Who could possibly know more about courage than a soldier? Who pushes themselves more than they do?
If you've ever seen Indian soldiers in training, you know they push themselves past the limits of their biology to forge their bodies anew. They enter into training as boys, and emerge as warriors. They understand adversity. They understand grit. They understand the power and potential of believing in oneself. They understand that our abilities are whatever we believe them to be.
Major Vivek Jacob embodies this spirit more than most. A decorated soldier who served as Special Forces Operator for over 14 years, he suffered a life altering fall in 2015, when during a combat skydive his parachute malfunctioned. Though he suffered a spinal cord injury, he vowed to get back on his feet as soon as possible. He dove into his recovery with the single minded focus of a soldier, and emerged victorious.
It was during his recovery that a chance encounter set him on a different trajectory: one that brought the same single minded focus to bear on creating the same empowering experiences for people with disabilities that had powered his desire to both heal and serve. He met Flight Lt. Bhaduria, a veteran who was confined to his wheelchair as a result of permanent paralysis from a freak accident. What Flight Lt Bhaduria wanted most to do was scuba dive.
Major Vivek voluntarily retired from the Army, left his Special Forces family and began a journey of empowerment through CLAW: Conquer Land and Water. He brought together other Special Forces veterans under a vision to serve humanity through peace, sharing and creation rather than war, division and destruction.
Each team member had been a crack soldier in the Army or Navy Special Forces. They were highly trained with multiple specialisations in mountaineering, skydiving, scuba diving, unarmed combat, multi-terrain survival tech, emergency med response, and more. Each team member had undergone some of the toughest selection, training and operational environments anywhere on the globe.
They brought these skills, and experiences to bear on a program that taught these valuable life skills to people with disabilities. Their focus is to design and implement sustainable large-scale employment solutions for people with disabilities, and for the underprivileged, with a bent towards conservation and sustainability. Globally, 1 billion people live with some form of disability, and are often confined to their homes. They are further trapped by their misperceptions about their abilities and capabilities, leading to a huge loss of productive human potential.
Operation Blue Freedom was the outcome of a vision to evolve the lens of how society views ability and to ensure dignity and freedom for everyone. Over time, the vision expanded to create centers worldwide where military Special Forces veterans and people with disabilities could work together to create a better tomorrow not just for the differently abled, but for anyone who wants to realise their full potential as human beings.
True to their name, Team C.L.A.W has led several groups of people with disabilities through the elemental challenges of Land, Air and Water. So far, they have led the largest team of people with disabilities to climb the world's highest battlefield: the Siachen Glacier in India's Himalayas. They've led the largest team of people with disabilities to skydive, and over 100 people with disabilities have trained in adaptive scuba diving in the world's largest scuba occupational therapy and skill training programme for people with disabilities held in the Lakshadweep islands.
To honour stories like Major Vivek Jacob and Team C.L.A.W, AU Small Finance Bank presents Badlaav Humse Hai Season 2, in association with Network18. Just like the first season, Season 2 celebrates 25 stories that showcase changemakers whose unsung work has helped carve out cultural identities for communities, lifted them out of poverty; created access where only barriers existed; shown communities how to work with nature to create true sustainability; changed hearts and minds about othered communities; changed the lives of many through economic, social or educational empowerment, and much, much more.
Watch Season 2 of Badlaav Humse Hai for more stories like this one. You may also catch up on all the wonderful stories from Season 1.
Moneycontrol Journalists were not involved in the creation of the article.
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