It’s all in the mind. The fighting spirit helps a person to overcome the obstacles of life. Here is an example. Some seven years ago, Kh Pradipkumar Singh received a jolt when he was diagnosed as HIV+.

It was a major setback for Pradipkumar, who was the state-level wrestler and power lifter. However, he never felt down for the next two years. He engaged himself completely in the flower garden at home.

Later he decided to go to the local gym once again. He worked hard for three years in the gym. Now, the five years of determination finally paid off. On last Sunday, Pradipkumar, 37, was crowned as ‘Senior Mr Manipur 2007′ in the 60-kg weight category. He closely missed out on the overall crown in the contest. The contest was organised by the All Manipur Bodybuilding Association.

After winning title, he faced no fears of revealing his identity or dislosing his conditions before media. He said:

I want my win to show people everywhere that people with HIV/AIDS can not only lead long and normal lives, but can also become medal-winning sportspersons.

It wasn’t easy to reconcile with my fate, but it can’t be changed. Can it? Being HIV+ is not the end of the world. There are medicines available, and some are even being distributed free by the Government.

Pradipkumar takes three doses of second line anti-retroviral drugs per day. He has become the recipient of the government’s free ART roll out. In the last six years, he bought all the costly doses drugs on his own and maintained the expensive dietary supplements necessary for bodybuilding as well.

I don’t have a job. I depend entirely on my parents and relatives for my sustenance. Their trust and understanding has now paid off,

It was not easy to do such things when he was under tremendous mental pressure after being diagnosed as HIV patient. He opted to go back to bodybuilding just to overcome the mental pressure and he succeeded in the Herculean task. The local Eagle Guide Gym had no better equipment for regular practice. He also faced people’s unwillingness to work with him because of his HIV status.

Gym secretary Romesh Mayengbam said:

When Singh came here to train, we were aware of his status. Some members conveyed their apprehension to us privately. However, since I’ve worked with an anti-HIV/AIDS NGO earlier, I was able to allay their fears with scientifically proven facts. After that there were no problems.

Later, Pradipkumar revealed that he received HIV through syringes he used as a heroin addict some years ago. He also said that he tried hard to get rid of drug addiction and his family and friends supported him at every step. They were the only source of support.

This is not the end of road for him as he has started planning to sign up for national-level competitions. The most important thing is that he has no trainer to guide him and he learned the tips from consulting books and instruction manuals only.

He has a strong will power and we can see his determination to live his life with dignity in his words when he said,

The virus and I are challenging each other. But I’ve decided that I’ll contest till I die.