From polio-stricken toddler to world no. 49: Lucknow CA Tushar Nagar’s unyielding comeback
Uttar Pradesh: Struck by polio at age three, Tushar Nagar lay immobile with only his heart and mind functioning. Doctors were puzzled — it was rare even in 1985. Now 44, he is a well-known chartered accountant in Lucknow and, in an extraordinary turn, has broken into the world’s top 50 para table tennis players. The rankings announced recently place him at 49. It marks a new chapter in a life defined by fightback.
Tushar was the son of banker Madan Mohan Nagar and homemaker Purnima. After polio left his right hand paralysed, he was bedridden for over a year. Many believed he would never lead a normal life again. But the three-year-old showed what his family calls an “unprecedented zeal to fight back.”“
When polio struck, only my heart and mind were functioning. I was bedridden. But my father, Madan Mohan Nagar, and my mother didn’t give up. They took care of me, and finally I could go to school after over a year,” he said.
The recovery was slow and painstaking. He struggled to walk and learned to write with his left hand. There was a time he couldn’t manage even 50 steps. With support from teachers and his parents, he gradually overcame those barriers and became proficient with his left hand.
He once dreamed of becoming a doctor, but a government order forced a change of course. Instead of giving up, he reset his plans and built a career in chartered accountancy. Alongside his profession, he pursued sport — a pursuit that has now placed him among the global elite in para table tennis.
