit, how to move, and how to live life on a wheelchair. 

Like many extraordinary achievers, Avani’s journey has been anything but smooth. Homeschooled for nearly two years in the interim when she was recovering, Avani recollects how it affected her, making her go into her shell. “I didn’t want to go out. I just wanted to stay in my room. I wanted to be on the phone all the time…my screen time increased,” she admits. Observing this, her parents decided it was time for her to rejoin school in 2014. 

Avani is wearing Naomi jacket, YAVÏ; July dress, CORD; gold studs, Sapna Kumar Jewellery 

It was also when her parents—she calls them her biggest support throughout this period—encouraged her to take up a sport. Praveen, a sports enthusiast himself, was well-acquainted with Paralympic sports, and envisioned his daughter giving it a shot as well. Avani, who was initially hesitant to step out of her comfort zone, credits her father for practically “pushing her” to the shooting range. “My mom would accompany me to the range every day as well. They wanted to see me out there, playing and just being myself…they wanted to see me happy and making friends because, at that time, I had none,” she recalls.

Avani took up shooting in the ninth grade, and since then, the sport has been her constant companion. She reminisces about how she appeared for both her 10th and 12th board exams while training. In fact, even while prepping for college exams, she never missed shooting practice. “It’s just a part of my life now,” she says, explaining how switching between academics and sports kept her focused. “Whenever I got bored with one, I dived into the other. It was like a mental reset button,” she adds. 

Thinking back to her past, the gold medallist also shares that as a child, she was obsessed with the moon and the stars…she always dreamt about being an astronaut. But, as she got older, her fascination with crime shows was her cue that the judicial world was calling. “I shifted to studying law,” she says. “I want to become a judge because it holds a lot of power.” 

Intrigued by her comment, I ask her if she likes being powerful. She mentions that when one is in a wheelchair or has a disability, people often shower you with sympathy assuming that you’re entirely reliant on others. “They think you always need someone’s help,” she says, adding, “I want to step onto a platform where I can represent my community and show that we are so much more than our disabilities. We can achieve things, not just in our minds but out in the world, too.” Avani’s aim is to normalise the life of persons with disabilities, and prove that if someone has the will, they can absolutely achieve their dreams with sheer grit: “It is all about having the right mindset to reach your goals.” 

While I speak with her, one thing is clear…Avani’s story is not just one of a run-of-the-mill dreamer—hers is a tale of resilience and determination. Not only has she made India proud by clinching two golds at consecutive Paralympics, but she’s also recently fulfilled her dream of graduating with a law degree—adding yet another feather in her cap. Being part of both shooting and law is a perfect combination—one she genuinely enjoys. Shooting, Avani mentions, has been a game changer for her. “It’s developed my concentration, allowing me to focus entirely on what I am doing at that moment, without my mind wandering off.” And law? “It is an empowering subject,” she says with a gleam in her eye, “that has helped me understand not just my rights, but the rights of others too.” 

Avani is wearing a pleated front panel colour blocked dress, LOVEBIRDS.
 

I congratulate her on graduating in law, following it up with a question: How does she (seamlessly) juggle academics and sports without missing a beat? Avani tells me, “I enjoy doing both. Even before I picked up shooting, I was interested in law,” she shares. Honestly, I am thoroughly surprised when she says, “I wasn’t into sports at all.” Shooting wasn’t on her radar as a sport, and she never imagined competing internationally. In fact, initially she wasn’t too fond of the sport. “You don’t see many people shooting while sitting in a wheelchair,” she points out. However, everything changed during her first regional match, when she competed against athletes without disabilities, and discovered the rush of the sport while doing so. “That is when I decided to give shooting a real shot. That day, I won a gold…that is how my love for the sport began.”

Commenting on accessibility and a sense of autonomy for people with disabilities in the country, Avani observes: “India wasn’t exactly the most welcoming place for persons with disabilities—accessibility and inclusivity were quite limited. But there’s a shift happening now.” She shares the struggle of finding a school that was designed to be inclusive for those with disabilities: “Even something as basic as using a washroom was a challenge.” Despite these hurdles, she found an environment that was both supportive and accepting at Jaipur’s KVS (Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan). The experience, she mentions, was also eye-opening; it was here that she realised the importance of awareness and education, advocating that empathy towards individuals with disabilities should be woven into every school’s pedagogy.

Quoting a striking statistic, Avani says, “Around 15 per cent of people worldwide have some form of disability.” While she was fortunate to have a supportive network of family and friends, she knows there are many who are not as lucky. Avani is on a mission to make India a more inclusive country. She is also determined to bring about striking change—by sharing her story on social platforms, she wants to tell those with disabilities that “we are enough, and we are worthy.” 

Already a strong testament to strength, this 22-year-old para-athlete is proof enough that challenges should never deter anyone from bringing the change they want to see in the world. With her parents and brother as her guiding stars, she shares, “They want this as much as I do. They are my greatest supporters and my toughest critics. When I am feeling down, they lift me up, but when I’m soaring high, they remind me to stay grounded.”

Photographer: Jacky Nayak (@jacky_nayak)
Stylist: Jahnvi Bansal (@jahnvibansal)
Make-up artist: Nidhi Thakur (@nidhithakur29sep)
Hair artist: Neeraj Badmaal (@nbadmaal)
Styling assistants: Saundarya Keshri, Siddhi Goswami
Location Courtesy: Le Meridien, New Delhi (@lemeridiendelhi)