Chetan Korada’s mother didn’t let disability affect her only child. Chetan — a double amputee, who is first in Asia, and second in the world, to participate in motorsport with prosthetic limbs, and win championships — recently spoke to Connected to India about his life and sport.
“My mother is somebody who manifested on this whole idea that she wanted to make this differently abled son a somebody,” Chetan told CtoI during an exclusive sit-down interview conducted by Manish Batavia.
Chetan was a toddler when his legs had to be amputated due to bone defect. That, however, didn’t stop him from playing different sports. He says he was lucky to be enrolled in a school — The School Krishnamurti Foundation India — that didn’t treat him differently, but on the contrary, encouraged him to participate, which led to Chetan trying out tennis, basketball and football.
But before he could run, he had to walk, and that meant Chetan had to deal with pain. “It wasn’t easy for me and especially my mother… My mom would ask me to close my eyes and not open it until she finished counting and by the time she would count 10, she was on the other end of the corridor. As a kid, I would not walk, but try to run to her,” he says.
While Chetan’s mother, Padma, wasn’t oblivious to the pain, she remained determined to make him stronger. “She didn’t want to stop that development anyway because it was paining. She wanted me to become stronger and stronger, where I started accepting pain as just a state of mind. So, I think my whole training towards pain started off when I was three,” he says.
Not just the initial development, Padma didn’t let go of his hand in the latter stages. Unlike most Indian parents, who tend to keep their kids away from pursuing anything that comprises a certain element of risk, Chetan’s mother encouraged him to take up the sport.
“I was quite fortunate to have someone, I mean as my mother, who’s filled with guts and confidence and who loves cars. So, it wasn’t a challenge for me to convince her that I wanted to get into motorsport. In fact, when I told her that I went to race track for the first time, she was very excited. I said I want to become a race car driver, she was super excited,” he says.
Not just that, there’s one more thing his mother wanted him to do — be the first differently abled driver from India and inspire others who share his condition to explore opportunities.
Now at the pinnacle of his career, the 37-year-old shares that he never considered motorsport to be a serious career when he was a kid. “I, in fact, never knew that I was going to become a race car driver, but always wanted to do something towards cars,” he says. One of the first people who helped him towards his dream was his classmate, Feroze Khan. Feroze would sneak his father, Ayub Khan’s, racing car to the school and years later took Chetan to the racetrack for his first live experience.
The racer also acknowledged former race car driver and current Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India President Akbar Ebrahim and his son Armaan for tutoring him in his formative years. He shares that the lesson from Akbar helped him win his first championship in 2009.
Talking about relationships in the racing circuit, Chetan says there are no friends out there and the sport is fraught with politics. However, he accepts that a driver must have a good relationship with the race car engineer. Chetan mentioned Peter John Allnutt who worked with him for several years since 2015, before the Briton passed away two years ago, for helping him out with his cars and managing him.
Now, a veteran in the circuit, Chetan accepts that conversation regarding his retirement pops up from time to time. He also admits breaking down while having one with his mother recently. “It’s the scariest feeling I can have, because I could be known as a cripple if not for motorsport… If I’m not in the driving seat, it’s going to be weakening me a bit,” he says.
“I’m just not able to imagine myself outside the car. So, it’s not an easy feeling, or an easy decision yet,” Chetan adds.
Watch Chetan Korada say these and a lot more in this tell all Spotlight interview.
