Waking up from a coma with a completely transformed life and with no memory of the past three days is as scary as it sounds. The body of this 28 years old is surely wheelchair bound, but what is boundless is his hope in life. After having a traumatic experience of a bike crash, Sujith’s life took an unforeseen turn. But as it is said, “ Everything happens for a reason.” And in this case Sujith came out stronger than ever post the accident and is not only filling his life with positivity but also the lives of so many people that he continues to inspire. This paraplegic fitness influencer has oozing amounts of positivity and confidence. Let’s get chatting to him about his life.
How have you been doing lately? Has this lockdown and the whole Covid 19 situation put a comma to your regular course of life?
In such unprecedented times even my life came to a standstill for a while and like many others even I was stuck in limbo of what the future is going to look like. But I believe we are all fighters hence we all are fighting this battle in our own ways. The situation surely paused my life for a bit but my life never stopped, I was doing the same things but I was doing them a little differently.
It is said that sometimes you have to fall in the deepest pit to rise up to the greatest heights. So do you think the Sujith from before the incident has completely transformed into a new Sujith post the incident?
Initially, people tried to keep me positive by reassuring me that all this has happened for a reason but I was just stuck in the dilemma of “How, Why and What” about the accident. But gradually over the months I have transformed in various aspects of my life. I consciously channelled my energy to make things that seem impossible happen. I went through a whole process where I knew where I was coming from, where I stood and where I had to reach and this process changed me immensely. Everything changed, my life, my perspective about life and everything I did and I had become a rock by then as I had fought the battle of my life.
How have people around you affected your life post this incident?
I had a lot of visitors in the beginning who all came and gave me one thing that I needed the least, which was ‘sympathy’. While connecting with so many others who had been through a life changing experience I observed that mostly more than anything else the people around you impact you the most and the more the amount of sympathy gained limits the person’s capabilities. But now no one questions me or my capabilities because I have proven them wrong by breaking those barriers but to break those barriers I had to do things that I had never done and push myself immensely.
What would be three words to describe yourself?
I would say I am passionate, a stack of hope and unique. Passionate because even after being paralyzed below the waist I pursued my passion for fitness which in normal instances would seem impossible for someone like me. I consider myself a stack of hope as everything I have done post my accident is to empower others which is actually a part of empowering myself. Over the years I have tried and motivated people to believe that if I can do so much while sitting on a wheelchair, imagine what they can do standing on their two legs. And I’m unique because I truly believe there is no other soul on earth that could comprise another Sujith, that’s the kind of confidence I have in myself.
We all know how much you are into fitness, but what are some of your interests other than fitness?
So there’s a major part of me which many people are now coming to know about which is music. I’m a rapper and it’s something I really enjoy and is another way of expressing myself.
I’m also in the process of making my first music video and am also slightly venturing into DJing as well. But honestly, I love to do anything that brings cheer to people’s faces and anything through which I could touch lives. That makes me really happy.
As any normal person, even you must have your low days, how do you get going on such days?
Yes, I definitely have those low days where I feel there’s no hope left. On such days I focus on why I have started what I do and over the years I have trained my brain to focus on positives from every situation. Even in my speeches, I tell people that it’s okay to have bad days but one thing you have to make sure is that you bounce back no matter what. Therefore my brain doesn’t let the negativity engulf me.
I’m sure you must believe in the saying that “People become who they are through their experiences”. To what extent do you think this is true in our lives?
I am a true believer of this as I strongly think that we become what we are through the choices that we make in various experiences that we go through. The choice you make has a huge say in your growth or stagnation in life. I believe that every human being on earth is a sum up of the choices that they have made throughout their lives.
With so many ‘No(s)’ in your life and all the negativity how do you still manage to make your life a ‘Yes’?
It’s a constant process where people have been telling me ‘no’ for the smallest of things that filled me with a lot of anger. It reached a point where I would get angry over anything and everything, and that’s when I realized that I need to channelize this anger. I could either channel that anger to burn myself or I could channel it to prove myself wrong and guess what, I chose the latter. So everything that pushes me comes from within.
What is that one thing which makes you want to wake up every morning?
I think I don’t have any competitor other than my own self. So I wake up every morning to beat my older self and to compete with older Sujith and to outdo him. Everyday for me is a process of becoming a better version of myself.
What is one mantra that you completely swear by and would want to share with people to inspire and motivate them?
“The fall may not be yours to blame, but the rise definitely is.”
Says Sujith
Battling through the ups and downs at every step of life is surely not a cakewalk but Sujith has managed to do so even better than a lot of us. Even after going through such a traumatic experience, one thing that keeps Sujith going is ‘hope’. The hope to rise someday and the hope to fly.
