Arjuna Awardee Deepa Malik’s epic drive – ‘Will on Wheels’ arrives at Udaipur

Shriji Arvind Singh Mewar to flag off this noble initiative from the City Palace, Udaipur

Udaipur, September 30^th, 2013: Deepa Malik, Arjuna Award winner and the first ever and only Indian woman Para-athlete to win a medal at Asian Games and World Championship is adding another feather to her cap by initiating India’s longest drive by a paraplegic woman across the country. The epic journey began on September 22^nd from Chennai, covering 9 major cities which includes Bengaluru, Belgaum, Pune, Ahmednagar,

Mumbai, Ahmedabad and has now reached the land of lakes, Udaipur on September 28, 2013. The entire journey will cover a distance of over 2,300kms in a span of 10 days. Deepa is using a car which has been customized for her with hand-held controls for easy navigation.

Shriji Arvind Singh Mewar, Chairman & Managing Trustee of Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation (MMCF) and 76^th Custodian of the House of Mewar has always been at the forefront for supporting and contributing to these noble causes. Before this, the Maharaja of Mewar had also supported Deepa’s drive through the Thar and Rann of Kutch, early this year.

This is the first time that a road-cum-awareness drive called “WOW” (Will on Wheels) has been initiated to create awareness on‘Ability Beyond Disability’ for physically challenged people and to encourage Para-Sports in India.

Covering the entire western coast of India, the drive aims to reach a crowd worth lakhs in number.

During the flag off ceremony, Shriji Arvind Singh Mewar remarked, “We are proud of today’s women who fight against all challenges that life throws at them. And more so, Deepa Malik, for taking this bold step forward; setting all limitations aside and also working to help those in need. On behalf of Eternal Mewar, we wish her good luck for this inspirational journey and look forward to support more such causes and which spread positive messages across the country. ”

The ‘Will on Wheels’ team comprises Deepa Malik and 10 students from a college in Chennai who have redesigned a Renault Duster car to enable Deepa to drive it using hand-led controls. From Udaipur, the convoy will head towards the next destination, Jaipur and will be concluded in Delhi. Not only this, this noble ride will also set a new record of longest Pan-India drive by Paraplegic woman and will be registered in the Limca Book of World Records.