mind after the 2019 world championships bronze the central government awarded me with rs 8 lakh but there was no job offer neither from the state nor the centre i hope the paralympics medal will be a lucky charm for me he saidsmart switcha smartphone bought from prize money won in a local competition inspired nishad to take up para sports in 2017 before that he had participated in ablebodied competitionsghar mein na tv tha na koi android phone had no tv or smartphone at home i got my first phone in 2016 after winning a gold medal at an interdistrict competition for ablebodied athletes in hamirpur the prize money was rs 3500 which was raised mainly by contributions from the coaches and spectators then my father and a cousin added another rs 2500 and with that money i got my first smartphone costing rs 5500 i used it to watch videos of para sports and then i decided to switch to para athleticsin march 2018 i took silver with a jump of 183m in my first para athletics competition in panchkula but things remained the same back home kabhi sukhe chawal kha ke kabhi roti aur achar se raat gujarna padta tha at times we would have just rice or chapati with pickle to eat before sleepingsilver is for momterming his mother as his biggest inspiration an emotional nishad recalled how she had stood like a rock through his lean patchesmy mother had been a statelevel volleyball player and a discusthrower ever since i understood sports i have always looked up to her and after my hand was amputated she never made me feel that i lacked in anything this silver is for herbefore signing off nishad revealed that he would have joined the forces had he not been into sports i always wanted to be a part of the armed forces serve my country my first cousins are in the army and that uniform is what i have the utmost respect for for now i am happy to be representing india in sports