She’s got talent: Shubhreet Kaur Ghumman

Shubhreet Kaur Ghumman raises her hands slowly above her head, presses her palms together and stands ramrod straight. Along with six other dancers, all dressed in glittering costumes in shades of blue, red and green, she is waiting for the music to begin. As the first notes of a Bollywood number reverberate through the dance studio in Ludhiana, a city in the north Indian state of Punjab, she claps and does a perfect pirouette on her right toe.

As if on cue, the other dancers follow suit and seconds later Shubhreet, 27, and her team are performing a fast-paced dance number, leaping in the air, twisting, turning and executing a flurry of brisk steps all in time with the music.

Four minutes later, at the end of the song, she pauses to catch her breath, then hops to the corner of the studio to grab her towel and a bottle of water. Drying her face and taking a few sips, she returns to her position in the middle of the studio to dance again. She practises the steps to several fast-paced and intricate dances for the next half hour, pausing only to drink water.

“We are practising for a stage programme coming up at the end of the year,” says Shubhreet. “We’ve been at it for a week now and my leg is aching a bit.”

It’s only when she refers to her limb in the singular that most people realise she has only one leg. She lost her left one in a scooter crash five years ago. Yet she refuses to let that hold her back and earlier this year performed and came second in the hit TV show, India’s Got Talent earlier this year.

“I always wanted to be a dancer,” she says. “Although I was a shy child, I’d never miss an opportunity to dance in my bedroom in front of my mirror. I was too nervous to perform in front of an audience but the moment I would hear a peppy number I’d feel like tapping my feet and breaking out into a dance.”

Although her parents encouraged her passion, they wanted her to pursue a proper career. “My parents wanted me to study and take up a regular job so I enrolled for a course in nursing and, later, cosmetology.”

Shubhreet, who has a younger sister Surmeet Kaur, was returning home from college hitching a ride on her friend’s scooter one day in October 2009 when the accident happened. “My friend lost control of the scooter while taking a sharp turn. We were thrown off and I hit the road with my left leg taking the brunt of the fall.”

While her friend was lucky to escape with minor injuries Shubhreet fractured her left femur and injured her lower back. “But at the time I was glad I was alive,” she says.

Both were rushed to a nearby hospital where her friend was given first aid and sent home, while Shubhreet was referred to the government hospital to treat her fracture. “There, the doctors put my leg in a brace, told me to rest and left me to recuperate,” she says. “Although my mother, Charanjeet Kaur, 57 [her father Sardar Paramjeet Singh, a farmer, had died in 2000] pleaded with the doctors to treat my fracture they did not.”

However, media reports say doctors were apprehensive about surgery to insert plates to fix her leg as Shubhreet has a congenital condition called arteriovenous malformation (AVM), an abnormal connection between arteries and veins, which poses a risk of internal bleeding and fatal complications during surgery. Two weeks after the accident, doctors cleared her for surgery to fix the fracture, but during the procedure a vein ruptured and Shubhreet began to lose a lot of blood.

The surgeons managed to stop the bleeding but they were forced to halt the operation.

“When I woke up and saw my mother’s face I knew the surgery hadn’t gone well,” Shubhreet says.

She was sent home to recover but as weeks passed Shubhreet’s condition went from bad to worse.

“I lost all feeling in my leg, my toes and foot,” she says.

For two months Shubhreet remained bedridden. “It was the most painful time of my life,” she says.

“I couldn’t sleep on my side as my leg had to remain straight and because I was constantly lying on my back, I developed painful bed sores.”

Although she was taken to the hospital for regular check-ups and doctors kept promising her she would soon get the sensation back in her leg, she still couldn’t feel anything.

In April, six months after the accident, when the plaster was removed, she was shocked to see that gangrene had set in. “I saw my leg was black. It had gone rotten. Pus had begun forming in open wounds.”

There were more shocking moments awaiting her. “One day, I woke up to see a few black ants on my bed sheet. I flicked them away and then removed the sheet covering my leg to see swarms of ants eating the flesh of my leg. I was so shocked that I started howling in anguish. It was very hard to accept the truth that my leg had no life and its condition was only worsening.”

Shubhreet turned to her mother and asked her if her leg would ever be the same again. “She knew the answer and was silent but her silence spoke volumes. I knew I had to lose my leg. It was the only chance I had of trying to get my life back on track.”

More than nine months after the accident, with no end in sight for her pain, she opted for an amputation.

“My mother went from one hospital to another in and around our village of Jhundan in Punjab, looking for a doctor to do the surgery. But they all claimed amputation was too dangerous. They said I could die because of my AVM condition.”

Finally, on September 16, 2010, almost a year after the bike accident, Dr Harinder Bedi from the Christian Medical College, in Ludhiana, agreed to perform the amputation.

“It was a huge decision for me but I knew there was no other way. If I was to survive I’d have to lose my leg,” says Shubhreet.

When she woke up after the operation and saw that her leg was gone she cried – but they were tears of joy. “It might sound odd, but the feeling of not having a lifeless leg was amazing. I know that losing a leg is terrible but my life with a useless leg was even worse. It was as though I had already grieved for the loss of my leg before I’d even had it amputated.”

The surgery cost Charanjeet Rs700,000 (Dh40,870) and she had to take out a loan to cover the costs.

During her time in hospital and while recuperating from the earlier operation, Shubhreet used to read a lot of books and magazines, particularly motivational features about disabled achievers.

“Reading their stories of hope and achievement helped me think of ways of getting over my condition and realising my dreams,” she says.

She also used to watch videos of India’s Got Talent episodes and enjoyed the raw talent putting on the show. One of the contestants who inspired her was Vinod Thakur, a special needs youth who was born without legs but is an accomplished dancer and was runner-up in India’s Got Talent, 2010.

“I’d seen videos of Vinod’s dancing which were hugely motivating,” she says. “Although dancing was my passion it was never something I thought I’d do professionally.

“But my dream was to perform a dance number on a stage in front of a crowd.”

But with just one leg, Shubhreet was unsure whether she would be able to walk properly let alone get up on stage and dance.

Apart from reading and watching TV, one thing that was constantly around Shubhreet while she was recuperating was music. “I love music, but during my recovery it helped me a lot. It was like therapy, like medicine for me,’’ she says. “I used to listen to peppy, foot-tapping numbers and imagine myself dancing to the beat.”

One of the songs Shubhreet used to listen to over and over again was the popular number Chikni Chameli from the 2012 Hindi film Agneepath.

But she was so weak after being ill for so long that the moment she tried balancing on one leg, she passed out and her mother had to help her get back into bed.

Shubhreet was determined to walk – and dance – again and wouldn’t give up. “Every morning, noon and evening, I would try walking on one leg holding on to my mum for support and using a crutch.”

Two months later, she was able to stand independently. Overjoyed, she began to push herself to start walking on one leg. “I was in a hurry and wanted to get on with my life as quickly as I could,” she says.

Initially, she started using crutches to walk but a couple of months later, her mother suggested she use a prosthetic leg, selling some land and taking out loans from family to pay the Rs3,500,000 needed for a good-quality prosthetic limb.

But when Shubhreet tried to use it, she was in pain, and soon developed an infection in her stump. She had to undergo surgery to get rid of the infection. “I also found it very uncomfortable. I preferred walking on one leg and with a crutch rather than with the fake limb.”

“My friends started ignoring me because they were embarrassed and didn’t know what to say to me,” she says. “While some people were sympathetic, many of my family and friends looked at me with pity. I didn’t want pity. I wanted them to continue looking at me as a person who can achieve her dreams.

“I wanted to show the world that I was a strong person and continue my passion for dance.”

That’s when she made up her mind to dance again. “Every time I took a few dance steps I would fall down. But I’d get up and continue. I was determined to not allow my disability get the better of me.”

She realised she needed to strengthen her leg muscles, but there weren’t many gyms willing to accept her because of her condition. So she began working out at home. “I used to practise skipping with a rope for an hour every day to improve my leg muscles. I also developed my arm muscles by working out using bricks as dumbbells.”

The training sessions boosted not just her physical stamina but also her self-confidence and esteem. “I started feeling positive about the future and I was sure I’d be able to prove to the world that I could dance on stage,” she says.

A big fan of India’s Got Talent, she never missed an episode. Then, late last year when the TV channel announced it was looking for talent for its new season, Shubhreet decided to apply to the show. “I felt that would be a great stage to showcase my talent in dance,” she says.

However, her mother was surprised when Shubhreet told her about her plan. “I was apprehensive,” says Charanjeet. “I know she is a good dancer but I was scared she would hurt herself because it’s not easy to dance with just one leg. However, I told her I would support her decision and help her as best as I could.”

To fine-tune her skills, Shubhreet decided to enrol at a dance studio but again, she was in for a shock. No school was willing to take her because of her disability.

“I approached several dance schools, but no one was willing to coach me,” she says.

Eventually Rockstar Academy, in Chandigarh, accepted her. Teacher and choreographer, Sameer Makkar, 28, says, “I was blown away by her positivity. Then when I saw her dance videos I realised she was outstanding and immediately decided to accept her as my student.”

One of the first things he did was to work on improving Shubhreet’s stamina. He suggested a diet and exercise plan to boost her strength and energy levels. “I told her a high-protein diet to improve her stamina and created an exercise regimen for her to follow.”

Before teaching Shubhreet a dance step, Sameer used to first practise it with one leg “just to see whether she would be able to manage it” he says.

“But Shubhreet used to tell me not to worry if the step was difficult. ‘You just show me what to do, I’ll practise it and get it right,’ she would say.”

Shubhreet would practise for close to four hours every day fine-tuning her moves. “There were days when I used to be very tired but I never missed a single day of practice because I was determined to make it to the show,” she says.

Finally, three months of training later, she was ready. Sameer prepared her for five dances and sent a video of her performance to the TV channel.

So overawed were the judges, that they immediately selected her to appear on the show.

The first time she went on stage, Shubhreet says she was overcome by nerves. “I was terrified I might not be able to perform. “But then I thought about all the hard work that I had undergone and realised I had a great chance to showcase my skills. So even though I was nervous I was determined to impress.”

And impress she did.

So amazing was her dance performance to Chikni Chameli that she received a standing ovation from the judges – film-maker Karan Johar and Bollywood actors Malaika Arora Khan and Kirron Kher.

Over the next few weeks, her performance kept getting better.

“Dancing before the judges and the crowd was truly my dream come true,” Shubhreet says. “All the pain and trauma I had undergone after the accident and the operations paled when I got up on stage.”

Almost overnight, she was recognised and soon realised she was famous thanks to the show, which is watched by millions of viewers not just in India but across the world. “Strangers used to run up and congratulate me whenever I used to go out,” she says.

“I was overwhelmed by the love and good wishes of the viewers. Their positivity made me want to do better in every round.”

During the competition she met Bollywood stars, including Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan. “Their words of appreciation helped me work harder to do better,” she says.

Shubhreet says that apart from the show’s judges, other talented contenders who had come from across the country were also a big support. Alia Bhatt, the Bollywood actress, was so moved by Shubhreet’s performance that she went on stage and saluted her spirit and will power.

“Alia even said that she felt it to be a moment of pride to share the stage with me,” says Shubhreet.

Eventually Shubhreet was chosen for the final of the show, but was pipped to first prize by Ragini Makkhar and Naadyog dance group – missing out on a Rs6. 7 million cash prize – but she is happy. She has become a celebrity in her hometown and she made new friends from all over the country.

She says, “My life has changed completely. I have seen the darkest days but now everything seems beautiful. People recognise me when I go out, they ask me for photographs and autographs. It is an amazing feeling. Today I can not only walk on one leg but even dance.”

She is now an inspiration for thousands of youngsters. During the summer this year Shubhreet married a gym trainer, Yash Makkar, in front of 50 special guests. It was a sudden marriage but Shubhreet was convinced it was love at first sight.

However, within months the marriage ended and the couple filed for divorce.

She says, “We didn’t get on and our relationship just broke down.

“I want to live life to the fullest,” she says. “We should all be strong enough to face all hardships. There’s a plan for each of us and we shouldn’t get depressed because of tragedies, but dream about a better future.”

Shubhreet’s goal now is to open a dance school for special needs people who fail to get a chance to showcase their courage and talent.

“I’m glad if I’m able to motivate people like me to come out of their shells and prove to the world that they too can do amazing things and live their dreams.”