18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
The Hyderabad gamer who defies a diagnosis daily
HYDERABAD: Like many Indian youths, Polina Chandra Sekhar's path seemed preordained: software engineering. The 22-year-old gamer, educator and inspiration to lakhs was quietly slotted into that future before he could even walk or talk. But fate had a different blueprint. Born in 2002 in Andhra Pradesh's Prakasam district, Sekhar's life was altered before it had even begun. The doctor arrived three hours late, a delay that led to complications and caused permanent damage to part of his brain. He couldn't walk. He couldn't speak. Diagnosed with congenital cerebral palsy, Sekhar entered a world of limited mobility and silence. Bravery wasn't a choice; it was his only way forward.
Determined not to let disability define his future, Sekhar's mother uprooted their lower-middle-class life and moved to Hyderabad for physiotherapy. It was a long fight against poverty, isolation and the unknown. Two years later, her efforts bore fruit: Sekhar spoke his first words. Gradually, he began to move. Slowly, he caught up to life; step by step, word by word.
Finding identity in online avatar
From Class 1 to 9, Sekhar couldn't write, so he dictated his answers to friends and family, who volunteered as scribes. But as his speech grew harder to follow, even that became a struggle.
Then came December 2019. Sekhar, preparing to take his Class 10 board exams, was turned away by the school. No explanation. No room for appeal. Formal education didn't just reject him — it abandoned him.
With formal education shut out, Sekhar was left with a smartphone, a 5G connection and endless hours. Like most teenagers, he turned to gaming. But unlike most, he turned it into a calling.
He chose Free Fire, a battle royale game that requires one hand for movement, another for aiming, shooting, and interacting. Sekhar had just one working finger. But he made it work.
His friends were stunned. They encouraged him to stream his gameplay. He posted videos — just a finger dancing on a screen — and views started trickling in. A thousand. Then two. Then five thousand were watching live. In 2020, he launched his YouTube channel: Disability Gamer. By 2021, he had over 1.5 lakh subscribers. His room became his studio. Gaming became his income.
