Meet 22-year-old Arhan Bagati, India’s First Deputy Chef De Mission for Tokyo Paralympics
Arhan Bagati, at just age 22, is the youngest deputy chef de mission in the world at the Tokyo Paralympics. On Wednesday evening, Arhan travelled with the first batch of athletes who will represent India at the Paralympics Tokyo starting 24th August.
At the Tokyo 2020 edition, India has sent its biggest contingent with 54 para-athletes across nine sports disciplines.
Arhan Bagati, who is a Kashmiri Pandit, has been the goodwill ambassador for Paralympics since 2015, and recently graduated from the Pamona College in the USA.
As a teenager in 2015, Arhan developed The ‘In Rio’ app, which was instrumental in helping para-athletes during the 2016 Rio Games with online access to various queries including preparation, diet, fitness etc.
In continuation to the ‘InRio’ app he also worked on another app to assist the Indian Paralympic Athletes travelling for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games, by providing them with diet and nutrition information, accessible places to visit in Tokyo, a feature of speed dial to save emergency contact number – naming his app ‘IndTokyo’.
A huge fan of the late Milkha Singh, in a way was an inspiration for Arhan to take the para movement forward. During his interaction with the ‘Flying Sikh’ at one of the events in Delhi in 2014, Arhan came to know of the para-athletes and their struggle.
Very young but strong in resolve, Arhan’s kind heart immediately struck a chord with India’s special athletes. He kept in regular touch with them and tried to help them in whatever way he could, till 2015 when he officially came on board.
In fact, Bagati sponsored Para-athlete Gold medalist in the 2016 Rio Games, Mariyappa Thangavelu and Varun Singh Bhati, who won a bronze in 2016, by donating his entire pocket money and with some help from family and friends.
“We have set a target of 15 medals, and the potential is immense. The motivational interaction with the Prime Minister has boosted the spirit of all the athletes,” says Dy Chef de Mission Arhan Bagati, as he embarks on this momentous debut.
On the personal front, right after returning from USA post his graduation, this young boy, who has stayed in Delhi, wants to go back to his family roots in Kashmir. He is in the process of setting up ‘KYARI’ – Kashmir’s Yumberzal Applied Research Institute, powered by the belief that academic research paves the way for debates, discussions and ultimately, decision-making in matters of public policy. It’s to conduct Applied Research on a broad spectrum of topics that impact civic and social issues in Jammu and Kashmir.
For this youngster, The Games have just begun.
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