Fifteen new vocational skills will be showcased in the form of contests at the 11th International Abilympics scheduled to be held in Finland in 2027. According to Dr. Jitender Aggarwal, secretary-general of National Abilympic Association of India (NAAI), these additional categories at Abilympics are aimed at increasing the number of participants. Abilympics is organised for those with disabilities. Before starting Sarthak Educational Trust in 2004, Dr Aggarwal was a dental surgeon; he continued as one until he lost his vision due to mascular degeneration. * Of the 40 plus categories in vocational skills, 15 are being introduced for the first time. How and why is this important? Newly-introduced categories (also called “trades”) include Baking, Hairdressing, Fashion Technology, Hotel Reception, Childcare and Massage Therapy. These additions reflect emerging employment opportunities for the disabled community. International Abilympics is held once in four years where participants compete in 45 trades. India is also one of the members of the governing body and I am an executive member in it, where we brainstorm about new skills to be added and the ones that can be omitted. We prescribe skills that are mentioned in the IAF charter. * India hosted International Abilympics for the first time in 2003 in New Delhi. How has Abilympics or “Olympics of Abilities” evolved since then? The National Abilympic Association was formed in 2001 so that India could host the 2003 edition, where we had 1500 participants and 40 countries competing. In 2016, NAAI was handed over to Sarthak Educational Trust and we revived it. Besides tapping into talents among those with disabilities, we also need to support them by identifying expert coaches, offering infrastructure and equipment to help them compete at the international stage. The 2023 Abilympics in France was our first major outing where we noticed that the talent pool from Japan, France, South Korea and China were highly competitive. We learnt a lot from them. We are making Abilympics also professional like Olympics and Paralympics. * What are the expectations for Indians from Abilympics 2027? In 2023, we returned with seven medals. This year, our target is 30. We have faculty from IITs and other premier institutions to train and guide our participants, both physically and emotionally. We want more persons with disabilities to showcase their vocational skills. We are planning to have a wild card category next time. Winners speak Greeting the world with a resilient heart Swetha Kulkarni has been dabbling in painting since her school days, having been motivated by the encouragement provided by her teachers. “It was Vijaya Lakshmi ma’am who taught me to design greeting cards and do many other crafts. She took me to many competitions as well,” says Swetha, who is hearing-impaired. Her disability has not been a deterrent to pursuing excellence. She went on to study BE Computer Science at a college in Davangere. Now, she works with a leading software company in Chennai as business process lead. “During weekends I make it a point to sketch or draw and it helps me de-stress,” says Swetha, showing the many greeting cards she has designed. From YouTube she has been picking up new techniques in art and also does photography. Weekends are for wellness While he was between jobs, Parul Agrawal stumbled upon a diploma programme in spa therapy. He took it up. “It was a six-month programme. There was some pessimism, initially, when I considered the job prospects of this course. Now I am glad I am able to juggle work as an HR professional during weekdays and that of a massage therapist at a wellness centre during weekends,” says Parul, who is visually-challenged. He is happy winning gold at the South Zone Regional Abilympics 2025 and is looking forward to bigger platforms where he can showcase his skills. “Visually impaired people can provide excellent massage therapy services because our sense of touch amounts to a big advantage,” says Parul. His employer is happy that like other able-bodied employees in the wellness centre he is able to take up tasks such as foot reflexology and massages. Making cakes look as good as they taste Speech-and-hearing-impaired R. Sathish Kumar can make cakes look as good as they taste. The 48-year-old is a professional cake artist. His son U.S. Niraj remembers how Sathish made one of his birthdays memorable by designing a cake in the form of a racing car track. “People usually draw and show what design they need in the cake or bring photos, and he gets it perfect most of the time,” says Niraj. Sathish began his career working in a bakery where he picked up the skill to decorate cakes with fondants and other decorative features. A skilled artist, Sathish now takes classes in cake decoration for those with disabilities as well as able-bodied individuals at Cheshire Homes in Coimbatore. He is a regular to most cake decoration competitions and has many victories to his credit. The medals from these competitions are displayed at his home. Besides creativity, one needs steady hands and precision to shine in this field, he says.