Nine women waited backstage in Jaipur on a winter evening in 2025.

For some, it was the first time they had travelled alone. For others, it was the first time they were stepping into the spotlight without fear or hesitation.

When their names were announced, they rolled onto the stage in their wheelchairs and faced an audience of more than 350 people. Then they danced.

For the women on stage, it became a moment of being seen, heard and celebrated on their own terms.

The event was called Astitva 2025. Astitva means existence or identity, and for the women who performed that night, it captured exactly what the evening represented.

Behind that moment stood Priya Sharma, the woman who had worked to make the stage, and the journey to it, possible.

An accident, and a new question about life

Priya Sharma’s journey into this work began with an abrupt rupture.

Originally from Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh, Priya came from a rural, lower-middle-class family. Before the accident, she had completed her MCom and a postgraduate diploma in computer applications, and had worked across sectors such as BPO, education and recruitment. She was focused on building a stable career, becoming financially independent and supporting her family.

In September 2018, a road accident left her with a spinal cord injury. She became a wheelchair user overnight.

The spinal cord injury that left her paraplegic changed those plans, forcing her to rebuild her life from scratch. For her, the aftermath was social and deeply personal. “There were days when even small tasks felt impossible,” she says. “And harder than that was the question, what does life look like now?”

The fear of dependence crept in. So did the awareness of how disability is seen. Silence became part of daily life. So did self-doubt. But recovery, in her case, came in small, difficult steps.

With consistent effort and family support, she was learning to navigate daily routines again. But the larger question remained: what would she do next?

The wedding dance that brought joy back

Then came her sister’s wedding. At the wedding, Priya hesitated to participate. Social gatherings had become unfamiliar territory for her by then.

But her siblings, as siblings often do, insisted she join. They would not let her sit out the celebration. She sat in her wheelchair and danced at her sister’s sangeet (pre-wedding musical celebration).

Was it easy? Priya had no answer to this question. “It was the first time I felt joy after the accident,” she tells The Better India.

That moment offered her a direction. Dance, she understood, was a recognition of self.

But Priya was never a professional dancer, nor had she been deeply involved in dance before this. “In 2019, during my sister’s wedding, I experienced something very emotional. I saw everyone dancing, celebrating, and enjoying themselves, and somewhere inside, I also wanted to be part of that happiness. So, sitting in my wheelchair, I danced, not perfectly, but simply with joy,” Priya says.

“After that, I occasionally danced informally, mostly for happiness and self-expression.”

Later, one of her close friends and fellow para-athlete, Ekta Bhaiyan, encouraged her to think about dance as an instrument for change. That idea resonated with Priya because she had already experienced how dance could emotionally transform someone.

As she connected........

© The Better India