Nirmala Bhandari brings people with disabilities off the sidelines

She battles societal prejudices, taboos and state apathy to pursue interests—wheelchair basketball, para-powerlifting, social work and performing arts—and excel at them.

Fourteen years ago, when Nirmala Bhandari was in the first year of her bachelor’s programme in health education, one of her teachers didn’t let her pass the course because he thought she couldn’t participate in the physical education class with her prosthetic leg.