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The Swimmer Who Challenged Fate.
This one is the story of a lad whose first love was swimming. Whenever and wherever he could come across a pool of water, he would immediately develop an urge to swim. He would not leave any opportunity that came his way. But he was unable to hear the sound that was made when he would slap the surface of the water, nor could he express the feeling of happiness while entering the pool. The reason: He was born deaf and dumb. To add to this, one of his eyes was partially blind while the other one was unable to see at all.
An ordinary person would feel completely frustrated and dejected in such a situation. He would lead a dependents life. But Taranath Shenoy was made of different clay. He took to studies seriously and passed the SSC examination with a first class. Two of his brothers, Sharad and Gopinath, both of whom had participated in the national level swimming competitions, would help Taranath in swimming. From 1968 onwards, Taranath also started participating in swimming competitions. He secured the first position in about 30 competitions. In 1981, he swam the Palk creek in a competition and came second in it. In the fifth All Indian Ocean Swimming Competition organised in Mumbai, he swam a distance of 35 miles and came second. In 1980, he joined the chief cashier's office of the central railway as a clerk and in March 1981, he
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