Deepthi Jeevanji might have been a star today following her bronze medal in the women’s T-20 category final race. But how could she forget her unbearable childhood when she had to face the chants ‘monkey…monkey’ from her neighbors! 

Even Deepthi's parents were repeatedly asked to send her to an orphanage but they did not stop supporting her.

Once, while speaking to India Today, the victim of racism since childhood revealed, "I was born during an eclipse, so our neighbors kept speaking against me. They called me monkey and advised my parents to abandon me or leave me at an orphanage.”

She continued, “But I ignored all the negativity and focused on my sport. It was my family's support that helped me overcome these challenges and earn this medal. It did affect me. Our dire financial distress forced my parents to sell the land. When I won the Asian Games medal, I bought back the land for my family.” 

Earlier, her parents, Jeevanji Yadhagiri and Jeevanji 

Deepthi was born with intellectual disability, a cognitive disease hampering communication as well as adaptive skills.

Jeevanji Dhanalaxmi, Deepthi's mother, once explained while speaking to Indian Express, “She was born during the solar eclipse and her head was very small at birth along with the lips and nose being a bit unusual. Every villager who saw her and some of our relatives would call Deepthi pichi (mental) and kothi (monkey) and tell us to send her to an orphanage. Today, seeing her become the world champion in a far-off country proves that she is indeed a special girl,”